Leicester City Council
Project location
Leicester City Council
Leicester City Council (LCC) sought a partnership that could support them in their decarbonisation and sustainability agenda – the ‘Green Flag’ initiative. The primary objective was to drastically reduce carbon emissions to create an environmentally friendly future by 2050.
In September 2019, EES Group won a highly competitive UK-wide tender process, which secured the opportunity to implement energy-saving projects across 24 LCC estates. Owing to EES Group’s history of success in renewable solutions, we then went on to complete a further 42 totalling 64 in all. The cumulative annual carbon reduction was 777,402kg, signifying a huge milestone in advancing the initiative.
results
what we did…
We began work on-site in 2021 at New College School. The challenge of New College was that it was the largest school in the city, both in terms of site size and pupil population. This scope of work necessitated meticulous scaffolding designs to accommodate the scale of the project. As with many educational properties, the team could only work during school holidays, which had a stringent four-week deadline.
The school had a state-of-the-art gymnastics centre which proudly catered to Olympic-level gymnasts, such as gold medallist Max Whitlock. The gym required a significant improvement to its lighting system to create a facility that met Olympic-level standards while simultaneously reducing the maintenance costs associated with lighting. EES Group successfully installed a complex lighting system to implement dimmable LED’s. It was crucial that these fixtures were high-quality and uniform to fulfil the requirements of New College’s gym. In total, EES Group installed over 2,600 LED fittings for the school, resulting in a 58% reduction in electrical usage. For the gym, this translated into an annual carbon emission reduction of 5,213 kg c02e with a payback period of two and a half years.
We then went on to deliver a solar PV installation for Moat Community College. Having to be conscious of the school’s examination timetables, the team expedited the process by drawing up and obtaining sign-off for RAMS and CPP within a week. This allowed the installation to be completed within the five-day timeline as requested by the school, which was successfully achieved. The installation consisted of 264 solar PV modules, with a system size of 99kWp, yielding 80,586kWh per annum. This equated to a reduction of 18.78ct of carbon annually, which is the equivalent of 863 trees.
Meeting the deadlines for both properties required detailed planning from the project manager. They utilised the council’s weekly inspections to create a steady flow of communication between all estate managers. These two schools set the precedent for how our team would operate across the other 62 sites. The success of the overall project can be accredited to the team’s collaborative approach, which fostered a reliable and confident partnership with LCC and their individual properties.
Leicester City subsequently received several sustainability awards for their efforts in harnessing sustainable and renewable technologies. This partnership supported LCC in their journey towards decarbonisation, which will significantly contribute towards a net zero carbon future.