Work due to start on innovative crematorium heat-saving scheme - Crematorium.eu News about crematoria in Europe - www.crematorium.eu informs about crematoria in Europe- Krematorium.eu- crematorio.eu, find a crematorium

WORK to connect the new Abbey Stadium Leisure Centre and state-of-the-art energy saving equipment at Redditch Crematorium is due to begin next week.

The pipe work installation, which will send the heat generated from a flue gas cleaning process to the new centre, will take around two to five weeks to complete.

The pipes will run under the road that goes through the cemetery and will not affect any of the graves. The scattering area, in which part of the pipe will run, will be sensitively excavated with any original turf being re-laid. Noise and disruption will be kept to a minimum. Visitors to the cemetery should note that during this time, part of the one way system will be impassable for up to two weeks but all graves will be accessible by foot.

Signs informing customers and visitors of the disruption will be put up in the crematorium grounds to help keep people informed of what work will be done.

Redditch Council’s portfolio holder for local environment, Councillor Brandon Clayton, said: “This is a vital part of making this innovative new way to save energy work, but we understand that any work taking place in the Cemetery has to be treated sensitively.

“This is why we hope to complete the work over a short period time and will take into account the needs of people visiting or using the crematorium and cemetery.”

The project, which won the council a Gold award at this year’s National Green Apple Awards, will use the crematorium’s flue cleaning process that stops harmful mercury and acids being released into the air.

This cleaning process involves gases from the flue being cooled from around 800 degrees centigrade to around 140 degrees centigrade, creating significant heat loss.

As part of the new process, this heat will be transported to the adjacent leisure centre. Solar thermal hot water systems are also being planned for the new centre, which is due to open next year.