The secretariat to the Standards Commission is provided by the Office of the Ombudsman at its offices in 18 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2, which also houses the Office of the Information Commissioner, the Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information and the Commission for Public Service Appointments. This report itemises energy usage specifically by the Standards Commission in 2010 and provides an overview of actions undertaken in 2010 and planned for 2011 across the whole office.
In 2010, the Standards Commission consumed 111.98 MWh of energy, consisting of:
The procurement unit in the Office of Public Works (OPW) ran a tender last year for energy providers, which the Office of the Ombudsman asked to be included in. On foot of the tender, the Office has changed both its gas and electricity suppliers in an attempt to reduce costs. The OPW will also monitor bills to ensure the tender achieves the required savings.
Vector Enterprises has been nominated by the Office of Public Works to implement an Energy Conservation Initiative across OPW managed facilities. The aim of the initiative is to reduce the Office’s energy usage, and that of all OPW managed buildings, by 20%.
The plans consist of four stages.
They will begin by auditing the Office’s energy systems (building energy audit) using a generic building plan. An after-hours audit which is used to determine energy consumption during non-working hours will also be undertaken;
Staff awareness of energy consumption and the methods of reducing it will be increased. A general presentation will be made to all staff regarding how the Office will progress energy reduction. It is intended that a poster campaign to highlight energy consumption, and monthly reports, will be delivered to all staff. An awards scheme may be introduced to encourage staff participation;
Vector’s plans include regular meetings (every six weeks) with an appointed energy officer to go over issues that may arise, and to assess the ongoing monitoring of the building. This monitoring is provided by remote access. The electricity and gas feeds into this building have now been linked to a central computer which will record weekly and monthly energy consumption. Profiles of these recordings will be shown to an appointed energy officer in the relevant building;
A review will be undertaken to ensure continual improvement, which is aimed at achieving a saving of 20% in CO2 emissions in 2011, which in turn will reduce the Office’s energy bills.