Richard Dunning & Anna Stobbs Our Big Energy Challenge Making Bath and North East Somerset more energy efficient.

Richard Dunning & Anna Stobbs

Our Big Energy Challenge

Making Bath and North East Somerset more energy efficient

Key aim

• A minimum 10% reduction in energy consumption over three years

Two-pronged approach

• Change staff awareness and actions• Monitor and target energy using “high-

tech” monitoring equipment – you can’t manage what you can’t measure!

Project outline

Background

Funded by the Treasury’s Invest to Save Budget

• Creates sustainable improvements in delivering public services

• Investment is provided in return for reform

• Centre for Sustainable Energy working together with B&NES Local Strategic Partnership – sponsored by DEFRA

• Avon and Somerset Constabulary (Bath & North East Somerset District)

• Bath & North East Somerset Council • Bath & North East Somerset Council for Voluntary

Services• Bath & North East Somerset Group of the Avon

Local Councils Association• Bath & North East Somerset Primary Care Trust• Bath & North East Somerset Racial Equality

Council• Bath Spa University• City of Bath College• Norton Radstock College• Royal United Hospital Trust• Somer Housing Trust• University of Bath

Partners

Benefits

• £3.5m saved by 2012 • 5,000 tonnes CO2 saved per

annum (from year 3 onwards)

Benefits

Roles

• Energy Manager/Facilities– Monitoring and managing

• Energy Advocate/Champion– Promotion and energy

awareness raising

• All staff– Saving energy!

Responsibilities

The role of the Energy Manager

• Monitoring energy use• Reporting and analysing energy

use• Identifying opportunities for

saving energy• Assisting all staff to save energy

The Energy Manager

The role of the Energy Champion

• Raising energy awareness• Promoting energy saving• Conducting energy walk-arounds• Helping to monitor and report energy use• Helping and advising others• Providing feedback to staff and managers

The Energy Champion/Advocate

Today’s outline – Energy Awareness

• Why save energy• What you can do

– Energy saving at work – Energy saving at home

You!

“In my view, climate change is the most severe problem we are facing today, more serious even than the threat of terrorism”

Sir David King (UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser)

Why save energy?

Why save energy?

Sir David Attenborough

“I do not have any doubt at all. I think climate change is the major challenge facing the world.”

“How could I look my grandchildren in the eye and say I knew about this and I did nothing?”

Why save energy?

Climate change – the evidence…

• The melting of Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets

• Glacial change – e.g. the Riggs Glacier

• Sea levels worldwide are rising

Why save energy?

What causes climate change?

• ‘Greenhouse’ gasses such as methane and CO2

• CO2 levels are the main cause of climate change

• 90% of CO2 emissions released into the atmosphere are as a result of burning fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal)

Why save energy?

What are fossil fuels?

• Fuels that come from the remains of creatures and plants that lived millions of years ago

• Oil, gas & coal• The main cause of

CO2 emissions – the main ‘greenhouse gas’

Why save energy?

Why “greenhouse”?

• The term for the effect that atmospheric gases have when the sun heats the earth’s surface

Why save energy?

The evidence ofclimate change…

• Ice cores

Why save energy?

Saving energy at work

• Improves your organisation’s public image

• Improves your working environment – the ‘feelgood’ factor

• Lower energy use = lower energy costs which helps fund better services

• Doesn’t deflect monies – since January 2006…– Gas prices have risen by 37%– Electricity prices have risen by 33%– Petrol/diesel has risen by 9%

In UK offices…

• 30% of the energy consumed is wasted, costing millions of pounds in lost revenue every year

• You could help your employer cut energy costs by up to 20% by employing easy measures that may not cost anythingSource: The Carbon Trust

Why save energy?

1%9%

17%39%

Why save energy?

West of England's Carbon Emissions by Source

34%

Industry and commercial

Household Fuel Use

Personal Road Transport

Freight Road Transport

Land Use Change

Bath & N.E. Somerset

• 1,161,000 tonnes of CO2 per year

• That’s 6.8 tonnes per person…

• Nearly all energy is ‘imported’ to the area – so every £ spent leaves the local economy

Why save energy?

Why save energy?

Domestic (heat and light) energy:

So how does Bath & N.E. Somerset compare?

2.5South Gloucestershire

2.6North Somerset

2.5Bristol, City of

2.8Bath and North East Somerset

Domestic per capita tCO2 

Why save energy?

Each tonne of CO2 = approximately 1 hot air balloon

That’s 1.2 million balloons for Bath & N.E. Somerset alone!

Why save energy?

