ENERGY
OSTS OF COMPLIANCE AND WILL THE THEM?
the CRC will achieve net savings (ignoring the ‘carbon levy’ they will have to pay no matter what scheme exists).
The CRC is also clearly having an impact in driving behavioural change amongst organisations. Looking at the CRC’s policy aim of reducing emissions, our survey suggests that it is having some positive results: • 60 percent of respondents said they were paying more attention to energy/carbon as a result of the CRC.
• Around half said the scheme will lead to them reducing their footprint.
• Around half said they understand their energy usage better as a result of the scheme.
• Approximately two thirds of CRC participants said they spent less than 40 percent of their carbon management time on the CRC. This indicates that many CRC participants are already measuring and reporting their carbon footprints for other purposes. This reflects the views of some of the participants we have been working with. For example Susan Halliwell, Environment and Climate Change Manager at Oxfordshire County Council, said that “the CRC was very resource intensive as we geared up for it, but it has helped crystallise the business case for investment in low carbon technology in the Council. And now we have the data it is relatively simple to keep that going”. And one of the universities we have worked with found the CRC the reason they needed to review their whole property portfolio which they found very useful in a number of ways, not just to do with its carbon footprint.
So the CRC has very likely made a difference in terms of reducing emissions. We believe this is a result of a combination of factors – the new cost of carbon, an increase in energy prices but also an increased focus on energy costs at senior levels due to the compliance burden, audit requirements and reputational impacts of the scheme.
Will the recent simplification proposals reduce those costs? In our view, yes. However, the simplification proposals will only really have an effect in 2014 when Phase 2 begins. Costs between year 1 and year 2 of phase 1 are already likely to halve now that the registration, footprinting
and systems creation are largely completed. There was an unexpectedly high ‘front loading’ of costs in year 1 of phase 1 where a lot of time was required to get the participants ready for the scheme and to determine the total carbon footprint under the footprint report. Now that much of that should be eliminated under the simplification proposals, compliance costs in year 1 of phase 2 should fall significantly.
In the meantime the Environment Agency have begun a rolling programme of audits to challenge participants on their approach to compliance with the scheme. KPMG are one of three external firms working with the Agency to develop, implement and conduct these compliance audits. Participants should work on increasing the effectiveness of their annual reporting
to reduce costs further and make sure they are compliant for any Environment Agency audit. A good challenge or audit of the processes by an independent team can really help show where things can be improved, particularly if good practice can be learned from elsewhere. Indeed we have been working with a number of participants to do this by strengthening and challenging their existing approaches to carbon management. We welcome the proposed changes to the CRC and support efforts to reduce the administrative burden on both business and the public sector. We believe that almost all participants should see the administrative costs of the CRC fall as a result of the simplification proposals as well as participants becoming more used to complying as the scheme works through its first phase.
www.kpmg.com
Elta Fans’ success exposed at Reid Kerr College in Paisley
everal Fans supplied by Elta Fans have been installed at Reid Kerr College in Renfrewshire, Scotland – but deliberately left partly exposed as practical visual aids for the teaching staff. The Kingswinford-based manufacturer supplied a total of ten units: three Jetflow SJs; two Quietflow SQTs and five Multiflow SMBs, for use within the ventilation system of the new-build project, a £4million, state-of-the-art Institute of Construction & Engineering (ICE), undertaken with the support of the Scottish Funding Council. The teaching facility, located at the College’s main campus in Paisley, offers a range of courses to students. Marking a growth in the area of renewables, Reid Kerr is at the forefront of this training provision in Scotland and the College now offers an increased programme that includes ‘Construction & Built Environment’, ‘Engineering’, ‘Energy’ and ‘Utilities’. Various working fans were left exposed and these are now in use for demonstration purposes on courses such as HNC Construction Management, Intermediate 2 Renewable Energy and Intermediate 2 Electrical Installation. The range of Jetflow SJ, all metal, in-line centrifugal fans, is one of the most extensive on the market. It is designed to provide high-performance in medium-
S
pressure extract or supply systems and is suited to residential, commercial and industrial applications. Quietflow SQT is the Elta range of acoustically treated, in- line centrifugal twin fans, manufactured in galvanised steel with a natural finish. Designed for internal mounting to overcome space restrictions in buildings with low ceiling voids, the compact units emit exceptionally low sound
characteristics and so can be sited in close proximity to building occupants. Multiflow SMB is the range of square-cased, mixed- flow fans from Elta with a unique, adjustable-pitch impeller. It is suitable for extract or supply installations, mainly within ductwork for a range of industrial and commercial applications.
www.eltafans.com
PUBLIC SECTOR SUSTAINABILITY • VOLUME 2 ISSUE 4 29
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