The loan has enabled the school to make real and tangible energy savings, as well as making a lasting upgrade to the pool environment.
Jane Corwin, the bursar, Friends School
The business case
Using a Carbon Trust loan it was able to purchase a new mechanised cover, which, although it cost £7,000, should be paid back in less than four years, just by using the money saved from the reduced energy bills.
The Friends’ School is a three hundred year old independent school in Essex. Currently the school employs 115 staff and has almost 400 pupils. One major area of energy spend was the school swimming pool, which was costing the school around £8,500 a year to keep heated.
The technology
In order to find an energy efficient way to reduce this heating cost, the Friends’ School contacted the Carbon Trust. The Carbon Trust recommended that the school purchase a cover, which would greatly reduce the heat loss from the pool, as well as lead to savings of over £2,000 per year in energy bills. To purchase the pool cover, the school applied for a Carbon Trust loan, which it received in October 2004.
Although the new mechanised pool cover cost nearly £7,000, with a Carbon Trust loan, this investment will be paid back in less than four years from the money saved each year on the energy bills.
Find out more about advice, loans and support available for schools to help reduce energy costs and cut carbon emissions.
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