Draft Energy Policy

Luton Borough Council Draft Energy Policy Energy and water management in LBC non-domestic buildings 2009 Contents Page Introduction 3 Background 4 Policy Drivers 4 Where are we? 7 How can we improve? 13 What next? 18 Policy 19 Policy Scope 19 Corporate Policy Statement 20 Statement of Commitment 21 List of Tables Table 1: Findings from the Carbon Trust audit for the Town Hall 14 Table 2: Findings from the Carbon Trust audit for Challney Schools 15 Table 3: Findings from the Carbon Trust audit for the central depot 16 List of Figures Figure 1: Display Campaign poster for Icknield Primary School 6 Figure 2: Annual energy consumption per metre square for LBC buildings 8 Figure 3: Breakdown of energy consumption per m2 by fuel type for LBC buildings 9 Figure 4: Weather corrected breakdown of energy consumption per m2 by fuel type for LBC buildings 9 Figure 5: Examples of electricity benchmarks for Council buildings 11 Figure 6: Examples of gas benchmarks for Council buildings 12 Appendices Appendix A: The Nottingham Declaration 24 Appendix B: Benchmark information for Council non-domestic buildings 25 2 Introduction Luton Borough Council owns and occupies approximately 175 non-residential buildings and in 2006-7 spent around three million pounds on the energy and water consumption of these buildings. As energy prices have increased over the past few years this has required the Council to devote a larger proportion of its resources to cover energy costs. In addition, all buildings currently operate using traditional fossil fuel sources which means that they are producing carbon dioxide emissions and therefore having an impact on climate change. This energy policy sets out statements of commitment and actions that the Council will undertake to reduce its energy and water use and investigate alternative sources of energy production, thereby also reducing its carbon dioxide emissions. 3 Background Policy Drivers Climate Change The Council signed the Nottingham Declaration in 2006. The Nottingham Declaration is a statement of commitment relating to climate change that local authorities can adopt, showing their willingness and intention to focus on the issue of climate change and how it can be tackled locally. A copy of the Nottingham Declaration is shown in Appendix A. As part of its commitment under the Nottingham Declaration the Council has adopted a statement of principles which will guide its operations and services to help reduce its impact on climate change and adapt to changes that may occur as a result of climate change. A number of these principles are relevant to energy use and therefore are reproduced here. Minimisation • The Council will minimise its energy use to a level consistent with providing services at a suitable level • The Council will invest in energy efficiency measures whenever the predicted payback at current energy prices is greater than the whole life cost. • The Council will invest in energy efficient devices, including heating, cooling and lighting equipment, both in existing installations and in new-build • The Council will ensure its estate is properly maintained to enable energy use to be optimised • The Council will minimise its use of resources to deliver services and achieve its goals • The Council will review its estate in order to prioritise buildings in greatest need of improvement to reduce use of physical resources • The Council will, through its ‘Reshaping the Estate’ initiative, seek to achieve the highest levels of sustainability practically achievable. • The Council will maximise the use of grey and rain water and minimise the use of mains water Green Sources • The Council will use and promote energy and materials from renewable sources whenever it is available and affordable The Council’s Energy Policy in LBC non-domestic buildings therefore reflects these underlying principles on climate change and monitor changes in consumption to show the contribution this is making to the overarching aim of reducing the Council’s impact on climate change. 4 National Indicators The Government has introduced new National Indicators that refer specifically to carbon dioxide emissions and therefore require careful monitoring and actions to minimise emissions. The relevant indicators for this policy are: NI 185 CO2 reduction from Local Authority operations NI 186 Per capita reduction in CO2 emissions in the LA area NI 188 Planning to adapt to climate change The energy and water used by Council buildings and operations will have a direct impact on each of these indicators. Reductions for the Council and the wider community will only be achieved if energy and water management is undertaken. Furthermore, possible risks posed by climate change such as drought and higher summer temperatures will have a direct impact on the need for water saving features in buildings and energy