Reducing our carbon footprint
"Together the DEC and digitalenergy provide all the information we need to see how well each property is performing, pinpoint areas for improvement and drive forward the various energy efficiency projects."
Paul Bailey, Head of Property, Leisure Connection
With a staff of 4,500 and a portfolio of over 70 properties, including three national sports centres, several theatres and a range of leisure centres for families and schools, leisure facilities management company Leisure Connection Ltd faced unique issues when it came to reducing its carbon footprint.
Despite the challenges, Leisure Connection has been proactive in its approach, deploying a number of initiatives to reduce energy efficiency across all sites as well as working with
i-Prophets Energy Services to monitor energy consumption and produce Display Energy Certificates (DECs), which are now a legal requirement for public buildings greater than 1000m2.
Common initiatives introduced by Leisure Connection aimed at reducing energy consumption include the installation of pool covers at leisure centres to reduce heat loss from pool water overnight, the re-commissioning of BMS systems and the installation of sub-metering. The company also developed an awareness drive to educate their clients, staff and customers about energy efficiency with schemes such as training sessions for management teams and seasonal road shows, which provide guidance on how to reduce energy consumption and make the most of seasonal changes, for example making the most of daylight to cut electricity usage during the summer months. The Display Energy Certificates (DECs), which were produced for Leisure Connection by qualified assessors from i-Prophets, have helped to drive energy efficiency initiatives across Leisure Connection’s portfolio.
"Leisure Connection is a true testament to the philosophy of small steps to big gains, By viewing new legislation as an opportunity rather than a burden, Leisure Connection has successfully raised awareness both in-house and amongst the general public who use their centres."
Richard Hipkiss, i-Prophets Energy Services
In addition Leisure Connection has implemented i-Prophets online solution, digitalenergy, to help track energy consumption across all its sites.
Approved by Communities and Local Government (CLG), digitalenergy allows property managers and owners to gather and analyse building information in a single, online resource. This not only enables building managers to demonstrate compliance with current and forthcoming legislation but also to monitor the results of changes made to optimise energy efficiency.
"The DEC provides us with a benchmark on how efficient or inefficient a building is," explained Paul Bailey, Head of Property at Leisure Connection. "Together the DEC and digitalenergy provide all the information we need to see how well each property is performing, pinpoint areas for improvement and drive forward the various energy efficiency projects."
Paul has also used digitalenergy to create an energy consumption league table between sites, aimed at encouraging managers of sites which have not improved energy efficiency to look at ways to cut energy consumption. In additions the DECs, which are displayed prominently, have generated a lot of interest amongst staff and customers, helping to raise awareness of energy efficiency.
"At the moment we are working on winning hearts and minds," continued Paul. "We have a plan in place to reduce carbon footprint, which has ensured we are all pulling together in the one direction. Part of that plan is educating people and encouraging everyone to get involved in the campaign and take individual steps to reduce energy usage, from switching off lights in summer to using daylight rather than electricity when possible. Our aim this year is to reduce our energy usage by five per cent and we are well on our way to meeting that aim," he added.
Richard Hipkiss, Sales and Marketing Director at i-Prophets, explained that when i-Prophets began work to assess Leisure Connection’s property for the production of DECs, the level of awareness in place ensured key energy information was readily at hand and the staff were enthusiastic and interested in the outcome.
"Staff are enthusiastic in the explanation of the DEC energy rating and are very clear on how their customers can participate in the improvement program, making not only every employee responsible for energy but members too."