CP968: Environmental Engineering Assignment FAQ
Format/ structure
Q1. Do we need to use template inside the report or fill it out and attach to the submission?
A1. My preference is you use the template inside the report - this is the format I would like to see
your Improvement Action Business Case within.
This is item 4 in the Report Structure as noted in the Environmental Engineering Coursework.
Q2. What is meant by the Guidance section on the template? Please could you elaborate?
A2. The Guidance section is simply a section to place any references, data sources or links to
support the improvement action case (e.g. links to example water saving products, supporting
case study on energy efficiency improvements, etc).
Q3. Is there a maximum limit for the number of pages or word count? I would like to include
some figures/graphs but this is taking a space from page limit suggested in course work
document.
A3. You can add as an appendix if it helps.
Technical/ content
Q4. Some of the operational/equipment data used for the assignment cannot be referenced
because they are company information. Hope is ok of me to use them without reference them.
A4. I understand and respect company confidentiality.
Q5. I'm struggling to fill up the pages in the report structure you gave us in the assignment brief,
especially for #2 below. The description and quantification doesn't exceed 1.5 pages and unless I
bulk it up with words that don't add any value I can't get up to 3 pages. Are the number of pages
a suggestion or requirement? and will I lose marks if I don't have up to the number of pages
you've mentioned for each section.
A5. I am more interested in quality versus quantity. If you have adequately described and
quantified the 3 significant energy or water using activities you will be fine. The 3-pages is a
maximum.
Q6. Do I need to show my calculations of power / water / CO2e savings in the main text or
should I move them into appendix and use the summary / outcome in the Mabbett templates?
A6. I would include short calculations in the template but move detailed calculations into an
appendix.
Q7. I am using a lot of historical plant data over the past 2 years to support the assignment. How
do you want this to be included in the assignment? I have developed a spreadsheet that is rather
large, due to all the data.
Would it be okay to include this spreadsheet to support the submission? I don't want you to feel
like the figures have been plucked out of thin air.
A7. You can include the spreadsheet as an appendix or alternatively I would be happy with a
summary of the data.
Q8. We have our own boiler house on site for producing steam so I'm wondering if Steam falls
under energy or water usage?.
Also, the part of site where I work has so many different chemical plants and laboratories all
serviced by one boiler house, cooling tower and water supply. For some part of the audit I'll look
at the site overall but in some others I'll focus on the area where I work, especially for action 2 &
3...is this Ok?
Bearing that in mind, I'm not sure what a 'user' is in my case...is it a specific process?, or is each
plant or lab?
A8. A steam saving could be an energy and water saving. It would depend on what the steam is
used for and for water, if the condensate from the steam is recovered.
For a complex site, you can select one process or area to look at for action 2 and 3. That is fine.
A user is an water or energy using activity e.g. water used for cooling, water used for conveying
product, energy used to drive a motor, energy used to heat a process activity or area, etc.
Q9. I work in a refinery, and I decided to work with the energy audit management approach. The
primary energy areas are fuel, power, and steam. Can I select one of these areas, for example,
fuel? Or I need to apply the task for the three areas? I am thinking of doing a high-level review of
the three areas and then select one of these to apply the tasks requested and the action
improvement business case.
A9. Yes, your approach is ideal.