efficiency cooling. In addition, measuring the CO2 emissions from building energy and water use will be necessary in order to report on NI 185. Therefore all electricity, gas, oil and water use will need to be carefully monitored as part of the information needed to meet this requirement. Energy Ratings New legislation from the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) requires that local authorities produce a Display Energy Certificate for all of their buildings that are over 1000m2. These certificates will show how efficient the buildings are in terms of their energy use. Luton Borough Council has already been taking part in a scheme, the European Display Campaign, that provides energy posters rating energy use in a similar way to the ratings given for fridges and other electrical appliances. This has helped the Council to prepare for the change in legislation. An example of one of our current posters from the European Display Campaign is shown in Figure 1. 5 Figure 1: Display Campaign poster for Icknield Primary School 6 Where are we? In order to manage and monitor energy and water use it is essential to have a baseline of current consumption from which to measure changes and set targets. With the increasing pressures to reduce emission levels it is important that this is also understood in terms of carbon dioxide emissions as well as consumption levels and cost. Costs Over a two year period costs for electricity, gas, oil and water consumption for Luton Borough Council’s non-residential buildings rose by 15%. In 2006-7 this cost was over 3 million pounds. The primary reason for this increase was higher prices for gas and electricity in the Council’s new energy contract. While such significant increases may not occur each year the trend for rising prices has been occurring for some time and looks set to continue. This trend is confirmed by considering prices over a slightly longer period. For example, over the past four years (since 2003-4 financial year) electricity and gas prices have risen by 75% and 73% respectively. Consumption Comparing these price increases to how consumption has changed over the same time however, shows even more clearly how much price fluctuations effect Luton’s spend on energy. Consumption per square metre over 100 of the Council’s main buildings for the last three financial years is shown below in Figure 2. 7 Annual consumption per metre square for Luton Borough Council buildings 280 253.86 260 243.66 240 228.05 220 200 18 0 160 140 12 0 10 0 80 60 40 20 0 2004-5 2005-6 2006-7 Year Figure 2: Annual energy consumption per metre square for LBC buildings Figure 2 demonstrates that consumption has fluctuated over the past three years, but actually shows a downward trend between 2005-6 and 2006-7 in contrast to the increase in costs. However, consumption information must be considered more carefully as the amount of energy used is affected by a number of other factors and most significantly, the weather. The amount of cold weather we experience each year significantly affects the amount of gas or oil used to heat a building. Therefore the total consumption figures above have been broken down by fuel type to reveal where changes in consumption are occurring. The results are shown in Figure 3. 8 Breakdown of energy consumption per m2 by fuel type 120 100 80 2004-5 60 2005-6 2006-7 40 20 0 Electricity Gas Oil Fuel t ype Figure 3: Breakdown of energy consumption per m2 by fuel type for LBC buildings Figure 3 reveals that the fluctuations are occurring most significantly in gas and oil. This would suggest that these changes may be affected by the weather as these are the fuels used for heating. By weather correcting these figures they can be compared more accurately as this removes the effect that a milder or colder winter will have on consumption. This has been done in Figure 4 below: Consumption per m2 by fuel type (weather corrected) 16 0 14 0 12 0 10 0 2004-5 80 2005-6 2006-7 60 40 20 0 Electricity Gas Oil Fuel t ype Figure 4: Weather corrected breakdown of energy consumption per m2 by fuel type for LBC buildings 9 Figure 4 therefore demonstrates that for gas and oil, where weather is considered to be the same each year, consumption has actually increased since 2004-5. This indicates that such changes will also contribute to increased costs over the long term. These assessments demonstrate how difficult it is to monitor overall consumption as changes in use can be affected by a variety of factors which cannot easily be considered when looking at the total usage for all buildings. Therefore buildings are also considered on an individual basis. A sample of this kind of assessment is given below. Consumption in Individual Buildings The buildings owned and operated by Luton Borough Council vary widely in their type and usage.

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