Vital Energi and Cynergin Consultancy have been honoured with the 2011 Combined Heat and Power Association (CHPA) Innovation award for its record breaking low carbon solution at the National Sports Centre (NSC) Crystal Palace, London. Vital Energi's inventive methods of heat recovery systems have helped achieve a 99% efficiency level as a result of a number of heat recovery systems, cutting the NSC's carbon emissions by over 2000 tonnes.

The CHPA held its annual award ceremony on November 22nd, commemorating the achievements, innovation and best practice from across the combined heat & power and district heating sector. Mr Alan Whitehead MP, who presented the awards ceremony, commented on the National Sports Centre project saying "...you really start to see the creativity, determination and drive of this industry. The UK CHP sector is demonstrating how to push the boundaries with outstanding projects." Given the importance of the NSC, which is a listed heritage site that is due to be used as a training facility for the 2012 Olympics, the LDA placed the sports centre as top priority within its plan for the £13 million refurbishment of Crystal Park.

As the LDA's investigation found that energy costs were a significant proportion of the overall costs of running the NSC, the LDA appointed Cynergin, an independent consultancy, to assist with procuring the project and vetting tender proposals. Following a competitive tender process, Cynergin found that Vital Energi's unparalleled levels of skills and expertise made them the company with the greatest level of cost cutting for the client. Subsequently, Vital Energi developed a highly efficient Combined Heat & Power (CHP) engine and combined it with a number of other energy efficient technologies, resulting in the record breaking reduction of CO2 emissions by 50% (2104 tonnes). This equates to a staggering saving of around £400,000 per annum, providing the LDA with an energy solution that promises a payback of a remarkable 3.5 years. Vital Energi’s record-breaking CHP system is setting a new industry standard for similar projects, illustrating how both the private and public sector can successfully implement low carbon energy solutions.