As a responsible operator of Retirement Living Villages, St Ives are always looking at how we can enhance our Residents experience, that includes supporting our responsibilities to operating costs as well as the wider environmental impacts.
At Northshore there has been an increasing uptake of interest in solar power by the Residents, this is due to the benefit of reducing electricity costs, but increasingly also because of an ethical and environmental motivation.
Due to this interest, St Ives were able to propose and introduce the prospect of adding solar as part of the Village infrastructure, with the aim of subsidising the costs of the electricity used in the communal areas of the Village.
In adding solar to support the electricity use in the communal areas of the village, St Ives Northshore looks to achieve the following things:
- Create a cost saving benefit that was equitable and beneficial to each resident and/or owner
- Focus the Solar on the parts of the village that were heavily used in daylight hours (The main buildings, lounges and administration areas)
- Add to the Villages ethical or green credentials, which are increasingly important to existing and new retirees.
- Deliver a return on investment for the village that was attainable and demonstrable.
Currently St Ives Northshore are covering over 50% of their daily electricity consumption in the communal areas with solar generated electricity. That represents a good sized saving for a facility of this size, and St Ives can now reflect that saving back to Residents in our overall operating costs.
In these uncertain times, with the many additional challenges we all face, every opportunity we get to be able to create better value or additional resources for our Residents, is a worthy investment.
