Brewhouse No. 4 at Guinness’s St. James’s Gate has become the first manufacturing plant in Ireland, as well as the first major brewery in the world, to be awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification.
The highest possible LEED certification was presented to Diageo by the CEO of the US Green Building Council, Rick Fedrizzi in a ceremony at St. James’s Gate yesterday (13 April).
Fedrizzi commented, “I am very happy to be here at St. James Gate, this world renowned site to present this certification to Diageo. St. James’s Gate is a unique space – a city centre brewery over 250 years old that is now one of the most environmentally sustainable industrial sites the world.”
Brewhouse No. 4, opened last September is the world’s largest stout brewhouse with a production capacity of 300,000 pints in every two-hour brew.
In order to support a high level of production while meeting its environmental standards, Diageo was required to invest in a range of innovations, which have resulted in energy savings equivalent to the electricity consumption of 2,760 houses.
Not only does Brewhouse No. 4 require 14% less water for a brew, St. James’s Gate has started extracting and treating its own water on site, taking 500,000 m3 of demand off the Dublin City drinking water network – or one week of water production for the entire city.
Overall, the total energy saved in one year through the development of Brewhouse No. 4 is the equivalent to the energy consumed by the entire Irish industrial sector in one day.
© 2015 - Checkout Magazine by Jenny Whelan.
