As a Grade I listed garden with 80 acres of formal beds, borders, woodland and meadow, Bodnant Garden is already pretty green. But by using renewable energy, they are doing our bit to make the way they operate more efficient and sustainable for the future.
Rebecca Williams, Director of Conservation at National Trust Cymru chats to Business News Wales about the true power of renewable energy here:
She said:
“Bodnant is one of many of our places and like everywhere else, we think about how we can be most sustainable in that place. For Bodnant, we have recently put in place some solar panels and we’ve done so as sensitively as we can with the landscape.”
National Trust Cymru’s biggest green project to date has been solar-powering Bodnant’s tearoom with an national award-winning installation in the car park. Designed by Carbon Zero, the 175 photo-voltaic panels laid out on the hillside generate enough electricity to power the Pavilion cafe and two charging points for electric vehicles (plus gardeners’ battery power tools).
The photo-voltaic panels also generate power for an air source heat pump in the car park toilet block, providing hot water for hand washing as well as background room heating. The heat pump is highly efficient and works effectively all year round.
Rebecca went on to say that although the environmental changes at Bodnant, may “not seem like a big difference, those little changes make a difference and help [us] on [our] journey to sustainability.”
The National Trust has a mission to reduce the use of fossil fuels at its properties and places across the UK and to be carbon net zero by 2030. Solar power, hydro power and heat pumps are some of the ways we're replacing fossil-fired heating systems.
At Bodnant Garden every penny saved by using renewable energy goes back into conservation work. It helps fund garden renovation as well as ongoing architectural projects such as replacing the crumbling Croquet Terrace Fountain, repairing the Pin Mill upper floor and conserving the sculptural interior of the Poem mausoleum.
A world-famous garden home to National Collections and Champion Trees, it’s safe to say that Bodnant Garden is doing everything it can to reach carbon net zero by 2030!
