Budgets are tighter than ever: whilst our clients usually have a longer-term interest in achieving net-zero, their immediate challenge is more often than not to save money on their energy usage.

Step forward Energy Optimisation our way:

• In our view, energy optimisation means ensuring all aspects of a client’s buying, generation and use of energy have been rendered as efficient as they reasonably can be. Using less energy and generating more of it in-house will reduce operating costs and save money.
• Energy optimisation is part of the recognised route to net-zero: first be efficient and reduce energy usage; then deliver what energy is still required via renewable means.

How can ReEnergise help?

The ReEnergise Energy Optimisation Service allows clients to progress at a pace that suits their purse and their programme.

We have carefully studied the many energy optimisation measures available to complex sites, to identify the pathways that will most rapidly reduce energy bills without requiring high upfront costs.

We are confident we can find and implement energy optimisation measures even when clients have had previous site surveys. Our confidence stems from:

• Years of experience working in the field of energy systems engineering, especially on school estates.
• The unrivalled expertise of our senior energy systems engineers.
• Our forensic and protracted study of the options and pathways for optimising energy usage on estates. We focus on the aspects often ignored in conventional energy efficiency audits. (Some examples are offered below).
• Our track record of resolving what new clients had considered intractable site issues, when they first came to us for help.

Equally, whilst we’re keen to find affordable savings for our clients, we’re also forthright about what not to do because it won’t pay back.

Our tailored and targeted approach is particularly suited to school groups, where what we find on one site could lead to economies of scale and widespread implementation across other sites.

Snapshots of the Potential

• Plant room rationalisation:savings achieved in 1 to 2 years.
  Older plant rooms that have had multiple boiler replacements over the years often have redundant pipework and circulation pumps that have not been disconnected or removed. It is common to find up to three unnecessary circuits in school plant rooms, all still being pumped, and adding up to avoidable electricity costs. Typical wastage in a large plant room could be as much as £5,000 per year at current grid prices.

  This is a quick money-saver with paybacks typically at 1 or 2 years but leading to significant savings over the next 10 to 15 years.

• Boiler controls: another quick saving.
  Some schools have complex Buildings Energy Management Systems but these are expensive and the capital outlay may put schools off. However, there are some controls that can be installed as stand-alone that do not cost so much and will provide immediate cost savings. One example – often overlooked in plant room set-ups – is weather compensation. As part of our initial analysis on site we will always check for this.

  This is another quick money-saver with significant longer-term benefits.

• Hidden energy procurement costs: savings achieved at the next supply contract renewal.
  We investigated the current energy supply contracts of one of our larger school clients. The school was paying their broker an annual management fee and the broker had assured them that he was not also charging a commission. Our forensic analysis of the supply contracts revealed hidden broker commission costs amounting to about £10,000 per year.

  This kind of contract analysis is another short-term money-saver, and not the only way to save money through careful procurement.

• Missed solar PV opportunities: medium term savings.
  School staff often tell us they have already had solar PV installed. However, we sometimes find that it is not at the optimum scale. This is usually because when it was installed the motivation was not saving money but something else, such as planning compliance. One of our optimisation services is to review a school or trust’s total holdings, to establish what scale and arrangement of solar arrays would provide the best return on investment. We can also validate payback claims made by installers, which can be wildly optimistic. Solar PV optimisation is a medium-term money-saver: projects entail quite high outlay and usually pay back in 5 to 10 years, all depending on the situation at the school.

  However, our initial analysis – to determine the scope for solar optimisation and the likely return on investment –  is low-cost.