This years forum is titled “Local action. Global change?” and will host discussions whether local action can have a noticeable impact on the world’s climate. It will look at examples of different local initiatives, possible Technological Solutions to climate change and it will showcase the work of Organisations that tackle climate and sustainability issues in Cambridge, the UK and internationally.

George Bartley from Building Sustainability will take part in a panel debate with speakers from several perspectives: From a grassroots perspective, from a governmental
perspective, from an academic perspective and from a business perspective. He will share with the audience his experience of running a business in the field of environment and energy management and what he has learned working with energy reduction initiatives at the University of Cambridge.

We are sure the discussions will be really interesting, so make sure to get your tickets if you haven’t already.

To support this kind of competitions and to raise the fighting spirit the Workplace Footprint Tracker features league tables with real-time data showing competition progress. These league tables can be setup to be visible, not only on the Workplace Footprint Tracker dashboard, but also on digital signage screens or on the company Intranet or website.

More info here.

A league table showing how the energy use has changed for the different work areas. Green arrows represent reduction in energy use.

It is mainly a tool for the facility and energy managers and will help them in the daily work of energy analysis to save energy and reduce carbon footprint. The Register will make it easier to track savings associated with assets and modifications of assets and also to make it easier to manage building assets and their characteristics related to energy efficiency.

The Asset Register provides a number of benefits, e.g.:
• All energy related Asset information is collected in one place
• Asset information is easily accessible
• Supports follow up of energy saving actions until the result has been evaluated
• Automatically produces metering schematics

The Asset Register is an integrated feature of the advanced energy
management tools of the WFT and the content in the Asset Register starts being built already during the initial set-up and during the install of meters and sensors.

Download report here.

As a pilot department any energy reduction strategies or working practices deemed successful may be rolled out across the wider University. As part of the pilot behaviour change, lighting controls and building plant management are all being evaluated.

One area where savings data is becoming well understood along with an understanding of retrofit scenarios is in the area of lighting controls. Occupancy sensing and daylight harvesting can easily yield over 50% savings when compared to a manually controlled lighting system.

With a cost of between £30-£40 per sqM to upgrade existing fittings to provide dimmable lighting, a payback of 5-years is achievable and an investment yield of 14% over a ten year period is achievable.

Building Sustainability Ltd emphasis the importance of wireless sensors for detecting daylight and occupancy as this enables the system to be easily retrofitted as well as having the sensors positioned precisely in the right place.

For the lighting trials at the University of Cambridge Building Sustainability Limited are working with Lutron.

Working with Scandinavian smart grid market leaders Aidon Ay and Connode we are pleased to announce the availability of our low-cost high availability solution.

The system utilises a robust radio mesh avoiding expensive cabling or the unreliability and subscription fees of point to multi-point radio. All assets report their data over the single network infrastructure.

The network is future-proof and will shortly support the new open M2M (machine to machine) 6LoWPAN protocol suite, fully based on IETF Internet Protocol version 6.

The core of the offering is the Aidon range of smart electricity meters which provide a easy to retrofit capabity. This applies to existing distribution boards and building plant. ecoMeshnet is integrated into these meters as standard.

Where the site has existing Gas or Water meters then we use the stand-alone m-bus ecoMeshnet module. This can cater for pulse meters by using an m-bus to pulse converter.

The solution is available now to order.

Download your invitation here for more details.

Places are limited so make sure to register if you would like to attend.

For key areas in a building however the building energy manager needs the right tools to analyse the performance of heating and cooling systems.

Building Sustainability Ltd has now created this optional tool so that even more energy waste can be identified and stamped out.

Read more about the Energy Manager’s Workbench here.

At the recent Environmental Association Universities and Colleges (EAUC) conference held in York 27– 29 March 2012 there was a major focus on the importance of “Behaviour Change initiatives incorporated as part of environmental strategies for sustainable campuses”.

For example the Cabinet Office’s “behaviour change insights team” have published a new report “Behaviour Change and Energy” and this was presented at the conference. This has a chapter devoted to….“how we can use information more effectively to encourage people to be
more energy efficient. In particular, it explores how we can draw upon the fact that people are influenced by what those around them are doing (social norms), and are more likely to be influenced by information which is novel, accessible and of relevance to the individual in question”.

The University has recently deployed advanced smart metering and created novel dashboards that show energy usage specific to each laboratory and a league table of achievement. This is important as a lot of bench top equipment in a laboratory is under personal control.

Laboratory staff are then able to observe in near real time the impact of the results of decisions they make to better manage equipment. Communal spaces on the other hand rely on a collective desire to change and the influence of others.

In early March 2012 the energy reduction drive with launched with an exhibition held in the staff restaurant including a register where staff could make a pledge to ‘think green and endeavor to reduce my energy consumption and carbon footprint wherever practicable’ in order to save energy and also share ideas. Nearly 230 staff members signed this pledge which equates to 76% of the workforce.

We are now in April and we have overall energy trend data for the first month that shows an 11% reduction in laboratory consumption.

The primary behaviour change techniques deployed include the following

1. It was staged as a competition with a league table running daily and monthly updates to utilize natural competitiveness amongst departmental staff. There is an incentive at the end of each month and a “Grand Prix” at the end of 7 months of competition (to coincide with the department’s annual retreat);

2. Each lab has their own unique dashboard which shows near real-time information;

3. Each lab nominated an ‘energy rep’ to help engage others to ask themselves “What can I do?” and to spread the message that ‘together small savings will make a difference’;

4. Regular energy committee meetings are chaired by the department’s Environmental Coordinator where energy saving ideas are shared and results are discussed.

When lab staff asked how they felt about what was taking place here are some of the feedback they gave……

“The biggest challenge in the Institute is changing behaviour and attitudes, and how we implement the change. Experience has taught us that ‘Energy & Carbon Reduction’ means different things to different people and the reasons for reduction can be both a motivating and a demotivating factor depending on individual’s beliefs” (KJH. Energy Champion)

“I was very skeptical at the start, I didn’t think the changes we could make would make a lot of difference. Being able to actually see how your efforts effect total energy consumption using the energy tracker is really motivating. We saw that we were able to make huge reductions overnight. It has really changed the way I think about energy conservation” (EC. Post Doc)

“The labs (‘workzones’) consume about 40% of the department’s total electrical consumption so to achieve an 11% reduction of this in the first month is a fantastic achievement”. (KJH. Facilities Manager)

The challenge now is first to maintain the savings that have been made and then to push the boundaries even further. Whilst doing so, our research must not be compromised, therefore new ways/initiatives to reduce wastage is critical.