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11 March 2022
ESG for the education sector and the importance of monitoring water consumption
Industry comment by Craig Mellor, Director, Deer Technology Ltd
Schools, colleges and universities are very different from businesses but, with today's tight budgets, many of the same management principles need to be applied in order to maximum the return for every pound spent. Businesses are now finding themselves under pressure to improve their ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) performance, particularly now agencies are calculating and awarding ESG ratings. These range from CCC for laggards not managing their long-term exposure to ESG risk factors, up to AAA for those managing the risks well and taking advantage of the opportunities. Some commentators are suggesting educational establishment should be starting to look at ESG as a new way to frame what they do.
Currently there is no standard for what ESG ratings should include or how they are calculated. However, all ESG ratings should take into account the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) initiative developed by a United Nations-led international network of investors.
ESG potentially covers many different aspects of the way in which a school, college or university is run. For example, the social (S) score includes human capital issues. As for governance (G), factors range from the diversity and independence of the board, through to accounting practices and ‘business' ethics (such as how contracts are awarded). In this present article we are primarily interested in the environmental (E) score. This is broad-based and considers pollution and waste, climate change and environmental opportunities. Drilling down further, we find two points of particular interest: carbon emissions and water sourcing.
For now, we will focus on the importance of managing water consumption because this illustrates very well what a school, college or university can do to improve its ESG performance. Moreover, doing so need not cost anything, and it could easily save money.
It may sound surprising until you think about it, but every litre of mains water has a carbon footprint. According to the UK Government conversion factors for greenhouse gas reporting[1], 0.344 kg CO2e can be attributed to each cubic metre of mains water. These emissions stem mainly from the energy required for pumping and treating water, and for servicing water companies' buildings and vehicles. Water and sewage treatment also result in direct emissions of two greenhouse gases, methane and nitrous oxide.
Although we are primarily considering water consumption, bear in mind that greenhouse gas emissions for hot water are around ten times higher because of the energy required to heat it.
Clearly, reducing water consumption has a direct impact on carbon emissions. As well as improving ESG performance, minimising water usage also benefits schools, colleges and universities that are striving for net zero emissions.
In addition, cutting consumption helps to improve ESG performance through the reduced demand placed on the water source. In some areas of the UK, water is in relatively short supply, especially in the summer and when drought conditions prevail, so the responsible course of action is to use less. For areas not classified as being in serious water stress, an increasing population means consumption needs to be managed to avoid shortages in the future.
There is no doubt about the increasing importance of ESG ratings in the world of business and commerce, though it has to be said that they are not without controversy. This is partly because there is no international standard against which ratings can be calculated and partly due to the reliance on qualitative metrics. However, water consumption can be measured, so reliable values for reductions in consumption can be obtained. An old adage states that you cannot manage what you cannot measure and, fortunately, water consumption can be measured.
According to the Environment Agency[2], 50 per cent of households in England have water meters, ranging from 28 per cent for Portsmouth Water to 84 per cent for Southern Water. In contrast, almost all non-household (NHH) customers have metered supplies and a portion of the bill normally relates to the volume of water consumed. However, the reality is less straightforward for a variety of reasons.
Many NHH users have meters that are classed as Long Unread Meters (LUM), or their bills are based on Business Assessed price bands or estimates, rather than meter readings. There are several reasons for meters being unread, such as their whereabouts being unknown or their location making them difficult or hazardous to read. Where meters are equipped with pulse counters that enable volumetric consumption to be calculated from pressure and flow, these can suffer from drift, resulting in inaccurate readings. Periodic manual (visual) readings are therefore required but patterns of data are difficult to analyse - if not meaningless - for organisations implementing water-saving measures.
A further benefit of accurate, timely water consumption data is that it can help identify leaks. If bills are based on meter readings, the cost of a water leak can soon become very high, so it is vital to find and repair leaks quickly. This financial saving is, of course, on top of the ESG benefits.
Ideally, every water supply would have a smart meter and the data would be visible to consumers - in much the same way as smart electricity meters have been rolled out for households. However, smart metering is more difficult to implement on water supplies. For a start, there is no integral power supply unlike electricity meters and, furthermore, water meters are typically installed below ground level, often submerged in water or mud.
Despite these challenges, schools, colleges and universities seeking to improve ESG performance by reducing water consumption now have an option to retrofit ‘smart' technology to existing analogue meters. Implementing the patented technology costs less than conventional alternatives, only takes around ten minutes per meter, and there is no need to interrupt the water supply.
Known as theLimpetReader, the hardware is battery-powered, withstands long-term submersion in water or mud, and does not suffer from drift. The LimpetReader is bonded to the meter's faceplate, though the meter's register remains visible in case a visual read is necessary. However, there should be no need to take confirmatory readings because the system is immune from drift and readings are treated as visual readings.
Developed by Deer Technology, the LimpetReader incorporates opto-electronics and is connected to an AutoReader that uses GSM (mobile phone) or Wi-Fi communication technology. Time- and date-stamped images of the meter's register are uploaded to secure servers, where they are converted to numerical values. Customers can then access the consumption data in a variety of ways. Deer Technology's comprehensive service covers everything from installation through to data management.
Schools, colleges and universities can therefore monitor water consumption in an accurate and timely way. If changes are made to the way water is used, the impact can be seen almost instantaneously, with no need to wait for meter readings to be supplied by the water company. Furthermore, the data is accurate because the LimpetReader takes an image of the meter register and therefore does not suffer from drift. This hard data can be used when calculating carbon emissions and, therefore, monitoring ESG performance.
Find out more about Deer Technology's LimpetReader for remote water meter reading athttps://deertechnology.com, telephone 01639 363146 or emailhello@deertechnology.com.
References:
[1] ‘Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors 2020', UK Government,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greenhouse-gas-reporting-conversion-factors-2020(accessed 26 January 2022).
[2] Environment Agency quoted in a written answer to Parliament on 16 January 2018,https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2017-12-21/121058
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With Compliments:
Taylor Alden
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London
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