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An energy-motivation case study
Applied Energy 34 (1989) 57-68
An Energy-Motivation Case Study S. Fawkes Energy Partnership Ltd, 99 Midland Road, London NWl 2AH, UK
& J. B r a t l e y P.A. Consulting Group, Bowater House East, 68 Knightsbridge, London SWlX 7LJ, UK
ABSTRACT Most energy-management case studies focus on capital investments in new technical equipment, such as more-efficient boilers, lighting systems or computerised energy-management systems. The wide range of technical optionsfor saving energy are well documented and advertised. Another aspect of energy management--namely the achievement of 'no cost' or 'good housekeeping' measures through well-organised motivation and incentive campaigns--is not so well reported. This is due to there beingfew examples of this type of project, which itself probably reflects the energy managers' preferences for dealing with 'hard' engineering rather than 'soft' peopleorientated issues. This paper documents the development and implementation of a motivation campaign for the Social Services Department of Coventry City Council which was novelfor two reasons:first, it is believed to be thefirst motivation campaign in a Social Services department; and secondly, it involved the use of training, incentives andfeedback in an integrated way that it is believed greatly boosted its effectiveness.
THE THREE PHASES Consultants were appointed by the client in April 1987 to develop and introduce a motivational campaign, the objective o f which was to improve the effectiveness o f energy use and hence achieve energy savings within the 57 Applied Energy 0306-2619/89/$03-50 O 1989 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd, England. Printed in Great Britain
58
S. Fawkes, J. Bratley
Social Services department. The client authority had long had an effective energy-management programme throughout its estate. Between the financial years 1978/79 and 1983/84 the authority had invested £1.3 million in energy-conservation measures and had achieved cumulative savings of £4.8 million. Several of its capital schemes were innovative and one had since been replicated throughout the country. In the Audit Commission's study of the energy efficiency of local authorities, this authority achieved a rating of 94% whilst, nationally, fewer than 20% of all authorities achieved a rating of greater than 80%. Thus it can be seen that the motivational campaign was part of a long-running and very effective energy-management programme. The campaign reported here was seen as a pilot scheme which, if successful, would be spread to the rest of the Council. The campaign was planned to be in three distinct phases.
Phase 1: preparation and launch It was decided that the pilot scheme would run in the 45 largest energyconsuming premises in the Social Services estate. These accounted for approximately 80% of the total energy bill for the department which was £500 000 per annum. The first task was to identify baseline energy performances, from which success or failure could be measured. This was done by consulting past data stored in the Council's energy-monitoring and targetting system. Two years' data were examined in order to iron out any anomalies and strange data and the year 1986 was taken as a baseline. For heating fuels, gas and oil, the energy-consumption data was compared relative to degree days to produce linear relationships of the form y = b x + a where y -- energy consumption, x = degree days and a and b are constants. For electricity, the 1986 usage was taken as the base. The remainder of phase 1 work was concerned with developing training material and procedures, developing the monitoring and targetting system to provide feedback information to the 45 establishments, and launching the campaign. This work had five main themes which are summarised below: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
training procedures: who, how, when? training material: composition and style; incentive scheme: format and procedures; communication and feedback: monitoring and targetting, good ideas; and launch and publicity: style and timing.
It was considered important by the consultants that the department was seen to own the scheme and to be involved in its development. To that
An energy-motivation case study
59
end, a working subgroup of the Social Services Management Group was established with the following membership: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Principal Officer--Building management and supplies; Principal Officer--Personnel; Principal Officer--Training; Two Area Managers from the Social Care division; Energy Conservation Officer; Union representative; and Consultant.
The purpose of this group was to contribute to and guide the campaign. Its existence was important to provide the consultants with local knowledge, both of individual problem areas, and of operating procedures and corporate style. At the first meeting it was agreed that training should only be given to the Head of Establishment and that energy should be made a standing item on the agenda of establishment staff meetings. This would keep the issue in people's minds and provide a forum where feedback information could be considered and, where appropriate, action decided upon. It was also agreed that the training should be interactive and result in each Head of Establishment forming an Action Plan, which they would then present to their Area Managers at the next supervision session. It was thought to be important that the training sessions were attended by no more than 10 people so that individual problems could be dealt with. Each training session would be introduced by the Director of Social Services to underline both the ownership of the campaign and its importance and relevance to corporate objectives. The working subgroup decided that the campaign material should be formal in style and simply and clearly presented. At all times, it would also be stressed in the training and associated material that the care and comfort of clients was to be paramount. Here again the subgroup assisted the consultant greatly in understanding their particular objectives and constraints. Prior to the start of the campaign, it had been agreed by the Social Services Committee that 50% of any savings would be returned to the individual establishment at the end of the financial year. The subgroup agreed that ideally the top three saving establishments should be publicised and that the reward would be in the form of equipment to the value of 50% of the savings made, with the choice of equipment being left to the establishment. The relationship between the effective and rapid implementation of maintenance items and energy saving was quickly identified as being a potential problem area. For example, broken windows and leaking hot-taps obviously waste energy but their repair would be outside the direct control
