Many Universities have advanced energy management procedures and policies, most of which are available in the public domain, from which good practice can be achieved, see below:

• University of Leicester - click here
  
• University of Essex – click here
  
• University of Southampton – click here
  
• University of Edinburgh – click here

HEEPI has produced several case studies focusing on energy management in the FHE sector:

• Water Efficiency – Liverpool JMU
• Metering & Monitoring – UMIST
• Financing Energy Efficiency – UCL and Leicester
• Energy Awareness – Glasgow
• Base load Management – Cambridge

When procuring utilities, the Energy Consortium employs expert purchasing and technical staff to carry out the procurement of energy supplies on behalf of its members within the Higher Education Sector.

Energy Benchmarking is important to allow HEIs compare their buildings energy performance to best practice in the sector. HEEPI has developed a Carbon and Energy Benchmarking tool that allows laboratory managers to compare the performance of their laboratory facilities to similar facilities and thereby help identify potential energy cost savings opportunities. This Excel spreadsheet collates energy consumption, calculates carbon dioxide emissions, compares performance with relevant Carbon Trust, HEFCE and HEEPI energy benchmarks and ranks campus buildings by their cost saving or carbon dioxide reduction potential.

The 2003 HEFCE Energy Value for Money report, commissioned by the UK Value for Money Steering Group, provides an update of an earlier 1996 study (‘Energy management study in the higher education sector: National Report', HEFCE M5/96 – not available for download). It identifies key actions and future issues that need to be addressed by HE institutions in developing a strategic policy framework for sustainability that includes energy management.

SPRU (Steve Sorrell) produced a report into the Barriers of Energy Management within the FHE sector in 2000. The executive summary can be seen here and the whole report here .

For generic resources on energy efficiency the best source is Carbon Trust, a Government-funded organisation. It has numerous case studies, best practice guidance documents and management guidelines – click here for some key guides. We have also prepared a listing of all Carbon Trust Energy publications about further and higher education.

Some useful generic Action Energy publications are:

• Energy Management Pathfinder
  
• Cost-effective low energy buildings in further and higher education – GPG207
  
• Educated energy Good housekeeping in further and higher education buildings – GPG232

Useful sources for new regulations are:

• The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive 2002/91/EC - came into force on 4 January 2003. It will greatly affect awareness of energy use in buildings, and is intended to lead to substantial increases in investments in energy efficiency measures within these buildings. This briefing explains the main provisions of the Directive.
  
• The updated 2006 Building Regulations. Approved documents L address conservation of fueland power.
  
• The Government's 2006 Energy Review The Energy Challenge as well as affirming support for nuclear power, contains proposals to reform the Renewables Obligation, introduce a domestic emissions trading scheme for large emitters and proposals to improve energy efficiency and boost renewables and distributed generation. The review sets a target for 20% of electricity to come from renewables by 2020. It also promises to look into reforming the Renewables Obligation to address the economics of different types of renewable energy.
  
• The Government's 2003 Energy White Paper - Our energy future – creating a low carbon economy defines a long-term strategic vision for energy policy combining our environmental, security of supply, competitiveness and social goals. The third annual progress report can be viewed here.