It has been a busy year for Dr John Brenton. After joining TEC in August 2023, John has made it his mission to get to know our members’ challenges and ambitions. Following a member survey in October 2023, John has already rolled out some new initiatives based on the survey feedback. We sat down with John to discuss how his first year has been and what his next steps will be to support members on their decarbonisation journeys.
What are the major insights you gained from TEC’s carbon reduction survey?
When I joined, I wanted to get a snapshot of what the members were doing on decarbonisation and what their challenges and successes were.
I discovered that they were doing a lot, particularly implementing initiatives with paybacks. We found out that funding is an issue with many organisations facing significant financial constraints. We learnt a lot about the accelerating use of renewables, particularly solar. Installing and optimising Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) and keeping good control over your estate has yielded significant cash and carbon savings in several cases. Space optimisation has also been key with a lot of members moving away from making spaces available 24/7.
The survey also highlighted that geography dictates opportunities for decarbonisation: if you are city centre based that makes it much harder than if you are in a rural context. Certain initiatives such as setting up an energy working group and defining heating and cooling policies were things the membership were either doing or interested in pursuing – and could be shown to be very effective in controlling costs and carbon. Finally, we found out that everyone was keen to learn from each other and facilitating this information sharing will be a continued focus for TEC.
How have you been supporting members with their decarbonisation plans during the last 12 months?
I’m convinced that 80% of the solutions to decarbonisation issues can be found within the sector. One of our most important roles is to ensure that key information and good practice is shared. We have produced guidance on areas of success the survey identified such as having an energy working group and drafting a heating and cooling policy. We have also been signposting people to useful resources including net zero hubs in England and Energy Services Wales in Wales. In addition, we are investigating corporate PPAs and will make more available when prices become more attractive.
In the last year we have also ran several webinars on specific issues of interest to the membership. The survey also showed that not all members were aware of the TEC framework’s additional services such as demand side management and solar feasibility studies. We have also focused on producing member communications in shorter, snappier and more digestible formats.
Finally, I have also had the pleasure of spending time meeting members on a 1-1 basis and providing bespoke support such as developing individual carbon management plans.
What are the major challenges the higher education sector is currently facing?
I think the number one challenge is the constrained financial circumstances of the sector. Making the business case for capital spend is challenging in this environment. BEMS is a good example of this. Those institutions who have invested in extending and optimising BEMS are making savings, often very significant amounts, from the system, but it’s almost impossible to say how much you will save with the certainty required for a business case.
Funding also remains a challenge. The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme has changed slightly and members not subject to Public Contract Regulations are no longer able to apply. TEC is looking into other sources of expertise to find funding for the members.
How can the new Government best support the higher education sector?
The new Government has talked about planning and renewables, which could help institutions planning to put in “behind the meter” installations on campuses. Political certainty is also important. The difference between prices of electricity and gas in this country is one of the highest in Europe, militating against adoption of those heat decarbonisation methods which rely on electricity. There is also uncertainty around the way heat networks will be regulated. To understand the Government’s view on these would be incredibly helpful. It would be useful to gauge the Government’s wider view of the HE sector and its potential growth, particularly in energy-hungry areas of teaching and research.
What are your main priorities to support the members going forwards?
I want to build upon the intelligence we have gained and we have launched a second survey. I’m hoping it will provide a fuller picture of how members are getting on, which areas are still producing challenges and which areas are showing most opportunity. Sharing information will continue to be important with peer evidence being very useful for making business cases. We will continue with our webinars and guidance policies to share and reflect best practise.
Helping our members navigate the market is a continued priority. Utility prices have come down a little in last 12 months which will change payback times for different technologies. Technology prices have also changed with the cost of solar reducing.
Supporting members with their financial constraints and looking at novel funding sources is an area we are looking into. We also aim to get an understanding of the direction of travel of the new Government. TEC is a member of the European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ECEEE) so we will be relaying to members what good practice looks like outside of the UK context.
How are TEC members responding to the net zero challenge?
The survey showed us that there is a spread of ambition. There is also a developing sense of what becoming net zero means in their specific contexts. The move from aspiring to be carbon neutral to becoming net zero is quite a paradigm shift.
A lot of members are very forward thinking. Within the higher education sector, particularly, there tends to be an internal impetus to want to get to zero in a thorough way, aligned with an organisation’s teaching and research. Universities by their nature are incredibly future-focused and are nurturing the next generation of leaders. We are fortunate to have some incredibly passionate people in the sector who are determined to rise to the challenge.
How can TEC members help you to support them with carbon reduction?
Please can you fill in the carbon reduction survey which we recently released (TEC Carbon Reduction Survey Autumn 2024 (office.com)). The more members who complete it, the more TEC can do to support your individual decarbonisation ambitions.
The second request is for you to attend the upcoming TEC conference in November (TEC Conference 2024 – TEC), especially if you have not been before. It really is a fantastic opportunity to learn from the sessions, meet each other and share information. I look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible.