60
S. Fawkes, J.
Bratley
Index 1 The context for energy management 1.1 Why manage energy? 1.2 Can you help? 1.3 Energy in perspective 1.4 The energy quiz 1.5 Where does it go? 2 Opportunities for saving energy 2.1 Heating 2.2 Water heating 2.3 Lighting 2.4 Laundry 2.5 Cooking 2.6 Other electrical equipment 2.7 Saving on water costs 2.8 Conservation checklists 3 Motivating your staff 3.1 Roles and responsibilities 3.2 Assistance from the Energy Efficiency Unit 3,3 Information and feedback 3,4 Investigating wastage Appendices I Case study II Maintenance reporting procedures III Target graph IV Sample feedback graph V Proformas VI Action plan VII Feedback graphs Fig. 1. Trainingmaterial index. of individual establishments. To try to identify the extent of this problem, a proforma invoice was sent to each participating establishment and outstanding items reported to the maintenance section. It was agreed that any suggestions received for capital works, however minor, during the course of the campaign, would be evaluated by the Energy Conservation Unit and if viable (i.e. pay-back period of less than 4 years), would be put forward for funding and Implementation in 1988/89. In this way, any savings during 1987/88 could be clearly attributed to the motivation campaign and improved good housekeeping!
An energy-motivation case study
61
10.00 a.m. Introddction Timetable for the day 10.05 Why are we here? 10.10 10.20 Where does energy go? What can we do about it? 10.30 10.40 The objective 10.45
COFFEE
11.00 11.30 11.45
Good practice The maintenance reporting system Information--meter reading and graphs
12.30 p.m. LUNCH 2.00 2.40
Case study Motivating people--the key principles
3.00
TEA
3.10 3.15 3.50
Action plans Developing your own action plan Feedback about the training
Fig. 2. Training running order (Coventry Energy-Care Campaign).
It was decided at an early stage that the importance of monitoring and targetting or feedback was so great that Heads of Establishment had to be encouraged in the training to read their energy meters regularly. As weather correction using degree days would be too complex for individual estabhshments to carry out, this would be done by the Energy Conservation Unit and establishments would be provided with targets for uncorrected meter readings as well as less frequent weather-corrected information. The latter would take data from energy bills but this introduces a delay due to the billing cycles of the utilities. Approximately half of the 45 establishments received monthly weather-corrected data and the rest occurred quarterly. During phase 1, the training material was developed using a mixture of previously published information and custom-made material. The training covered three main topics: (1) the importance of energy management; (2) the opportunities for saving energy; and (3) motivating others. The index to the training manual is reproduced in Fig. 1. A training pack in the clients corporate colours was produced and off-site training sessions set up. The training was designed to be interactive and a running order is reproduced in Fig. 2. As well as the training for Heads of Establishment separate briefing sessions were set up for relevant parties which included: (1) the Energy
62
S. Fawkes, J. Bratley
Conservation Unit; (2) the maintenance section; (3) Social Services Finance and Council Treasurers; and (4) Area Managers. A major part of the phase 1 activity was the development of the monitoring and targetting system and feedback system. The criteria for the system were: (1) ease of use and understanding; (2) use of data from bills; and (3) corrections for price and weather variances so that establishments would not be penalised for factors outside their control. It soon became clear that the Council's existing system, based on a proprietary microcomputer monitoring package was insufficient for the purpose although perfectly adequate for overall monitoring of many premises. Consequently, a spreadsheet-based system was developed in conjunction with the client's staff. This was used to produce two graphs--a Target Graph and a Total Energy Cost Target Graph. The Target G r a p h s - one for fuel and one for electricity for each establishment--were designed to be used for plotting meter-readings in each establishment. They took the baseline performance and applied a 10% saving figure to it, and then produced 10% plus and minus 'tramlines' to allow for reasonable variations due to the weather or other factors. For heating energy, the Target Graph was not corrected for degree days as establishments did not have the capability to carry out corrections on data from meter readings. The purpose of the graph was to provide a crude but quick source of feedback within the establishments. It was designed so that weekly meter readings could be plotted upon it. In the training, it was presented such that a point within the tramlines was satisfactory, a point under the tramlines represented a significant saving and a point above the tramlines was an indicator that some action was required. For electricity, the tramlines were derived from a target of a 10% reduction in usage from the reference period. The second feedback graph produced by the system was a Total Energy Cost Target Graph, which covered the financial year. As total cost was the important factor, the campaign was designed to influence this graph and its associated data were used to judge success. At any time the spreadsheet can be used to produce a Total Energy Cost Target Graph. If complete degreeday data and energy consumption and cost data are not available at that time, the Target is a prediction based upon the following assumptions: (1) average degree day data over twenty years; and (2) the last available average price for both the heating fuel and electricity (which at the start of the year will be the average price over the previous year). As actual degree-day data and consumption and cost data become available (from bills) the Total Energy Cost Target varies. Thus, for any period, a new Total Energy Cost Target is generated. The Total Energy Cost Target Graph also plots the Actual Energy Cost to date as far as data are
An energy-motivation case study
63
Social S e r v i c e s E n e r g y T a r g e t E s t a b l i s h m e n t : L a d y G o d i v a House S t a r t d a t e , 5 Oct. 87; Fuel: gas 64OO 5600
/
\\
//
\
\
4800
/
e
~4000 .... U
\
%
/
/ /
---
\
\ \
= 3200----u
B 2400 41)
