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ESTA VIEWPOINT

For further information on ESTA visit www.estaenergy.org.uk

A time to be on our best behaviour

We may now exist in a world of Zoom meetings and where face-to-face contact is a distant memory, but the need to change our behaviour when it comes to energy saving remains, says Mervyn Pilley

It’s now over six months since the national lockdown started and ESTA’s last physical event. The roller coaster that is running a trade association in 2020 continues with, in addition to the pandemic, the spectre of Brexit threatening to replace the ghost of Jacob Marley at Christmas. Economic activity is still very difficult with local lockdowns starting to address a second wave of coronavirus. The furlough scheme support is coming to an end and many members will be facing very difficult decisions about staffing levels.

Despite the challenges thrown up I am pleased that there have been some ESTA successes. The most important of these has been the launch of our approach for delivering behaviour change Energy Conscious Organisation – EnCO programmes as a holistic, robust, best programme. Some two years in the practice approach; and making, the following extracts from the • the initial energy conscious organisation EnCO Business plan summarise the need vision is to generate ‘50 to 100 proven for the importance of the programme case studies using IPMVP in the next both in the UK and globally: three years’ such that EnCOs become a • to tackle the climate emergency mainstream. an approach is required to embrace behaviour change improvements, particularly from an energy perspective, ESTA has run its first training programmes and has the first batch of registered EnCO Consultants and Mervyn Pilley is executive director of ESTA (Energy which evidence would suggest is equal approved EnCO practitioners. More Services and to or greater than improvements using training dates have been set and we Technology technology which currently receive will soon be publishing details about Association) significant investment; how organisations can become EnCOs. • a short-to-medium-term vision is that There are many ESTA members that ‘energy-conscious organisations’ will have supported this programme, but generate 10 per cent of energy reduction special thanks are due to Jes Rutter, savings through behaviour change by John Mulholland, James Brittain and 2025/30; Martin Fry for their support and many • this target can be exceeded by hours of hard work. ESTA is working organisations embracing a more hard to gain support in all parts of structured, code-of-practice-driven government as we fully believe that approach to behaviour change; behaviour change is a strong part of the • the potential is significant as this energy efficiency programme needed to market is largely untapped. Furthermore, enable the Government to meet its legal evidence shows that behaviour change net zero target. This is challenging as projects are low payback and low unfortunately many in Government do investment (even when including the cost of internal resources); ‘Behaviour change is an effective, low• EnCO provides the methodology and cost, energy efficiency methodology’ not seem to have accepted that behaviour change is an effective, quick-payback, high-value, and low-cost energy efficiency methodology.

At our AGM in September, the first virtual one in our history, the members voted for ESTA to join the Energy and Utilities Alliance. This will significantly increase our capability to deliver more support and opportunities to members going forward while retaining our autonomy and independence to carry on the normal day-to-day activities that members have come to expect from us. With a combined membership of 300 the alliance will be a stronger voice for the energy efficiency sector.

On the international front, I spoke at a webinar as one of many speakers on the subject of a post-pandemic green recovery. While it appears that trade show opportunities are unlikely to happen this year ESTA will continue to look to both recruit international members and provide global work opportunities for existing members after the end of the EU transition arrangements at the end of the year. Deal or no deal, energy efficiency needs will always be global, and I am determined that our strapline – making energy happen – will have meaning for ESTA members around the world in 2021 and beyond.

Other discussions about some exciting new workstream projects and member benefits continue. One of the plus points about the world of virtual is that things that used to take a long time to engineer can potentially be achieved more quickly. The spirit of innovation is also being embraced more rapidly. ESTA is in active discussion with several training providers looking to introduce a range of new training products early in 2021. While the majority of these will be online, we are still keen to return to face-to-face training courses as quickly as we can.

As I have already said I am very aware that I will not be seeing any of you at trade shows this year. Having spent 46 years of working life thriving on face-to-face networking I miss the interaction that comes from time spent in the presence of people. While I am very happy to engage with anyone who wants to have a discussion with me over a Zoom meeting, it really is not the same. I am looking forward to a time when we can get back together again to discuss all things energy and ESTA. 