Do you know your school’s energy consumption?

How can schools tackle their energy costs to free up funds.

Schools are facing increasing financial pressures, and with energy costs rising, they need to think of new ways to diversify their income and reduce their expenses. It seems obvious, but to start with, schools should analyse and understand their energy use and costs. For this, Schools can:

1. Review existing Display Energy Certificate (DEC) and Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) to analyse ‘key metrics’ such as ‘total energy use’, ‘energy use intensity’ and ‘peak demand’.  Existing certificates are available online for free here: www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate

A DEC will show the amount of energy consumed during the occupation of the school over a period of 12 months.

The EPC will show both the current energy and potential energy rating of the school.

These two documents may suggest some steps or ideas for schools to save energy on, such as:

• floor insulation

• draught proofing

• using low energy lighting

• lighting sensors

• automatic lighting control

• replacement of boilers

• solar water heating

• replacing of single-glazed windows

• installation of solar PV, battery storage, heat pumps, etc. 

It is important to understand that these reports are usually based on a short visual inspection, so where the energy assessor cannot see things without intrusive actions, for example floor insulation, then they will either use documentary records or make professional educated guesses about such matters, so the energy report is unlikely to be 100% accurate on the existing energy standards. 

The recommendations should also contain an indication of the likely cost and period over which the expense of works is recouped from energy cost savings. Schools may be able to identify a certain area in their building on which they need to concentrate as a priority. 

1. If a school does not have an EPC or DEC or they are out of date, particularly if substantial works have been done since the report, you could obtain one of these reports and engage an expert to come on-site to review the energy efficiency and carry out ‘an energy audit’.

There is a cost to this, but it is a legal requirement to display a DEC if the school is a public building with a total useful floor area greater than 250m² and is frequently visited by the public, so will be a legal requirement for most state funded schools.

1. It is possible to use online platforms which can help and give an in-depth view of how a school typically uses energy and how schools can take action to use energy more wisely.

2. Create a school energy use policy or review existing green policies to create policies and awareness on ways to reduce unnecessary energy consumption and appoint internal monitoring of their energy consumptions by having Energy Champions at Schools. ‘Energy Champions’ can be a mix of teachers and children, who would ensure the school’s energy policies, energy guide, and management systems are implementing daily (such as checking the lights are all turned off at the end of the day, etc..).

It is important for schools to know their school's energy consumption including the potential for cost savings and environmental benefits.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of this article further, please contact our Education team on 0113 244 6100. You can also keep up to date by following Wrigleys Solicitors on LinkedIn. The information in this article is necessarily of a general nature. Specific advice should be sought for specific situations. If you have any queries or need any legal advice please feel free to contact Wrigleys Solicitors.