16oo -r 8O0 T a r g e t band 0
4
8
12
16 Fig. 3.
20
24 28 32 Week n u m b e r Energy target graph.
36
40
44
48
52
available. The Total Cost Variance is simply the vertical difference between the two lines and the incentive payment is 50% of this variance. These graphs were explained during the training sessions. The spreadsheet can also provide printouts of the Total Cost Variance and incentive payments for each establishment. Sample graphs are shown in Figs 3 and 4.
30
Social Services Cost T a r g e t E s t a b l i s h m e n t : L a d y Godiva House S t a r t d a t e : 1 A p r 1987; End: 31 M a r 1988
27 --, u) 24 "O
~ 21
f
J
J
o 18
5
.__q 18
J
m 12
J
J
c-
t
fl_
6
0
Total cost variance to date
J 4
8
12 Fig. 4.
16
-.....
20 24 28 32 36 40 Week number Total energy cost target graph.
Target Actual 44
48
52
64
S. Fawkes, J. Bratley
At the end of phase 1, the campaign was launched through the normal Social Service briefings. Again this method underlined the ownership of the campaign and the importance attached to it by senior management. Invitations to the training sessions were by written invitation with a telephone follow-up.
Phase 2: training and operation Five training sessions were carried out as planned. In order to assess the effectiveness of the training and to seek ways in which it could be improved, all participants were asked to complete a feedback form at the end of the session. The feedback was both quantitative and qualitative and generally was very enthusiastic. Several participants commented that they had expected a boring day and that their perception of energy conservation as a boring subject had been changed. Participants also reported that it was the first time they had appreciated both the size of the Department's total energy bill and what they could do to influence energy use. Within each session, individual establishments' energy problems were discussed and this led to several new ideas for evaluation as well as contributing to the consultant's understanding of the issues that really affect energy use and good housekeeping behaviour. On the whole, people were receptive to the idea of reading their own meters and had few difficulties understanding the concepts of the monitoring and targetting system. After some initial problems with the target graphs, these were produced and distributed satisfactorily. Some establishments were visited after the initial training sessions to give additional instruction on meter reading and graph plotting. In addition, staff from the Energy Conservation Unit visited most of the premises over the operation of the campaign to advise on possible measures, adjust control settings when requested and evaluate ideas for capital projects. These visits also helped to reinforce the importance of the campaign and to keep it in peoples' awareness.
Phase 3: evaluation This was split into quantitative and qualitative results. The principle of calculating savings was to examine the savings made over the course of the campaign, which had not run throughout the financial year. Total savings over the campaign were 6-1% as opposed to a target of 6%. From the management summaries (Table 1), it can be seen that prior to the start of the campaign in week 36 there was a net deficit of £3476 when compared with the previous-year's performance whereas at the end of the campaign there was a net saving of £5954, giving an overall saving of £9430 over the course
An energy-motivation case study
65
TABLE 1
Trend in Savings from Management Reports Date o f report a
Saving/(deficit) (£) (uncorrected) b
16 Dec.1987 7 Jan. 1988 12 Jan. 1988 18 Jan. 1988 29 Jan. 1988 5 Feb. 1988 15 Feb. 1988 11 Mar. 1988 7 Apr. 1988 19 Apr. 1988 21 Apr. 1988
(3 362) (4 180) (3 727) (3003) (2877) (3419) (2663) (1 176) (1 935) (147) 8
OThe date of the management report is the date of printing the report, not the date to which the data became available. b Savings figure includes those for Alderman McDonnell House.
