Carbon footprint
Ask your bookkeeper for a report on your electricity, gas and waste expenses, so you know your starting point. Ask for the figures to be put into Excel each month, and get Excel to generate a chart so you can see the trends and anomalies over time at a glance. It should go up in the winter and down in the summer.
Working out your carbon footprint is very simple with your utilities bills to hand. The conversion factors change over time, so see here for the latest: https://tinyurl.com/4fnu8jv9. It converts your utilities bills into carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) in kilos or tonnes.
Energy performance certificate (EPC)
Does your nursery have an EPC? You can find existing certificates for properties here: https://tinyurl.com/mn4w4jr6. An EPC will give a list of what would improve your building’s efficiency, including a cost estimate and how much improvements would save. If you rent, ask your landlord to provide one.
Tips to save
The Energy Saving Trust recommends (among others):
- Switching your lighting to LED.
- Insulating your hot water cylinder.
- Installing a heating thermostat and a timer.
- Replacing single-glazed windows with double glazing. (Secondary glazing is a cheaper option.)
The top way to reduce your carbon footprint is to change supplier to one providing renewable energy.
ESOS report
All groups employing over 250 staff will do an Energy Savings Opportunities Scheme (ESOS) report, auditing energy use with recommendations for improvement. Tops have just completed our third and saved hundreds of thousands of pounds, and are now net zero.
Team culture
This is not quick or easy, but try to change your team culture to being aware of saving energy. Turn off heating an hour before the end of the day. Don’t have air-conditioning or heating on with the windows open. Put waste in the right bins. This requires constant role-modelling, teaching, monitoring and reminders. We tried having an environmental lead at each nursery, but this didn’t work well. All staff have to be on board, it can’t be down to just one enthusiast. Any savings you make will be steps towards securing the future, not just in your nursery, but for all children!
