Client: LocatED on behalf of DfE
Value: N/A
Location: National
Sector: Education
Services: Education Funding, Sustainability
Meridian Trust has seen rapid and substantial growth in recent years by merging Trusts, on boarding sites and building new academies. This has posed many opportunities and risks to the Trust, with energy being one area of exposure. Ginger Energy has provided adaptive solutions throughout this journey to ensure the Trust is in the best position to maximise opportunities and minimise risks. A key point in the growth of this Trust was the merging of 2 MATS.
Overview
Commissioned by DfE, the Net Zero Accelerator (NZA) is a new programme to deliver the scale of decarbonisation across the education estate required to make a proportionate contribution to the government’s net-zero targets.
The TEEAM consortium delivered a feasibility study for providing an end-to-end solution for schools, trusts and local authorities to identify opportunities for carbon reduction, prioritise projects and fund and deliver programmes at scale and pace.
The brief
The education estate currently represents 37% of public sector building carbon dioxide emissions. However, the sector’s ability to tackle the climate crisis is being hampered by complexity, regulation and lack of finance.
The aim of the Net Zero Accelerator Programme is to look at options for a range of decarbonisation interventions and link these with suitable funding streams, procurement routes and delivery frameworks to enable organisations to achieve carbon reductions and cost savings with positive returns on investment
The solution
The TEEAM Alliance partners formed a NZAP consortium, adding in expertise from partners Lloyds Bank and Ashden’s ‘Let’s Go Zero’ campaign. This team provided industry-leading expertise, each bringing unique and education-specific insights across the following core areas:
- Net Zero strategy
- Energy Audit and technical due diligence
- Funding and finance
- Change management and delivery
The first stage of the feasibility study involved working closely with a carefully selected batch of schools to assess existing data, identify and triage decarbonisation opportunities. The team then explored the options for funding and delivering programmes of work and change management at pace, particularly overcoming limitations and barriers perceived within the sector.
The outcome
The TEEAM NZAP feasibility study has received high levels of praise and interest at LocatED and DfE. Currently in consultation, the intention is that some of the key principles and solutions put forward will be developed into a pilot study with further roll-out.