of the campaign. Comparing this with the total energy cost over the same period leads to a figure of 6.1% saving. Cost savings in individual establishments varied between 1% and 38%. Individual establishments achieved savings ranging from 1% to 38%. The distribution is shown in Table 2. The feedback on the training sessions was reinforced by a subsequent final feedback session where Heads of Establishment reported that the training pack would not have been so effective without the initial one-day training session. During visits to sites by the consultants, most Heads of Establishment reported increased enthusiasm for energy management and a greater awareness of methods for saving energy. Many ideas for small capital projects were generated during the campaign, both from staff in the TABLE 2 Ranges of Savings Achieved by Individual Establishments %
0-5"0 5'1-10-0 10"1-15"0 15' 1-20.0 20'1 +
Number o f establishments
10 5 2 3 5
66
s. Fawkes, J. Bratley
establishments and the Energy Conservation Unit. One Head of Establishment reported that he was only able to identify such projects because of the effectiveness of the initial training. A frequent complaint from Heads of Establishment was the long delay in getting repairs carried out---e.g, with respect to a defective optimiser, leaking taps, broken windows, etc. These delays contribute to energy wastage and are a major source ofdemotivation for staff. Several Heads of Establishment where bills are quarterly requested more frequent feedback of information.
THE ELEMENTS OF MOTIVATION CAMPAIGNS During the course of this campaign, a model of the elements for an effective motivation campaign was developed and is shown in Fig. 5. All three basic elements--namely training, incentives and feedback--must be addressed in an integrated way if a significant proportion of the no-cost savings are to be lAction to create savings ]
Knowl edge ofL what to do
Motivation to J do something
Fig. 5. Elementsof a motivation campaign.
An energy-motivation case stud),
67
realised. Previous campaigns have not included all three elements. Training provides knowledge of what to do (i.e. how energy may be saved) as well as helping to increase motivation to do something by putting the energy-saving message in context. Know-how without motivation does not work and motivation without know-how cannot produce effective action. In training programmes, it is also important to explain how the message can be spread throughout the organisation because, if maximum benefits are to be achieved, all members of an organisation must contribute. Incentives in some form certainly help to motivate staff. Some form of shared savings is probably the most appropriate with a proportion of the savings achieved being returned to the unit responsible to spend as they see fit. This incentive should be as high profile as possible with perhaps a presentation ceremony to the unit achieving the greatest saving. Feedback of the effect of any actions taken is vital if enthusiasm and motivation are to be maintained. Feedback information can take several forms but must always be easy to understand. In the case described above Heads of Establishment greatly appreciated the fact that the feedback was on one piece of paper rather than a massive computer printout through which they had to search for relevant information. Graphs are very useful but it should be remembered that not everybody is used to assimilating data from graphs. A few relevant numbers may be more appropriate and it is important to respond to customer demand. The power of modern spreadsheet packages and microcomputers allow reports to be customised to a certain extent. Throughout the development and implementation of a campaign, it is important to involve as many groups of people as possible including the end users. Their experiences of real conditions in their buildings are important for producing a credible training package and campaign. In the campaign described above, part of each training session involved the participants in working a case study which was developed after discussions with several Heads of Establishment. This case study was very well received as people recognised it as describing a real situation. Participation should be a major theme of the development phase of campaigns.
CONCLUSIONS This campaign was successful in achieving energy savings through no-cost or good-housekeeping measures alone. The savings achieved were 6% of the total expenditure on energy over the course of the campaign and which if applied over a whole year to the Social Services Department would be equal to £30 000 per annum and a net saving, after repayment of the incentive of
68
s. Fawkes, J. Bratley
£15 000 per annum. In addition to the financial savings, a greater awareness of the importance of energy management, and the work of the Energy Conservation Unit, was achieved. Communications between the Energy Conservation Unit and the client department were greatly improved. The monitoring and targetting system developed could also be used to provide realistic energy budgets for the department to replace the inadequate and ad-hoc budgeting system. In order to improve the effectiveness of such campaigns, it is important that small energy-related maintenance items are dealt with quickly. Also a small projects fund of say £5000 to £10 000 could be established to facilitate the rapid implementation of projects such as draught proofing or gap sealing, which are frequently requested. Rapid implementation of many small projects which in themselves are tiny compared with the average energy-saving technical project such as an energy-management system, will greatly add to motivation and increase savings. Energy motivation campaigns based on the model presented and with a high degree of user participation in their development could produce significant energy savings for Local Authorities and other organisations with large estates such as Health Authorities. These savings can be achieved at very low cost and can also be accompanied by other benefits such as increased communication and understanding within a large organisation.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors are grateful for the full assistance they received from all of the staff of Coventry City Council involved in the motivation campaign.
