Top 8 things for Housing Associations to consider when reviewing their energy strategy
With decarbonising homes and cutting carbon emissions front of mind, Advantage Utilities Founder & CEO, Andrew Grover highlights how housing associations can take green energy options into account when reviewing their energy and, how understanding forward energy requirements can offer potential savings.
Although cost, of course, is important, the source of energy is becoming increasingly significant. There has been a noticeable upturn in green energy quote requests here at Advantage Utilities over the past six months, not surprising, as it’s one way of reducing an organisation’s carbon footprint. But what’s the difference between green and brown energy?
1. Green or brown energy?
Green energy comes from natural sources, like the sun, wind and water. Created from renewable or sustainable energy sources, such as solar energy, wind and tidal power, they count as zero or low carbon, having little or no impact on your carbon footprint.
In contrast, brown energy or brown power relates to fossil fuels such as gas, coal and oil, which release emissions, pollute and harm the environment.
Some suppliers are now only offering 100% renewable energy but it’s worth checking an energy supplier’s fuel mix to ensure the company isn’t simply offsetting usage. When sourcing renewable energy tariffs, a utilities consultant can take your usage, budget and sustainability goals into account and with access to virtually every licensed supplier in the UK will ensure your energy is procured competitively.
2. Fixed or flex procurement strategy?
Apart from choosing the right green energy supplier, there are also different contract types to consider and this is where understanding your forward energy requirement is advantageous.
A fixed procurement strategy means an organisation purchases the energy for a fixed unit price, this price is then frozen for the contract duration, usually lasting between 1 - 3years.
An alternative approach to take is a flex procurement strategy. This involves tracking the wholesale market and purchasing smaller chunks of energy throughout the length of a contract, allowing organisations to benefit from the ups and downs of the wholesale market.
To take advantage of flexible procurement, it’s worth seeking out a utilities consultant with in-house analysts that can advise on the market, when is best to buy and the most suitable contract type.
3. Can you go off grid?
Dependent on your housing stock, there may be the opportunity to install renewable energy systems that could allow you to go off grid, bringing benefits to your organisation and its tenants and potentially, reducing fuel poverty as well as lowering carbon emissions.
Whether it’s installing into new builds or retro fitting into existing housing, solar panel solutions or Combined Heat and Power (CHP) could work. Also, a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) could save money during peak and more expensive usage periods by resorting to battery power during those times. Remember, on site energy generation can create revenue by providing services to the National Grid.
4. Do you want to achieve net zero status and be certified accordingly?
Your organisation may already be on the ‘Net Zero’ pathway. If not, it is advisable to ensure carbon reporting and monitoring is part of your housing association’s energy procurement and management strategy.
Working towards an accreditation can help to provide a roadmap, for example either the Future Net Zero Standard (FNZ) or the ISO 14001 environmental management system standard, which assists organisations to manage its impact on the environment.
Presently, Government legislation requires larger UK organisations to report via the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) and Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) but energy experts predict that the government will mandate energy audits for smaller and medium sized organisations in the future.
An expert independent advisor can execute the necessary steps for you to get started on your journey to net zero status. They will provide the tools necessary to report on and monitor your carbon, they can source your energy from a green energy supplier and also advise on and implement cost-effective, renewable technology to take your housing association towards the goal of becoming carbon neutral.
5. How do you measure energy consumption?
The more data the better. Getting down to granular detail helps by looking at energy end usage. Seeing what energy is used for communal space heating, hot water, cooling and lighting can be monitored using cloud-based data collection and aggregation tools. These visualise ultra-accurate, undisrupted data, which is automatically collected from your utility meters, in an easy-to-use dashboard format.
As well as electricity, gas and water, some tools can also collect data on steam, compressed air, photovoltaic power or other utilities your housing association uses.
This allows you to translate complex information into actionable insights, such as changing your capacity limit (kVA), setting usage alarms, and shifting your usage to when purchasing is cheapest.
For multi-site organisations, you will be able to compare bigger and smaller sites ‘like for like’ and benchmark them against each other.
6. Are your energy invoices correct?
Alarmingly, billing errors are more common than you might imagine. There are several things that can be done to check energy bills are accurate. Firstly, check invoices against contract rates. One of the most common issues clients experience is where the agreed rate is in fact incorrect.
Other scenarios include being billed for meters that have been taken out, are faulty or where a site’s been taken over and you get charged for the new occupier’s energy.
Invoicing validation is a time-consuming process and often it pays to get an energy consultant with a validation team involved. Bills can be reviewed retrospectively too with any overspend identified and rebates claimed.
Savings can also be highlighted when bills are issued, where estimate meter readings are used for example.
More savings can be unearthed by undertaking an audit of standing charge checks including Distribution Use of System (DUoS) and Transmission Network Use of System (TNUoS) charges, Triads, Balancing Services Use of System (BSUoS) tariff checks, Assistance for Areas with High Electricity Distribution Costs (AAHEDC), Renewable Obligation (RO), Meter Operator (MOP) costs, Data Collector (DC), Data Aggregator (DA) and Climate Charge Levy (CCL). It’s a complex area of expertise!
7. Quick wins for using less energy?
As stated in the National Housing Federation (NHF) research, England’s homes produce more carbon emissions every year than is produced by all of the country’s cars, highlighting the need for urgent action. Whilst retrofitting properties with renewable technologies is the ideal, there are some more basic energy efficiency quick wins to help tackle carbon emissions reduction and fuel poverty.
Some low cost ways to make housing association properties more energy efficient include insulating boilers and pipework properly, installing thermostatic radiator valves and ensuring thermostats and sensors are in the optimum place for monitoring temperatures. Sealing windows and doors to stop air leaks, and phasing out energy-hungry lighting and replacing with more efficient options such as LED are also easy improvements.
Looking at routine processes with your team and implementing new strategies can also help. These might include only heating or cooling your buildings when people are occupying, powering down office equipment, switching off lights or introducing sensors.
Other energy efficiency opportunities can be reviewed for example, introduce a policy that ensures new appliances should be the most energy efficient and encourage people to switch off rather than leave them in standby mode.
8. How can I fund a carbon reduction strategy?
For longer-term strategies, there are government schemes such as the BEIS Wave 1 Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF), which is open for applications until 15 October 2021, allowing housing associations to apply for funding to improve the energy performance of their social homes but there are also other funding options to explore.
It’s worth exploring grants for other zero-emission initiatives too, Electric Vehicle (EV) chargers for instance. With the government committing to phasing out petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, your organisation could benefit from the charging point funding schemes available. EV chargers can attract a grant of up to £350 depending on a range of factors and finance options can support larger-scale projects to qualify for a fully funded and solar-powered carport.
Green energy ambitions can also be realised with Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), asset finance or investigating other investment opportunities available courtesy of funding renewable technology.
So, what’s the starting point? Undertaking an energy audit, which includes consideration of technology and procurement options to cut costs and manage usage, is most definitely a worthwhile process for anyone involved in housing association energy procurement.
Alongside this, think about exploring self-generation opportunities, there may well be funding support available for renewable energy solutions – we’re here if you need any advice.
Call 0208 131 4982 or book a consultation with one of our expert consultants today to audit your energy and improve efficiency.