About ACES
We offer free energy efficiency support to schools in Oxfordshire
Action on Carbon and Energy in Schools (ACES) is an energy efficiency support service to help schools in Oxfordshire carry out energy saving measures to cut carbon emissions, save money on energy bills, and make buildings more comfortable and healthy for users.
We provide a range of support to help schools implement carbon reduction measures. The offering, free to Oxfordshire County Council maintained schools, will include energy audits for selected schools highlighting the changes that will benefit school buildings, one-to-one support creating bespoke energy efficiency plans, access to webinars and workshops, and funding to cover simple measures such as boiler room insulation. Academies will also have access to selected support measures.
Even small changes, such as insulating a boiler or installing heating controls, can have a big impact.
We’re here to help cut the carbon emissions of schools in Oxfordshire by providing them with the right support to make their buildings more energy efficient, comfortable and cheaper to run.
Why is energy efficiency important?
In the UK, our buildings account for around 30 per cent of total carbon emissions, mainly from heating, cooling and electricity use.
In Oxfordshire, the Oxfordshire County maintained schools alone contributed 5,238tCO2e in 2020/21, which is 31.1 per cent of the councils total reported corporate emissions. Therefore, making cuts to energy use can make a big difference to Oxfordshire’s overall carbon emissions.
If we are to tackle the climate crisis and cut our carbon emissions, we need to reduce how much energy we use in our homes, businesses and schools.
The UK has a target to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Locally Oxfordshire has set a target of cutting carbon emissions by 50% of 2008 levels by 2030. Schools across Oxfordshire can help us reach this aim by addressing the energy effiency of their buildings.
Energy use in school buildings are a large part of a schools carbon footprint, not to mention their annual spend. Therefore addressing energy is an important piece in the puzzle in helping to tackle carbon emissions.
There are a host of other benefits to improving the energy performance of your school, apart from just the environmental ones, including buildings that are cheaper to run so money can instead be spent on education, improved comfort of staff and students, and an educational tool to guide the future generation.
We know that addressing the energy efficiency of schools can be difficult and costly. We’re here to help make it was easy as possible.
Why take part?
Schools are hubs in their communities and can lead the way in taking action on climate change by cutting carbon emissions. Leading by example to your community can illustrate to families and businessess in your community what can be achieved.
By cutting your carbon emissions through energy efficiency, you can:
- Reduce your energy bills so you can spend funds on valuable educatioanal resources and learning
- Provide learning opportunities to teach students about energy and climate change
- Create a more comfortable learning environment for staff and students.
Who are we?
Action on Carbon and Energy in Schools is a service being delivered by the Environmental Information Exchange (EiE) team at Oxford Brookes University. The expert team have a strong track record in delivering energy efficiency solutions for schools, organisations and businesses.
Low Carbon Hub is a social enterprise out to prove we can meet our energy needs in a way that’s good for people and good for the planet. They are responsible for the marketing and communications for the project.
Oxfordshire County Council is funding the project. They have published a Climate Action Framework, committing to prioritising action on climate change across the Council and achieving net-zero emissions from the Councils corporate estate by 2030. The Council has also committed to reducing emissions from all of its areas of influence, including supporting maintained schools to reduce their emissions.
