FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQS)
General
How often will I get these reports?
You will get them on the 7th day of each calendar month.
Do you have figures for previous years?
2010-2011 is the first year where we feel confident with the accuracy of the data and
distribution method for these reports.
Understanding the consumption reports
How do you calculate the baseline shown on the reports?
The baseline is the previous year’s utilities consumption for that month for the
building. This consumption is then apportioned to the occupied area of that building.
In the future the baseline will be based on the average of the previous 2 years utility’s
consumption.
Occupied area/Space
Where have the PU/School Area (m2) come from?
Your school/PU space contact submits space allocation reports each year these are
then put into the EBIS database. Space allocations for schools and planning units are
downloaded once a year at the beginning of the financial year (August) into the
optima database and used to calculate occupied space.
Our school /planning unit uses small amounts of energy but shares a building
with a high energy user, how do you account for this?
The reports currently calculate the buildings utility consumption and apply this to the
area you occupy. For electricity the consumption is then weighted based on room
types in your school or planning unit. So if you share a building with a high user (e.g.
computer server room) then this user’s consumption will be apportioned using
average consumptions for this room type.
Are centrally bookable rooms included in my reports?
Centrally bookable rooms, plant rooms and switch rooms aren’t included in the
reports as they are not categorised as occupied space.
Are the utilities used during the festival excluded?
No
Are heights of rooms taken into account?
We are comparing the same rooms year to year, but the height of the room doesn’t
change therefore room height is taken into account.
Consumption data
Where are the meters and how do you measure consumption?
The meters are either meters installed by our utility suppliers or are our own meters
we have installed especially for the consumption reports. The meters are usually held
in the buildings basement or adjacent plant room.
The number of buildings in my 2011-2012 reports is lower then in 2010-2011
reports, why is this?
Buildings that we already charge for utilities (also known as recharging) have been
removed from the monthly reporting process.
Costs
How are the costs of the utility calculated and how often do they change?
Costs are calculated annually and they are based on the average utility cost that our
suppliers charge the university.
Energy saving
How can I use these reports to reduce energy consumption?
Compare actual use to baseline use.
Use KPIs to identify high use buildings.
Faults
Some of the buildings for my school seem to be missing where can I get data for
this?
Some buildings haven’t been included in the report as the building either the building
doesn’t have useful utility data or the building is soon to become unoccupied.
My report is for the current month but when I look at the data for a building
there seems to be some month’s data missing.
Consumption data for some buildings is based on the reads we get from our utility
suppliers, these reads can be infrequent, so we can’t tell you about consumption until
we receive an invoice from our suppliers.
I haven’t received my reports this month where can I get a replacement?
Please email energysupport@ed.ac.uk .
I think my occupied space allocation/consumption looks incorrect how can I get
this changed?
Please contact energysupport@ed.ac.uk