“Energising Communities” Project – 2013
School Energy Efficiency (SEE) is proud to announce that we have won funding from “The Big Lottery” to provide a free service to local Nottinghamshire community organisations to reduce their energy costs, save money and heighten efficiency awareness.
Why is this project needed?
For many community organisations energy use is a growing cost that means they are unable to deliver as many services as they wish. Often staff have little knowledge of what can be done, where to start or the funding to employ someone to help.
This project is fully funded by The Big Lottery and will help identify those simple no-cost or low-cost opportunities that will deliver immediate savings. It will also provide ideas for larger impact projects where the organisation may choose to reinvest the savings made.
The provider is School Energy Efficiency bringing both academic understanding and practical knowledge gathered from a number of years in the education sector, helping schools reduce energy and students become more aware of energy and sustainability.
This fully funded project provides free energy efficiency advice to Voluntary Community Service organisations. This practical and realistic approach has an immediate impact on energy consumption and also raises awareness about energy conservation within the organisation. This is achieved with staff involvement bringing together their experience with industry expertise to quickly discover issues and opportunities.
What will the impact be?
The need to change energy use behaviour is becoming increasingly pressing and is a key Government message. Personal contact between SEE and the staff allows immediate feedback using organisations’ intimate knowledge of buildings and the people using them. This will result in the most effective solutions being discovered quickly, resulting in:
- Energy savings and reduced ongoing costs
- More comfortable spaces in which to work and visit
- More effective lighting
- Staff gaining a better understanding of what they can do to be more energy efficient
- A more sustainable and responsible organisation with a smaller carbon footprint
How does the service work?
To take advantage of one of these 15 funded places please contact School Energy Efficiency using one of the following methods:
Tel: 01623 620625
Mob: 07847 516876
Email: richard.Smith@schoolenergyefficiency.co.uk
Twitter: @School_EE
We will book a mutually convenient time slot. As a guide the service will be over a period of about a week. In this time the following events will occur:
- A walk-around survey with appropriate staff to quickly identify energy saving opportunities. The use of a thermal imaging camera and energy monitoring devices will help gather information about problem areas.
- A question and answer session to allow the consultant to gain a greater understanding of the buildings and their use. This will also provide a chance for staff to improve their own energy efficiency knowledge.
- Analysis of appropriate solutions and effectiveness, plus research into other contacts, organisations, programmes and funds that may be of further support.
- A simple report that is clear and concise for all readers to understand the issues requiring focus and what they can do about them.
- A workshop session with staff to allow the report details to be summarised, providing the opportunity to pass on to staff the knowledge and skills needed to progress the solutions.
- After the service is complete support is available through the contact methods above.
What will your service tell me?
Solutions include simple, no-cost or low-cost options, saving you money. These savings can be used to help the organisation with its overall costs immediately, but other opportunities will be identified for some of the savings to be reinvested in larger impact projects that will bring further and perhaps larger benefits in the medium term.
For instance, behaviour change is one of the key factors to be addressed, as industry research shows an average of 10% savings can be achieved through this alone. Some of this money may be reinvested in LED bulbs or fixing draught issues to reduce electricity or heating bills.
Who can use this service?
If you are an organisation providing a service to the community in the Nottinghamshire area and are fed up of high energy bills then this service is for you. If you’re not sure that you qualify but are in the East Midlands area then please still get in touch. We aim to be sustainable in all that we do, including travelling to places, but the benefits we aim to bring to organisations should considerably overshadow any extra mileage involved.
We aim to deliver this service to 15 community organisations so please contact us as soon as possible to ensure you benefit from one of the funded opportunities.
What difference will this project make to the community?
This project will strengthen local communities by reducing energy consumption and creating better spaces in which to work and play. The issue of fuel poverty is rising in local communities and by working together we will reduce energy bills, benefiting both the community organisations and members of those communities.
During the project we will organise a self-supporting network, including community organisations involved in this project and other organisations that can help ensure the sustainability of changes made.
Whilst this project is aimed at community organisations many of them are run by local people. This project will raise energy efficiency awareness, knowledge and skills of people in their communities. It will give people simple strategies to become more energy efficient.
This project will also:
- Enable individuals to develop attitudes, thinking, and behaviour to save energy and money.
- Develop both individual and organisational capabilities around energy conservation and environmental protection.
This project is designed to inspire those involved and, as a result, share the knowledge and ideas gained with family, friends and other organisations to the benefit of all.