Pools are a major contributor to a facility’s energy costs as they need year-round heating
to operational decisions, investment and allocating funds for ongoing refurbishment. What’s becoming increasingly clear, though, is that by adopting a proactive approach to energy management, clubs of all sizes are able to signifi cantly reduce their costs. Steve Bambury, head of commercial
operations at 1Life – which won the Go Green ukactive FLAME Award 2014 – says “ongoing proactive energy management is essential for the long- term control of energy consumption and costs”. 1Life’s programme to optimise its building controls contributed to a 12 per cent reduction in energy consumption. This contributed to 1Life rising to seventh in the CRC league tables – the highest position by a leisure company.
What are you paying? Energy experts identify three key areas where an impact can be made. The first is price: what you’re actually paying for the energy you use. The second is the energy hardware, namely the systems and controls you use to introduce energy into your facility. And the final area is energy strategy, which is about the way you use the hardware to deliver the energy you’ve purchased. Energy price is the amount you’re charged for the electricity, oil, gas and
May 2015 © Cybertrek 2015
water you use. The fi rst step towards regaining control of your costs is to familiarise yourself with your bill and understand the breakdown of your charges. Some suppliers bundle everything together, while others break bills down into different components, with signifi cantly different prices charged for different times of the day. It’s by no means uncommon to be charged four times more for a unit of energy at certain peak times, such as late afternoon or early evening, than at others. If you’re a larger organisation, you
may be liable for TRIAD charges. This is where huge premiums, sometimes exceeding £30/kwh as against the normal 10p/kwh, are charged during three key half-hour periods each year. You may not be able to negotiate
these charges down, but knowing what they are and planning your energy usage with them in mind can make a huge difference. Shop around, or work with an independent broker to secure the best deal. Energy companies make millions of pounds a year out of customer apathy and ignorance, from people who could be buying their energy more intelligently but don’t bother and settle unquestioningly for the fi rst package they’re offered.
Lowering energy costs: three key areas
Unit price Energy consumables Strategy
Investing in hardware Energy hardware covers everything that delivers and controls your energy supply. It can range from a light bulb to full-scale plant room solutions such as Combined Heat and Power (CHP), which involves simultaneously producing electricity and heat from a single fuel source, such as natural gas, biomass, biogas, ground source, coal, waste heat or oil. For a club with a pool, which needs heating all year round, CHP can significantly reduce energy costs and carbon footprint.
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