SCHOOLS | DECARBONISATION SCHOOL SAVINGS Decarbonisation funding is helping UK schools kickstart their journey towards net carbon zero. Barker Associates Tom Deacon explains how data is helping his firm save 1,170 tonnes of carbon in 130 education projects the ways they could invest in their estates and save energy. PSDS has enabled delivery of selected projects at a significant scale. Now complete, the projects supported by Barker are set to deliver an estimated 1,178 tonnes in carbon savings and 1.4m in revenue savings per annum. A drop in the ocean perhaps but a step in the right direction. There is a lot to be positive about. But how do we, as engineers and buildings professionals, make sure that these projects are making a real difference especially when delivering projects at the pace required to tackle the climate emergency? The lessons learned through this process are summarised below: A data-led approach is key Government funding helped school decarbonisation projects L aunched in September 2020, the governments Low Carbon Skills Funds (LCSF) and Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) together formed the most significant single injection of funding by government into the decarbonisation of the public estate. Through both PSDS and LCSF, Barker was able to help more than 60 education academy trusts and individual schools to successfully secure funding for the identification of decarbonisation projects, technical solution development and their physical implementation. At 1bn, this was a staggering investment by the Treasury. The funding came from the BEIS and was administered by Salix Finance In the short term it was designed to boost the UK economy through the pandemic and, at the same time, invest money in tackling climate change kickstarting the Prime Ministers 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution. No time to lose The timescale for delivery was extraordinarily ambitious projects approved in early January 2021 had to be completed by the end of March 2021. This would require real innovation in delivery approach and, from a technical standpoint, it was imperative that the money was carefully directed towards projects that would have the most impact. LCSF has enabled many public sector organisations, often for the first time, to commission energy assessments, decarbonisation site audits and technical feasibilities prompting data collection and identifying For some time, the industry has been helping clients to understand their building energy consumption problems. Even with this data, the barrier has been their inability to fund the required actions. The LCSF and PSDS funds have provided public sector clients with an opportunity to unlock solutions to these problems. Securing professional support to survey sites in detail allowed them to identify technical solutions that could be implemented and ultimately determine their own unique roadmap to decarbonising their estate. For many, this is the first time they will have been able to commission such activities. Having clear information on which to base investment decisions is one of the essential first steps to turning ambitions into concrete actions. Monitoring the outcome In our experience, the true value comes when clients can aggregate the potential carbon and cost savings data across their entire estate and take a strategic view. Only then are they able to make the right decisions and drive best value. Through assessing energy savings opportunities at scale, it quickly became apparent that the small things really do matter. Low-cost and easy interventions such as installation of valve jackets, localised radiator controls, pipework insulation and low energy hand dryers individually had excellent /tCO2e savings potential. These modest interventions, when tackled at scale, can make big inroads into carbon emissions, and should not be overlooked. Even when working at pace, it was vital to take a longterm view and avoid installing fit and forget technology. A critical part of the delivery plan was providing metering and monitoring technology alongside the projects themselves with the aim of giving clients better insight into building energy usage patterns. By integrating both hardware and software monitoring solutions into PSDS-funded projects, it has enabled 38 September 2021 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Sep 21 pp38-39 Decarbonising schools.indd 38 27/08/2021 16:08