Council recognised for communicating energy use

Published by webmaster for Bristol City Council in Communities

Bristol City Council has beaten entries from cities across the continent to
win first prize for its exemplary communication strategies in a European
campaign to encourage people to reduce their energy use.

The council uses the Display Campaign to make the energy performance of
their buildings known to staff and the public with the aim of reducing water
and energy usage in their buildings, and reducing CO2 emissions.  The
buildings are ified from A to G - similar to the scale used for
household electrical appliances - and the results are publicised around the
council using distinctive campaign posters.

The campaign has a real impact.  For example, latest calculations show that
the energy usage in The Council House on College Green for 2005/06 has
improved by one category, going up from 'D' to 'C'.  This is equivalent to
saving the annual consumption of nearly 35 family homes over one year. 

Paul Isbell, Manager of Bristol City Council's Energy Management Unit,said:
"Improvements made to the building's lighting and heating are not the single
reason for this result. It is also undoubtedly due to staff and visitors to
The Council House taking an interest in the campaign, and making a concerted
effort to reduce their energy usage."

Future improvements to The Council House such as secondary glazing of the
windows should see a move toward an 'A' rating in both energy use and carbon
dioxide emissions.  So far, the CO2 emissions has remained in category 'B'
over the same period because they are not affected by the electricity
savings made as this supply is from renewable sources.

Water consumption was rated a 'D' and work will continue to raise awareness
amongst staff and visitors to encourage them to report dripping taps and
only use as much water as necessary.  Other measures could include waterless
urinals that use either naturally occuring microbes to break down urine and
odour or a unique one-way valve as currently being trialled at the CREATE
Centre and in B Bond. 

Up against five other cities for the Award - Brasov (Romania), Colomiers
(France), Lausanne (Switzerland), Lille (France) and Verona (Italy) -
Bristol impressed the judges with the quality of their submission.  The
council expanded the scheme and developed additional posters, stickers and
postcards featuring sleeping light bulbs and dozing monitors, and placed a
banner on the side of the CREATE centre to further the aims of the campaign
in the city.

The Towards " A" Award was presented to Bristol City Council at a
ceremony in Riga, Latvia on the evening of Thursday 26th October.  Part of
the Better Integration for Sustainable Energy (www.bise-europe.org) Forum,
the awards were presented by Patrick Lambert, Director of the Intelligent
Energy Executive Agency.  The IEEA was created by the European Commission
put policies into action more efficiently and with improved results.

Councillor Gary Hopkins, Executive Member for Environment and Community
Safety, said: "The Energy Management Unit has successfully developed the
Display Campaign and used it to encourage visitors including school
children, business people, tourists, and residents, and employees to think
about the resources they use not only while they are in the buildings, but
as a 'take home' message as well."

The Towards " A" Awards Jury said, "Bristol City Council displayed
imagination and flair in how they improved the performance of some their
buildings.  Their concept, targeting and innovative use of materials makes
Bristol a worthy winner.  We look forward to seeing how the Display campaign
is used in future work in the city."

First prize is a large electronic display screen, bespoke in design for
Bristol, which conveys building consumption data and savings in real time.
It will be placed in the Council House so that the council can enhance its
efforts to present the Display data to the public in a clear and colourful
way.

More than 200 towns and cities are participating in the initiative, and have
registered over 4000 buildings in the scheme.  Bristol City Council is one
of 10 councils in the UK to join the scheme along with Leicester, Milton
Keynes, Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne, City of York, Kirklees, Leeds, Lewes
District and South Tyneside.

Ends