An Energy-Motivation Case Study S. Fawkes Energy Partnership Ltd, 99 Midland Road, London NWl 2AH, UK
& J. B r a t l e y P.A. Consulting Group, Bowater House East, 68 Knightsbridge, London SWlX 7LJ, UK
ABSTRACT Most energy-management case studies focus on capital investments in new technical equipment, such as more-efficient boilers, lighting systems or computerised energy-management systems. The wide range of technical optionsfor saving energy are well documented and advertised. Another aspect of energy management--namely the achievement of 'no cost' or 'good housekeeping' measures through well-organised motivation and incentive campaigns--is not so well reported. This is due to there beingfew examples of this type of project, which itself probably reflects the energy managers' preferences for dealing with 'hard' engineering rather than 'soft' peopleorientated issues. This paper documents the development and implementation of a motivation campaign for the Social Services Department of Coventry City Council which was novelfor two reasons:first, it is believed to be thefirst motivation campaign in a Social Services department; and secondly, it involved the use of training, incentives andfeedback in an integrated way that it is believed greatly boosted its effectiveness.
THE THREE PHASES Consultants were appointed by the client in April 1987 to develop and introduce a motivational campaign, the objective o f which was to improve the effectiveness o f energy use and hence achieve energy savings within the 57 Applied Energy 0306-2619/89/$03-50 O 1989 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd, England. Printed in Great Britain
58
S. Fawkes, J. Bratley
Social Services department. The client authority had long had an effective energy-management programme throughout its estate. Between the financial years 1978/79 and 1983/84 the authority had invested £1.3 million in energy-conservation measures and had achieved cumulative savings of £4.8 million. Several of its capital schemes were innovative and one had since been replicated throughout the country. In the Audit Commission's study of the energy efficiency of local authorities, this authority achieved a rating of 94% whilst, nationally, fewer than 20% of all authorities achieved a rating of greater than 80%. Thus it can be seen that the motivational campaign was part of a long-running and very effective energy-management programme. The campaign reported here was seen as a pilot scheme which, if successful, would be spread to the rest of the Council. The campaign was planned to be in three distinct phases.
Phase 1: preparation and launch It was decided that the pilot scheme would run in the 45 largest energyconsuming premises in the Social Services estate. These accounted for approximately 80% of the total energy bill for the department which was £500 000 per annum. The first task was to identify baseline energy performances, from which success or failure could be measured. This was done by consulting past data stored in the Council's energy-monitoring and targetting system. Two years' data were examined in order to iron out any anomalies and strange data and the year 1986 was taken as a baseline. For heating fuels, gas and oil, the energy-consumption data was compared relative to degree days to produce linear relationships of the form y = b x + a where y -- energy consumption, x = degree days and a and b are constants. For electricity, the 1986 usage was taken as the base. The remainder of phase 1 work was concerned with developing training material and procedures, developing the monitoring and targetting system to provide feedback information to the 45 establishments, and launching the campaign. This work had five main themes which are summarised below: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
training procedures: who, how, when? training material: composition and style; incentive scheme: format and procedures; communication and feedback: monitoring and targetting, good ideas; and launch and publicity: style and timing.
It was considered important by the consultants that the department was seen to own the scheme and to be involved in its development. To that
An energy-motivation case study
59
end, a working subgroup of the Social Services Management Group was established with the following membership: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Principal Officer--Building management and supplies; Principal Officer--Personnel; Principal Officer--Training; Two Area Managers from the Social Care division; Energy Conservation Officer; Union representative; and Consultant.
The purpose of this group was to contribute to and guide the campaign. Its existence was important to provide the consultants with local knowledge, both of individual problem areas, and of operating procedures and corporate style. At the first meeting it was agreed that training should only be given to the Head of Establishment and that energy should be made a standing item on the agenda of establishment staff meetings. This would keep the issue in people's minds and provide a forum where feedback information could be considered and, where appropriate, action decided upon. It was also agreed that the training should be interactive and result in each Head of Establishment forming an Action Plan, which they would then present to their Area Managers at the next supervision session. It was thought to be important that the training sessions were attended by no more than 10 people so that individual problems could be dealt with. Each training session would be introduced by the Director of Social Services to underline both the ownership of the campaign and its importance and relevance to corporate objectives. The working subgroup decided that the campaign material should be formal in style and simply and clearly presented. At all times, it would also be stressed in the training and associated material that the care and comfort of clients was to be paramount. Here again the subgroup assisted the consultant greatly in understanding their particular objectives and constraints. Prior to the start of the campaign, it had been agreed by the Social Services Committee that 50% of any savings would be returned to the individual establishment at the end of the financial year. The subgroup agreed that ideally the top three saving establishments should be publicised and that the reward would be in the form of equipment to the value of 50% of the savings made, with the choice of equipment being left to the establishment. The relationship between the effective and rapid implementation of maintenance items and energy saving was quickly identified as being a potential problem area. For example, broken windows and leaking hot-taps obviously waste energy but their repair would be outside the direct control
