17 February 2009

Boiler boost for Botanic Garden

The green shoots of spring will be boosted at the University of Dundee Botanic Garden with plans to install a new heating and control system that will help boost both environmental and financial performance.

The new system will be more compact and more efficient than the existing boiler, which has been in place since the early 1970s. As a result of a modern environmental controls package and increased efficiency, the cost of heating the Garden buildings will be reduced, freeing up financial resources for other areas in the Garden.

The new system has cost £145,000, with funding coming from Dundee City Council’s Common Good Fund (£90,000) and the rest from the University, through the Botanic Garden’s own reserves.

'This will be the single biggest financial investment in the Garden in the ten years I have been Curator,' said Alasdair Hood at the Botanic Garden. 'This is a significant move towards the Garden becoming an example of good environmental practice. It will obviously also help our financial standing through the savings that can be made.'

The University is committed to supporting the Botanic Garden and is actively looking for partners to help explore various options to enhance its income from commercial sources.

There is scope, for example, to relocate the Garden’ s very successful coffee shop to a purpose-built facility within the Garden itself, giving its customers a better sense of being in a Garden. Other ideas have been suggested and it is expected that this exercise will elicit development that will benefit the long-term future of the Garden.

For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk