A major £1.4m project is under way to slash £200,000 from heating and electricity bills at council buildings across Hampshire.

Twenty-five of Hampshire County Council’s top energy-consuming buildings, which include libraries, activity centres and nursing homes as well as council offices, are to be fitted with energy-reducing measures. This will include new lighting with automated controls, motion sensors, new boilers, roof and cavity wall insulation and draught proofing.

It is hoped the Energy Performance Project will save in the region of £5m in energy bills over the next 25 years.

When all the work is complete 200,00kWh of energy will be saved each year, which equates to a carbon reduction of 845 tonnes per annum. This will be another significant contributor to the county council’s target of reducing carbon emissions by 20 per cent by 2015.

Councillor Mel Kendal, Hampshire County Council’s executive member for income and capital resources, said: “Hampshire County Council is always looking to operate in more energy-efficient ways, save money and reduce its carbon emissions.

“The first phase of the Energy Performance Project will make 25 of our buildings more energy efficient, but we don’t want to stop there, as we would like to continue by supporting other public sector services and schools to do the same in the future.

“Our property services team are already helping Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service to undertake a similar initiative to their buildings.”

As well as slashing energy bills, it is hoped the project will save the county council’s current requirement for grid energy. The allocation of £1.42m includes fees set aside for delivery of the design and construction work in 2013/14 and 2014/15.

The project was approved at a policy and resources meeting.