What is a Carbon Survey?
Carbon Trust will carry out a survey of your site to assess the potential for energy savings.
Each survey is conducted by an independent accredited consultant and produces a practical action plan tailored to your organisation's needs.
Our surveys have helped businesses identify potential cost savings of £170m and over 1.3mt of carbon dioxide emissions since 2005. Once you have requested a survey, an accredited independent consultant will visit your organisation and work with you to:
- Review your energy usage
- Identify energy-saving opportunities
- Define practical ‘next steps’
- Assist with practical implementation support
Some recommendations will involve no capital outlay whatsoever. Where capital expenditure is necessary, our consultant will work with you to calculate the payback period.
It is also possible for us to measure your organisation’s carbon footprint and produce the details within a report.
After we receive your application, we’ll give you a call to discuss our eligibility criteria and what we need from you.
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Getting the most from your Carbon Survey
Preparing for your Carbon Survey will help you get the most out of it. For Customers with an organisational energy spend under £500,000 per year it is helpful if you can provide us with your annual energy bill details prior to the survey being commissioned. This enables us to select the appropriate level of support to suit your needs and allow the consultant as much time as possible to focus on the most relevant areas of your organisation.
Once we have received your application our Customer Centre team will be in contact to request your gas and electricity billing data from the last 12 months and discuss your site and energy use and explain the next steps. When we have received your energy data we will arrange for an independently accredited consultant to visit your site.
The more you do to prepare for your survey, the more you’ll get from it. It’s really helpful if you also provide our consultant with:
- Half hourly data from your electricity meters
- A contact on site that can provide the consultant with site access and details
Back to top Eligibility
Whether you qualify for a free* Carbon Survey depends on several issues, including:
- Size of organisation – this will determine the type of support we can offer, potentially up to fully bespoke projects - your total organisational energy spend is required.
- Energy bills - your total bill needs to be greater than £30,000 per year. Our Customer Centre team can explain the process fully and answer any questions.
- Potential for carbon savings – if eligible, the level of service offered.
- Energy efficiency experience – assisting from basic carbon saving measures to more detailed in-depth analysis and support.
- Any on site consultancy received is classified as State Aid under EU law and is therefore subject to EU de minimis State Aid rules. Successful applicants will be required to complete a declaration form to state that value of the state aid received does not contribute to the company exceeding its state aid limit. We will inform you of the financial value of the support you will be receiving.
If your organisation has used our Carbon Survey service before, please contact us to find out if you are eligible for further on site support.
Remember - even if you don’t qualify for a survey we’ll have something to offer you.
Any questions? Call 0800 085 2005
* Availability of free on-site surveys is subject to your organisation's annual energy spend. Please speak to our Customer Centre team on 0800 085 2005, who will advise on eligibility.