60
S. Fawkes, J.
Bratley
Index 1 The context for energy management 1.1 Why manage energy? 1.2 Can you help? 1.3 Energy in perspective 1.4 The energy quiz 1.5 Where does it go? 2 Opportunities for saving energy 2.1 Heating 2.2 Water heating 2.3 Lighting 2.4 Laundry 2.5 Cooking 2.6 Other electrical equipment 2.7 Saving on water costs 2.8 Conservation checklists 3 Motivating your staff 3.1 Roles and responsibilities 3.2 Assistance from the Energy Efficiency Unit 3,3 Information and feedback 3,4 Investigating wastage Appendices I Case study II Maintenance reporting procedures III Target graph IV Sample feedback graph V Proformas VI Action plan VII Feedback graphs Fig. 1. Trainingmaterial index. of individual establishments. To try to identify the extent of this problem, a proforma invoice was sent to each participating establishment and outstanding items reported to the maintenance section. It was agreed that any suggestions received for capital works, however minor, during the course of the campaign, would be evaluated by the Energy Conservation Unit and if viable (i.e. pay-back period of less than 4 years), would be put forward for funding and Implementation in 1988/89. In this way, any savings during 1987/88 could be clearly attributed to the motivation campaign and improved good housekeeping!
An energy-motivation case study
61
10.00 a.m. Introddction Timetable for the day 10.05 Why are we here? 10.10 10.20 Where does energy go? What can we do about it? 10.30 10.40 The objective 10.45
COFFEE
11.00 11.30 11.45
Good practice The maintenance reporting system Information--meter reading and graphs
12.30 p.m. LUNCH 2.00 2.40
Case study Motivating people--the key principles
3.00
TEA
3.10 3.15 3.50
Action plans Developing your own action plan Feedback about the training
Fig. 2. Training running order (Coventry Energy-Care Campaign).
It was decided at an early stage that the importance of monitoring and targetting or feedback was so great that Heads of Establishment had to be encouraged in the training to read their energy meters regularly. As weather correction using degree days would be too complex for individual estabhshments to carry out, this would be done by the Energy Conservation Unit and establishments would be provided with targets for uncorrected meter readings as well as less frequent weather-corrected information. The latter would take data from energy bills but this introduces a delay due to the billing cycles of the utilities. Approximately half of the 45 establishments received monthly weather-corrected data and the rest occurred quarterly. During phase 1, the training material was developed using a mixture of previously published information and custom-made material. The training covered three main topics: (1) the importance of energy management; (2) the opportunities for saving energy; and (3) motivating others. The index to the training manual is reproduced in Fig. 1. A training pack in the clients corporate colours was produced and off-site training sessions set up. The training was designed to be interactive and a running order is reproduced in Fig. 2. As well as the training for Heads of Establishment separate briefing sessions were set up for relevant parties which included: (1) the Energy
62
S. Fawkes, J. Bratley
Conservation Unit; (2) the maintenance section; (3) Social Services Finance and Council Treasurers; and (4) Area Managers. A major part of the phase 1 activity was the development of the monitoring and targetting system and feedback system. The criteria for the system were: (1) ease of use and understanding; (2) use of data from bills; and (3) corrections for price and weather variances so that establishments would not be penalised for factors outside their control. It soon became clear that the Council's existing system, based on a proprietary microcomputer monitoring package was insufficient for the purpose although perfectly adequate for overall monitoring of many premises. Consequently, a spreadsheet-based system was developed in conjunction with the client's staff. This was used to produce two graphs--a Target Graph and a Total Energy Cost Target Graph. The Target G r a p h s - one for fuel and one for electricity for each establishment--were designed to be used for plotting meter-readings in each establishment. They took the baseline performance and applied a 10% saving figure to it, and then produced 10% plus and minus 'tramlines' to allow for reasonable variations due to the weather or other factors. For heating energy, the Target Graph was not corrected for degree days as establishments did not have the capability to carry out corrections on data from meter readings. The purpose of the graph was to provide a crude but quick source of feedback within the establishments. It was designed so that weekly meter readings could be plotted upon it. In the training, it was presented such that a point within the tramlines was satisfactory, a point under the tramlines represented a significant saving and a point above the tramlines was an indicator that some action was required. For electricity, the tramlines were derived from a target of a 10% reduction in usage from the reference period. The second feedback graph produced by the system was a Total Energy Cost Target Graph, which covered the financial year. As total cost was the important factor, the campaign was designed to influence this graph and its associated data were used to judge success. At any time the spreadsheet can be used to produce a Total Energy Cost Target Graph. If complete degreeday data and energy consumption and cost data are not available at that time, the Target is a prediction based upon the following assumptions: (1) average degree day data over twenty years; and (2) the last available average price for both the heating fuel and electricity (which at the start of the year will be the average price over the previous year). As actual degree-day data and consumption and cost data become available (from bills) the Total Energy Cost Target varies. Thus, for any period, a new Total Energy Cost Target is generated. The Total Energy Cost Target Graph also plots the Actual Energy Cost to date as far as data are
An energy-motivation case study
63
Social S e r v i c e s E n e r g y T a r g e t E s t a b l i s h m e n t : L a d y G o d i v a House S t a r t d a t e , 5 Oct. 87; Fuel: gas 64OO 5600
/
\\
//
\
\
4800
/
e
~4000 .... U
\
%
/
/ /
---
\
\ \
= 3200----u
B 2400 41)
