East Sussex County Council wanted site managers to have improved control of their energy use. Using funding from its Climate Change budget, the Council commissioned site manager training and energy audits across five primary schools, one special school and four care facilities.
Over a period of six months in 2024, Zenergi delivered a holistic programme, incorporating an online energy-saving workshop for multiple site managers and a separate session on heat pump technology. Detailed surveys at 10 sites with a sub-optimal energy performance, investigated how their heating controls were configured and how the systems were operating. Our engineers helped local teams understand how to better use their controls to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. Each site received a clear report with recommendations as well as follow up calls to check progress and offer further support.
We and our site staff found the surveys to be very useful in highlighting areas for improvement and monitoring. We are very pleased with the outcomes, technical advice and Zenergi’s support to help sites implement changes. Even low and no-cost measures have reaped cost savings."
Paul Hardman
Energy Efficiency Manager
East Sussex County Council
When heating systems are not optimised, energy use rises quickly. Site staff often do not have the time or training to explore technical settings, meaning energy waste can go unnoticed.
This project helped staff feel more confident and gave them the knowledge they need to run their buildings more efficiently. It also created a better understanding of how heating systems operate and how to spot and reduce energy waste.
Some of the sites had small issues that were easy to fix but had a big impact on energy use. Others needed more guidance because of site-specific maintenance challenges.
We enjoyed assisting East Sussex County Council to optimise their heating controls at individual sites. We were often able to implement immediate improvements during the site surveys, with estimated savings of nearly £5,000.”
Daniel Baumberg
Energy Consultant
Zenergi
This made it easier for the team to focus on quick wins first to release immediate savings to reinvest in future improvements.
1,042,371 kWh reduction in energy
A 26% reduction in energy use
£52,567 in cost savings
A 15% reduction in energy spend
194 tCO2 reduction in carbon emissions
Some improvements were made during the site visits. These alone added up to a reduction of 109,022 kWh, offering immediate potential savings of circa £5,000.
We believe the site teams have gained confidence and knowledge to keep improving their building’s performance long after our site visit.
East Sussex County Council has focused on implementing the no or low-cost recommendations. In-house monitoring reports that 2025 energy costs for the 10 sites were £15,000 lower than in the year preceding year following our recommendations. In future, should further funding be identified, this could enable other recommendations to be progressed and additional savings made.
Energy is a large cost for public buildings, which means eliminating energy waste can offer big savings. This project is proof that even small changes, practical support and clear advice can unlock immediate savings.
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