Analyse
- Start by pulling together a list of all spending across the school
- Identify which supplier matches each category
- Create a control log (we have added a Consumable Control log in the materials section)
- Find and add the spend vs budget for each category, for the current year, along with some historical data (suggest maybe the previous 2 years).
- Analyse this data so you understand what you currently spend, how this fits with the school budgets and so you understand your starting point.
- Either with the ULS Team or your Senior Management Team identify the key area/s you would like to focus on. Maybe the school/business’s’ water rates have the biggest increase year on year or the worst results verses budget or maybe it the electricity costs, or paper. If you feel the actual spend figures are sufficient to make a decision then follow step 6 (below) first and then return back to this section. You may want to consider opening this choice up to the school/business. Perhaps you are covering fossil fuels as part of the school curriculum, so you might want to look specifically at oil/gas/electricity.
- Now look into these ‘focus’ areas more closely, we recommend asking the supplier to provide you with you actual consumption, along with your costs per unit, standing charges etc. and record all this data, you will need it as your starting point and so that you can measure your success. Also remember to check whether you are in contract or not; the out of contract rates with most utilities companies are very high; if you’re out of contract then look to get onto contracted rates as soon as possible. Always get a minimum of 3 quotes and compare them, you might also if you have a lot of supplies use an out sourced broker to find you the best deal.
- Identify how you plan to measure success. Energy can be measured through monitoring systems but there are other ways too; how many times were the lights left on? What is the value of energy saved? How many waste collections are being made? How much paper is being used? What temperature is the heating set at?
- Install monitoring meters or processes to record and monitor your ‘focus’ areas – think about how the pupils, teachers and support staff can help with the monitoring and recording. Maybe the pupils can be responsible for checking things that can’t be measured via a meter (like turning off lights; or windows left open etc)
- Communicate out from the ULS team your focus areas and starting points, not forgetting to tell them how you will monitor and what the target is and how they can contribute.
- Continue to monitor and record
- Continue to provide feedback to the school/business
- End of each term and/or year provide a complete overview of each focus group, show the results, what and how it happened and what next
Handy Hints/Tips
- How much is the School spending on all areas? – Take some time to identify all your consumables and create a list (we have created an excel sheet to help you with this called Consumables Control Log). Your Bursary or finance team will be able to assist you or maybe you can ask them to collate this for your ULS Committee.
- Sign up to online access for as many of your utilities as possible, the majority of suppliers will have some form a customer portal. These portals/websites allow you access to a lot of the data you need, like invoices and consumption. Most will allow you to then add your meter readings, which is another area crucial to reducing spend, as estimated bills will usually we more expensive.
- Call or email those suppliers who do not have an online portal. Request your billing and consumption figures from them. Most suppliers will do this for free but they often have quite long waiting periods, standard reply times are 5 to 10 working days and up to 6 weeks in some cases, this is where the portal access comes into its own as you often have direct and immediate access to the same data.
- Consider out sourcing to prepare this initial data for you (We can offer you support on this should you wish to pursue this)
- Commission a survey to help identify usage in the different buildings and give you a thorough report of the current situation. The report will identify quick wins and longer-term projects.
- Use staff and pupils to help record and monitor, for example. Each room could have a tick board by the door, 1st person in the room marks the sheet to show if the lights were left on or not, if PC equipment was left on standby. Maybe the pupils could take daily meter readings or your maintenance/grounds staff