16oo -r 8O0 T a r g e t band 0
4
8
12
16 Fig. 3.
20
24 28 32 Week n u m b e r Energy target graph.
36
40
44
48
52
available. The Total Cost Variance is simply the vertical difference between the two lines and the incentive payment is 50% of this variance. These graphs were explained during the training sessions. The spreadsheet can also provide printouts of the Total Cost Variance and incentive payments for each establishment. Sample graphs are shown in Figs 3 and 4.
30
Social Services Cost T a r g e t E s t a b l i s h m e n t : L a d y Godiva House S t a r t d a t e : 1 A p r 1987; End: 31 M a r 1988
27 --, u) 24 "O
~ 21
f
J
J
o 18
5
.__q 18
J
m 12
J
J
c-
t
fl_
6
0
Total cost variance to date
J 4
8
12 Fig. 4.
16
-.....
20 24 28 32 36 40 Week number Total energy cost target graph.
Target Actual 44
48
52
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S. Fawkes, J. Bratley
At the end of phase 1, the campaign was launched through the normal Social Service briefings. Again this method underlined the ownership of the campaign and the importance attached to it by senior management. Invitations to the training sessions were by written invitation with a telephone follow-up.
Phase 2: training and operation Five training sessions were carried out as planned. In order to assess the effectiveness of the training and to seek ways in which it could be improved, all participants were asked to complete a feedback form at the end of the session. The feedback was both quantitative and qualitative and generally was very enthusiastic. Several participants commented that they had expected a boring day and that their perception of energy conservation as a boring subject had been changed. Participants also reported that it was the first time they had appreciated both the size of the Department's total energy bill and what they could do to influence energy use. Within each session, individual establishments' energy problems were discussed and this led to several new ideas for evaluation as well as contributing to the consultant's understanding of the issues that really affect energy use and good housekeeping behaviour. On the whole, people were receptive to the idea of reading their own meters and had few difficulties understanding the concepts of the monitoring and targetting system. After some initial problems with the target graphs, these were produced and distributed satisfactorily. Some establishments were visited after the initial training sessions to give additional instruction on meter reading and graph plotting. In addition, staff from the Energy Conservation Unit visited most of the premises over the operation of the campaign to advise on possible measures, adjust control settings when requested and evaluate ideas for capital projects. These visits also helped to reinforce the importance of the campaign and to keep it in peoples' awareness.
Phase 3: evaluation This was split into quantitative and qualitative results. The principle of calculating savings was to examine the savings made over the course of the campaign, which had not run throughout the financial year. Total savings over the campaign were 6-1% as opposed to a target of 6%. From the management summaries (Table 1), it can be seen that prior to the start of the campaign in week 36 there was a net deficit of £3476 when compared with the previous-year's performance whereas at the end of the campaign there was a net saving of £5954, giving an overall saving of £9430 over the course
An energy-motivation case study
65
TABLE 1
Trend in Savings from Management Reports Date o f report a
Saving/(deficit) (£) (uncorrected) b
16 Dec.1987 7 Jan. 1988 12 Jan. 1988 18 Jan. 1988 29 Jan. 1988 5 Feb. 1988 15 Feb. 1988 11 Mar. 1988 7 Apr. 1988 19 Apr. 1988 21 Apr. 1988
(3 362) (4 180) (3 727) (3003) (2877) (3419) (2663) (1 176) (1 935) (147) 8
OThe date of the management report is the date of printing the report, not the date to which the data became available. b Savings figure includes those for Alderman McDonnell House.
