Reducing our Property-Related Carbon Footprint and Delivering Efficiency Savings

Keith GordonAssistant Director for Efficiency and DeliveryImprovement and Efficiency West Midlands

WMPA aim to support Councils deliver over £640 million efficiency savings and reduce 55k tonnes of CO2 emissions

The Low Carbon programme is a key element of the programme with £0.9 million invested to date, It has two components:

1. Low Carbon Economy Programme - £0.55 million

2. Low Carbon Efficiency Programme - £0.40 million

The West Midlands Property Alliance Carbon Programme

Low Carbon Economy Programme Leadership – helping the leadership of local authorities, Local Strategic Partnerships and Local Enterprise Partnerships realise the benefits from carbon and cost reduction and low carbon job creation.

Planning and Finance – facilitate the delivery of increased renewable energy supply and climate adaptation through the activities of local authority planning processes.

Communities and third sector – allow local authority planning and other key departments to engage more effectively with communities to help support or bring forward more energy saving and renewable energy schemes.

http://www.sustainabilitywestmidlands.org.uk

Low Carbon Efficiency ProgrammeEnergy Audits

Consultancy and Implementation Support

Small Scale Capital Works

Alternative Financing Models

Behavioural Change Programmes

Communication and Networks

Action Plans

CHP District Heating

* Excludes Green Deal and Housing (at the moment!)

Why Bother? • Energy, including electricity, gas and water is a huge spend with around

£3.5 billion nationally and around £250 million within the West Midlands

• Projected 80% increase to 2020, i.e. £450 million

• It’s the 3rd largest spend area after Construction and Social Care – yet it doesn’t get the same attention in the “efficiency debate”, because it’s perceived as a hidden cost.

• As the financial and political impact of Carbon emissions and the ever increasing austerity budgetary pressures inevitably will bring into sharper focus the need to look at ways of reducing our energy bills rather than lose front line services and jobs.

What’s wrong!• Not a Corporate Priority• Lack of specialist knowledge • Councils tied into poor longer term deals• Internal motivation and/or resistance to change.• Isn’t anyone's job to turn the photocopier off!• Ineffective Performance monitoring systems• A lack of co-ordination, accountability and fragmentation, • A lack of shared information and best practice between

Councils

What the Energy Audits Found.• It’s the tip of the iceberg! £4 million out of a £250 million

spend!• Having an independently funded programme (IEWM)

overcame potential internal “cash flow” barriers.• Commissioning an external expert working closely with

internal team members provided both an external diagnostic and critical friend role

• Almost without exception, significant improvements were needed to ensure value for money.

What the Energy Audits Found.• Energy Management needs to be pro-actively embraced

within any property transformational change programme.

• Developing robust and systematic performance monitoring systems are imperative to ensure.

• Having effective leadership, transparency and accountability are essential to avoid “drift” in energy management costs and CO2 emissions.

• Integrating energy management within an overall corporate action plan raises the profile corporately and also ensures that contracts and bills are more effectively managed.

The Carbon ChallengeGetting it on the corporate strategic agenda as a priority, competing with Social Care and Education etc is a challenge.

Developing corporate strategies, including Property, Highways, Waste, and Transport with deliverable action plans.

Looking at innovation and renewables, including wind, solar.

Energy Efficiency, Retrofit and New build business cases

Managing Performance

Potential Economic Growth Opportunity and Safeguarding front line services

The Next Steps• Finish the Energy Audit Programme• Complete the small scale retrofit programme• Conduct 2 pilot Carbon Efficiency Audits (possibly roll out wider)• Roll out the behavioural change programme• Explore if Councils want to have an “alternative financing models”

signpost.• Improved information sharing on best practice.• Improve the existing networking forum with higher level officers• WMPA to consider a strategic positioning in this debate

West Midlands Property Alliance

Reducing Utility Costsby

Jack Pokój

Agenda

• The utility audit• The process• Working with Councils• Case Studies

Usage Audit

• Bill analysis– Errors– Inappropriate tariffs– Non corporate contracts– Half Hourly charges– Anomalies

• Implement changes

Efficiency Audit

• Analyse AMR meter data• Investigate utility usage– Identify waste– Improve efficiency– Reduce consumption

• New technology

The Process

• Analyse data– Invoices– Usage data

• Create benchmark• Review results• On site investigation

Working with Councils

• Agree scope• Provide data• Agree priorities• Assist with site specific queries• Implement

Case Studies

Cannock Chase

• Review of electricity, gas and water• Create benchmark• Transfer to compliant framework• Resolve anomalies• Savings £158k pa

Wyre Forest DC

• Electricity, gas, telecoms and water• Negotiate with landlord• Implementation assistance– Framework evaluation– Downgrade– TE license– Transfer lines and calls

Solihull MBC

• Electricity, gas and water• Efficiency• Site specific • Savings identified– Implemented £166k– Savings from technology £51k– Additional efficiency £42k

Warwickshire County

• Half Hourly, electricity and gas • Efficiency• Benchmarking• Behavioural Change• Savings – identified £144k– Plus 5% target for behavioural change

Summary

• Potential Savings identified £4.2m• Implemented £1.5m• Outstanding

£2.7 m