"We are working with +CityxChange partners Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES), using their modelling platform to get a better understanding of how the building uses energy."
Limerick City Gallery of Art (LCGA) was delighted to take part in the +CityxChange Positive Energy Champions campaign this summer. LCGA is located in the historic Carnegie Building on the grounds of the People's Park in the heart of Limerick’s Georgian Quarter. Although the building has had several renovations over the last thirty years, challenges remain around the ventilation and heating of the building and there are undoubtably many changes we can make to increase the sustainability of the gallery.
I volunteered as a Positive Energy Champion and chose the Understanding Energy Use and Retrofit strand to get a better understanding of how the Limerick City Art Gallery building uses energy and to find solutions to reduce its energy consumption.
I found the project partners very helpful, IES installed sensors in the Gallery to monitor temperature and humidity in the space, as some of the installations need to be kept in controlled environments in order to protect the works of art. IES monitored this data and then issued us with a report which will inform decision making bout how we will monitor the building in the future.
I used the IES Digital Twin Tool, to which I submitted energy bills and building fabric information for the building in order to produce a building model of Limerick City Gallery of Art. This digital twin could run scenarios such as if we installed a heat pump, how much it might cost, what the energy bills would be and how long it would take to see the payback.
It was a timely process to access all the bill information from our accounts department in order to build the model.
I learned a great deal about the intricate running of the building and with the findings from the Digital Twin Tool am now in a position to make an informed decision in regards to energy interventions in the building in the future.
I think the impact I made was putting the Gallery in a position to make informed decisions moving forward and spreading the word amongst friends, colleagues and the community on the benefits of engaging with the Limerick energy Model to enable decision making around energy interventions for the building.
Dashboard for champions building from the Limerick Energy Model.