of the campaign. Comparing this with the total energy cost over the same period leads to a figure of 6.1% saving. Cost savings in individual establishments varied between 1% and 38%. Individual establishments achieved savings ranging from 1% to 38%. The distribution is shown in Table 2. The feedback on the training sessions was reinforced by a subsequent final feedback session where Heads of Establishment reported that the training pack would not have been so effective without the initial one-day training session. During visits to sites by the consultants, most Heads of Establishment reported increased enthusiasm for energy management and a greater awareness of methods for saving energy. Many ideas for small capital projects were generated during the campaign, both from staff in the TABLE 2 Ranges of Savings Achieved by Individual Establishments %
0-5"0 5'1-10-0 10"1-15"0 15' 1-20.0 20'1 +
Number o f establishments
10 5 2 3 5
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establishments and the Energy Conservation Unit. One Head of Establishment reported that he was only able to identify such projects because of the effectiveness of the initial training. A frequent complaint from Heads of Establishment was the long delay in getting repairs carried out---e.g, with respect to a defective optimiser, leaking taps, broken windows, etc. These delays contribute to energy wastage and are a major source ofdemotivation for staff. Several Heads of Establishment where bills are quarterly requested more frequent feedback of information.
THE ELEMENTS OF MOTIVATION CAMPAIGNS During the course of this campaign, a model of the elements for an effective motivation campaign was developed and is shown in Fig. 5. All three basic elements--namely training, incentives and feedback--must be addressed in an integrated way if a significant proportion of the no-cost savings are to be lAction to create savings ]
Knowl edge ofL what to do
Motivation to J do something
Fig. 5. Elementsof a motivation campaign.
An energy-motivation case stud),
67
realised. Previous campaigns have not included all three elements. Training provides knowledge of what to do (i.e. how energy may be saved) as well as helping to increase motivation to do something by putting the energy-saving message in context. Know-how without motivation does not work and motivation without know-how cannot produce effective action. In training programmes, it is also important to explain how the message can be spread throughout the organisation because, if maximum benefits are to be achieved, all members of an organisation must contribute. Incentives in some form certainly help to motivate staff. Some form of shared savings is probably the most appropriate with a proportion of the savings achieved being returned to the unit responsible to spend as they see fit. This incentive should be as high profile as possible with perhaps a presentation ceremony to the unit achieving the greatest saving. Feedback of the effect of any actions taken is vital if enthusiasm and motivation are to be maintained. Feedback information can take several forms but must always be easy to understand. In the case described above Heads of Establishment greatly appreciated the fact that the feedback was on one piece of paper rather than a massive computer printout through which they had to search for relevant information. Graphs are very useful but it should be remembered that not everybody is used to assimilating data from graphs. A few relevant numbers may be more appropriate and it is important to respond to customer demand. The power of modern spreadsheet packages and microcomputers allow reports to be customised to a certain extent. Throughout the development and implementation of a campaign, it is important to involve as many groups of people as possible including the end users. Their experiences of real conditions in their buildings are important for producing a credible training package and campaign. In the campaign described above, part of each training session involved the participants in working a case study which was developed after discussions with several Heads of Establishment. This case study was very well received as people recognised it as describing a real situation. Participation should be a major theme of the development phase of campaigns.
CONCLUSIONS This campaign was successful in achieving energy savings through no-cost or good-housekeeping measures alone. The savings achieved were 6% of the total expenditure on energy over the course of the campaign and which if applied over a whole year to the Social Services Department would be equal to £30 000 per annum and a net saving, after repayment of the incentive of
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£15 000 per annum. In addition to the financial savings, a greater awareness of the importance of energy management, and the work of the Energy Conservation Unit, was achieved. Communications between the Energy Conservation Unit and the client department were greatly improved. The monitoring and targetting system developed could also be used to provide realistic energy budgets for the department to replace the inadequate and ad-hoc budgeting system. In order to improve the effectiveness of such campaigns, it is important that small energy-related maintenance items are dealt with quickly. Also a small projects fund of say £5000 to £10 000 could be established to facilitate the rapid implementation of projects such as draught proofing or gap sealing, which are frequently requested. Rapid implementation of many small projects which in themselves are tiny compared with the average energy-saving technical project such as an energy-management system, will greatly add to motivation and increase savings. Energy motivation campaigns based on the model presented and with a high degree of user participation in their development could produce significant energy savings for Local Authorities and other organisations with large estates such as Health Authorities. These savings can be achieved at very low cost and can also be accompanied by other benefits such as increased communication and understanding within a large organisation.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors are grateful for the full assistance they received from all of the staff of Coventry City Council involved in the motivation campaign.