Cabinet Committee on Climate Change and the Environment
Meeting to be held on 20th July 2010
Part I - Item No. 5
Electoral Division affected:
All
Carbon Management for Schools and practical help available from the
Council's Property Group
Contact for further information:
Matthew Tidmarsh, 01772 533243, Resources Directorate,
[email protected]
Coral Tilling, 01772 533281, Resources Directorate
[email protected]
Executive Summary
This report describes:
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Assistance currently provided by the County Council's Property Group to help
Schools reduce their energy consumption and hence running costs.
An overview of future developments aimed to assist Schools in the further
reduction of their energy consumption and carbon emissions.
Proposals to provide access for schools to funding for energy efficiency
improvement works.
Newly introduced legislation which has implications for the Council and its
Schools
Recommendation
The Cabinet Committee on Climate Change and the Environment is asked to note
the report and approve the continued efforts by the Property Group Energy Team in
providing help to Schools in reducing their energy consumption. And, along with the
Schools' Forum, to continue to support efforts to access funding for projects to
assist in achieving this goal.
-2Background and Advice
1. What support is currently available to Schools regarding the reduction of their
energy consumption?
Within the Council Directorates there are various initiatives to assist Schools in the
reduction of energy giving the benefit of reduced costs. The Property Group
provides various building related services to the Council, amongst the building
related disciplines within the Property Group there are the Energy Engineers who
form the Energy Team. The remit of the Energy Team is to reduce energy
consumption and costs throughout the Council's portfolio of buildings including
Schools.
The Council's energy usage can be almost equally divided between retained
buildings and schools. It is recognised that although schools have devolved budgets
there is an imperative and an opportunity within the Council to assist schools in the
reduction of their energy usage and therefore costs. The Property Group utilising the
Energy Engineers created the Energy Club, to provide Schools with a responsive
service allowing easy access to unbiased assistance in energy management. This
has been in place for over 20 years and operates in a format in which the schools
can choose to buy an initial service level, with optional services paid on an hourly
rate. The Energy Club is often seen by the schools as an 'insurance policy' in regard
to energy consumption queries. Currently the membership is 358 out of 625 Schools
Membership numbers have not changed significantly over recent years.
The basic service offered to the schools by the Energy Club is an initial site visit in
which a 'walkround' energy survey is undertaken, the heating settings are checked
along with energy and water metering for the site, this culminates in general energy
saving advice being given to the Schools especially aimed at no cost or low cost
energy and water reduction. The Energy Club members also have access to a
dedicated Energy Engineer who will respond and give any assistance to water and
energy related queries.
Currently a review is underway to ensure that the service is still meeting the needs of
Schools and is reflective of the requirements of the Council in regard to energy
efficiency and carbon reduction.
2. Planned developments to assist Schools in the reduction of energy consumption.
The Energy Club review is designed to revitalise the service. Consideration is being
given to provide help for school staff to identify 'no cost' energy reduction measures.
To determine an effective form of delivery for this service funding has been obtained
from the Climate Change Local Area Support Programme (CLASP) for an evaluation
into identifying a replicable, successful and a cost effective training programme. The
study will evaluate two levels of support, one being a full days training to School Staff
and participant classes with a follow up half day session after 3 months, the other is
a half day session for staff, followed by a phone call after 3 months. The
investigation is needed as currently it is not known how effective each programme
will be. The final evaluation of the programme could be shared with other Councils
as 'best practise' if they have similar requirements.
-3-
To meet the developing requirements of the Council and Schools in energy
management as well as legislative requirements, the Property Group is developing a
new software system. The system will provide Schools with an interactive
management tool for energy usage at their site in addition to providing the Council
with information for various legislative requirements, such as the Carbon Reduction
Commitment – Energy Efficiency Scheme and NI185. The Schools will be able to
access the system through the PAMIS portal. From this platform they will be able to
see historical information, current energy and water invoices and input correct meter
reads. This will encourage Schools in energy management by giving them
ownership of the energy information which currently isn't easily accessible to
Schools. The system will be fully implemented within the current financial year.
3. Funding for Energy Conservation Capital Works
As previously requested by the Committee, the Property Group has convened a
team of officers from across the Council to determine a potential means by which
funding could be made available to schools for them to invest in larger more complex
energy conservation works. The initial discussions within this group suggest that
some means of prudential borrowing is likely to offer the most cost effective solution.
However, a final proposal is still to be drawn up and will need to be presented to the
Schools' Forum for support before being brought back to the Committee for final
approval.
4. Legislative Considerations
The Energy Team currently helps schools to meet their legislative obligations in a
number of areas, including the requirement for Display Energy Certificates (DECs)
which are currently required for all public buildings over 1000m2 in floor area. The
legislation supporting this requirement has recently been revised and the qualifying
level will be reduced to 250m2 by 2015, this will therefore encompass the virtually all
school buildings. The Energy Team will seek to continue to provide this service to
schools in the future which is dependent upon support for the Schools' Forum.
The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) – Energy Efficiency Scheme also
includes schools. This is a mandatory carbon trading scheme in which schools must
be included in the Councils report on emissions and purchase and trading of carbon
allowances. Currently schools are only required to report their energy usage per
annum, as there is no mechanism for them to purchase their own carbon
allowances. The scheme allows for any benefit or penalty to be passed directly from
the Council to schools but the mechanism for this to be achieved has yet to be
determined and it is likely that the Council will need to formulate its own way of doing
so.
Consultations
N/A
-4Implications:
This item has the following implications, as indicated:
Finance
There are no direct financial implications of this report which summarises
programmes of work.
Risk management
This report provides an overview of current activity to reduce carbon emissions from
energy use in Lancashire County Council Schools. The risk implications of not
continuing to support Schools in energy reduction will have a financial impact for the
Council and the Schools.
Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985
List of Background Papers
Paper
N/A
Date
Contact/Directorate/Tel