Case study list

City & County of Swansea

01/01/2008

The objective of the SLA was to define responsibilities and levels of service expected to maintain a high level of service delivery, which would lead to a mutually beneficial, long-term partnership. The objectives of this SLA are to:

• maintain acceptable comfort conditions for staff and visitors;
• maximise the reliability of the BEM;
• minimise any unexpected BEM downtime;
• utilise the BEM as a true energy management tool to achieve energy consumption savings;
• identify areas, not under the control of the BEM, where additional energy consumption savings can be realised; and
• generate sufficient energy consumption savings to offset the costs of providing the service.

The SLA provides for a minimum of two support engineers at the site. They are rotated, according to their skills and experience, to ensure that site familiarity is maintained. Support engineers working on the site are made aware of all current City and County of Swansea policies.

Since the launch of the SLA in April 2003, approximately 500,000 kWh of energy have been saved which equates to a cost saving of over £34,000. Following the success of this approach, the City and County of Swansea has expanded the energy support to four secondary schools that were combined with leisure centres. The leisure centres are in use every day of the week and occupancy levels vary considerably, particularly during weekdays, due to the varying intensity of leisure facility usage by school classes.

In extending its energy support to these buildings, the City and County of Swansea's Energy Team decided that more information was required and the City and County of Swansea's Energy Support Partner suggested that this objective might be met by making use of half-hourly electricity data. The energy data is provided by half-hour segments and is available the day after the electricity is used, and information is easily understandable in the form of calendar profiles and consumption charts. The frequent data collection regime means that the effect of changes to building operating strategies can be seen soon after they are made. An e-mail alarm system is available for use when building consumption has stabilised. Another benefit is that the system can be expanded easily to include gas and water at minimal cost.

Whilst the process is still at a relatively early stage, significant energy savings have been made by using the half-hourly data to help apply good housekeeping measures. The City and County of Swansea estimated that it has already:

• saved the equivalent of £2,800 per annum at one site;
• projected further annual savings of £8,400; and
• projected an annual electricity consumption reduction of 208000kWh and CO2 emission reduction of 89.4 tonnes (24.3 tonnes C).