Building on CIBSE’s carbon-saving initiative
Not only has the 100 days of Carbon Clean Up campaign organised by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers made a useful contribution to reducing the UK's emissions of carbon dioxide, but it has also shown how much can be achieved for just a little investment and how important it is for everyone in an organisation to be involved. An energy manager alone cannot achieve very much. With the support and involvement of everyone in an organisation, from the board downwards, success is assured — as the experiences of award winners in the campaign demonstrate (click the link below, "The 100 days stories'). The CIBSE campaign was extremely successful in delivering its aims from a small budget. It also leaves a valuable legacy in the form of its 100 days action pack, which all the hundreds of participants received. That action pack is still available as a collection of computer files, complete with PowerPoint presentations for introducing management and staff to the importance of reducing carbon emissions and how to go about it.* The case histories of the winning entries reinforce the observation of CIBSE's president David Hughes that the most successful campaigns were those that started at the top and which kept employees fully informed. That principle is reflected by the efforts of the group estates manager for a national retailer to deliver energy savings in a nationwide chain of shops. The CIBSE campaign provided the catalyst for him to present the case to the group board and the basis for the materials needed to present the plan to regional managers, who then passed the message on to the managers of individual shops. This on-going campaign is already pointing to reductions in electricity consumption of 10%, representing 34 000 t of carbon dioxide a year. Another participant in the campaign demonstrated how experience of delivering energy savings quickly leads to even more savings. This project, at a hotel in Wales, is also achieving major reductions in water consumption. The CIBSE initiative came five years into on-going efforts to reduce energy and water consumption, so the property maintenance manager simply moved the campaign into a higher gear — and won the award for the most carbon saved. The work to reduce water and energy consumption will continue, with the commitment of management and staff providing vital support to technical initiatives. Another participant in the campaign demonstrated the effectiveness of the approach developed by CIBSE to calculate carbon emissions from a building — an approach that can also be used to track subsequent carbon savings. A small program in CIBSE's TM22 package is said to make this task very easy. CIBSE has shown the way. There must be many people out there to maintain momentum. *CIBSE's telephone number is 020 8675 5211.
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