TEC 2024 Annual Report Final - Flipbook - Page 9
DR JOHN
BRENTON:
BLOG
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
DR JOHN BRENTON
HEAD OF CARBON REDUCTION SOLUTIONS
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
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THE ENERGY CONSORTIUM - ANNUAL REPORT 2024
07