In Bath & N.E. Somerset that’s nearly 5 balloons of damaging CO2 per person for purely domestic and personal travel (and another 2 for work)

What you can do at work

Take responsibility for theenergy you waste at work • Lighting• Electrical

equipment/appliances• Water• Refuse• Heating and cooling• Travelling

Lighting

• Make use of natural light where possible

• Only turn on lighting in the areas where you need it

• Turn off lights when you leave a room / area

– Lighting an office overnight wastes enough energy to heat water for 1000 cups of tea

What you can do at work

Electrical equipment/appliances

• Don’t leave appliances on standby– Some appliances use around a third of

the energy that they would use when on whilst they are on standby

• 70% of the energy consumption of a computer is the monitor – turn it off when you’re not using it

– A PC monitor switched off overnight saves enough energy to laser print 800 pages

• Flat screens use significantly less energy than standard monitors

What you can do at work

Electrical equipment/appliances

• Turn on equipment only when needed– A typical PC which is left switched on all the

time will use £50 more energy in a year than turning it off in the evening – £500,000 for every 10,000 PCs

• Photocopy in batches• Turn off all non essential equipment

overnight– A photocopier left on overnight uses enough

energy to produce over 1500 copies– Fit timers on drinks refrigeration machines– Last one out – switch it off!

What you can do at work

Water

• If water is scalding at the tap then it is being stored at too high a temperature

– Report it

• Make sure taps are fully turned off after use

• Repair/report dripping taps– A tap dripping at one drop per second

wastes enough water for 12 mugs of coffee every day

– In a year this is the equivalent to the average personal supply for 11 days

What you can do at work

What you can do at work

Waste less

• The four local authorities dispose of 540,000 tonnes of municipal waste per year– currently dependent on road and

rail transfer to landfill sites outside the area

What you can do at work

Waste hierarchy

Highest priority

Eliminate ReduceRe-use RecycleEnergy RecoveryDispose

Lowest priority

What you can do at work

Reduce, reuse and recycle –paper

• Most of the energy used in paper making is the pulping needed to turn wood into paper

• Recycling paper involves around 28% lower energy consumption than virgin paper and uses less water

• Using one tonne of recycled paper saves 15 trees

Recycle – cardboard

• Every tonne of cardboard recycled saves 17 trees, over 31,000 litres of water, 1.8 cubic metres of landfill and 4,100 kW hours of electricity

– Equal to the yearly electricity consumption of an average household

What you can do at work

What you can do at work

Heating and cooling

• Learn how to correctly use your heating/cooling system controls

• Do not allow furniture to block radiators

• Dress appropriately• Don’t use ‘supplementary’ heating or

cooling, e.g. portable heaters or air-con units, unless absolutely essential

What you can do at work

Heating and cooling

• Avoid opening windows when the heating or air conditioning is on

– An open office window loses enough energy in a day to produce 250 fleece jackets

• Use blinds to control solar glare and over-heating

• Avoid the use of ‘comfort cooling’ where possible

What you can do at work

Travelling

• Do you need to go?– Video conferencing

• Do you need to fly?

In the car:• Monitor fuel (and costs)• Follow tips for better fuel

consumption• Do fewer miles• Look after your car

What you can do at home

Tips for the home

• Electrical equipment/appliances

• Cooking• Heating• Hot water• Reduce heat loss from

the home

Walls – 35%

Floor – 15%

Roof – 25%

Windows – 10%

Draughts – 15%

Reduce heat loss – typical losses are:

What you can do at home

Electrical equipment/appliances

• Buy energy efficient appliances• Unplug chargers when not in use

– Leaving a mobile phone charger plugged in costs around £25 per year. If each UK house does this, that’s enough energy to power 66,000 homes

• Fill up the washing machine or dishwasher, use economy programmes (and if possible don’t use a tumble dryer)

What you can do at home

What you can do at home

Cooking

• Only boil as much water as you need• Put lids on pans when cooking – you’ll

be able to turn down the heat• Use the right size pan for the food and

cooker hob• Make sure the flame is under the pan,

not around the outside• Use a kettle to boil water for cooking • Use a toaster rather than the grill to

make toast

What you can do at home

Heating

• Fit shelves above your radiators• Put reflective panels behind your

radiators• Turn room thermostat down by

1oC– This could cut your heating bills by

up to 10 per cent and save you around £40-£50 per year

• Close curtains at dusk and tuck them behind your radiators

What you can do at home

Hot water

• Set your hot water cylinder thermostat to 60°C

• Fit a hot water tank jacket, it only costs around £10

• Shower instead of bathing– A five minute shower uses 35

litres of water, compared to a bath that uses 80 litres (but beware, power showers can use more!)

Further information

At home…

• Contact your local Energy Efficiency Advice Centre on FREEPHONE 0800 512 012www.est.org.uk/myhome

At work…• Speak to your Energy Champion

or visit the websitewww.bigenergychallenge.org

Remember

If you only do five things…

Turn off…• your monitor when you leave

your desk• your PC at night• lights when they’re not needed• equipment that’s not in use (like

photocopiers, printers etc)

…and report any problems

Thank you