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With over 35 sites and a commitment to reach Net Zero by 2050, the Force faced a challenge familiar to many: moving from a high-level strategy to an actionable plan, meaning the need to identify priority projects, determine feasible timeframes and understand the next steps for implementation.

Background

Kent Police have been actively reducing their carbon footprint since 2008/2009 and aim to reach Net Zero by 2050.  Since the beginning of their journey, they have continued to review their Carbon Management Plan (CMP) on a 5-yearly basis to support emissions reduction.  In 2022, we worked with Kent Police to establish a Roadmap strategy, followed by a tailored Carbon Descent Plan (CDP).

During 2024, Kent Police commissioned LASER to:

  • Update and add the next level of detail to their Roadmap and CDP.
  • Carry out building audits and feasibility studies at selected sites.

To reduce emissions associated with the heating of buildings, detailed design work was also undertaken at one of Kent Police’s sites, so that the building’s needs could be understood and an engineering solution provided.

The solution Net Zero Roadmap and Carbon Descent Plan

LASER’s services enabled the Force to move from previous high-level strategies to a more specific and granular action plan.  Alongside the production of carbon footprints, consumption and financial costs, BAU forecast and a year-on-year comparison, LASER combined different approaches to produce a single Carbon Reduction Model and pathway for the Force.  An approach was selected for each site, based on status and levels of emissions, to allow higher levels of assurance around estimates for key sites:

  1. Site visits for key buildings, generating specific reports and recommendations.
  2. For other important or high-consuming buildings, a desktop tool was used. This utilises consumption and other building information to calculate saving potential.
  3. For the remaining portfolio, an alternative tool was used to estimate potential savings achievable across a number of sites.

During an Options Appraisal workshop, the projects identified using these approaches were reviewed by Kent Police.  These were discussed and then projects for inclusion in the modelling were selected and timeframes for implementation were outlined. The Carbon Reduction Modelling generated using this process, helped the Force to visualise both the emissions and financial trajectory, and provided details of projected investment, ongoing costs, potential savings, and the overall financial impact.

Additionally, for selected sites, a benchmarking assessment was carried out.  This included an overview of the energy consumption and emissions for each site, and made a fair comparison between sites by accounting for size, occupancy hours and heating fuel.  The assessment played a key part in determining how sites and associated potential projects were prioritised.

The solution Building audits, feasibility studies and detailed design work

Energy surveyors visited Kent Police’s selected sites to identify measures that could reduce costs and provide energy savings.   As well as including the identified projects in the Carbon Reduction Modelling,  a bespoke report was produced for each site, including:

  • analysis of the site’s current energy performance and consumption patterns.
  • assessment of building fabric.
  • 3D generated models of the building to accurately calculate heat demand.
  • current electric load available.
  • heat network opportunities.
  • solar PV assessment with shading analysis.
  • recommendations for control and building fabric improvements, as well as low-carbon heating solutions, and assessment of financial, technical, legal and delivery viability

In addition to the building audits and feasibility studies, working with a specialist subcontractor, a detailed design was produced at one site to specify a practical, low-carbon heating solution.

Outcomes

By conducting a review of their current status, Kent Police were able to understand their position and how they were progressing with their Net Zero journey.  The benchmarking assessment demonstrated the performance of selected sites within the Force’s portfolio, and identified sites performing poorly in comparison to others, allowing for site and project prioritisation.  The increase in the level of granularity of the Roadmap Services, as well as building confidence in the forecast carbon emissions savings and financial impacts for projects, helped support a further understanding of:

  • project implementation and timeframes
  • required funding and planning
  • internal procurement planning

For the lower priority sites and their associated energy consumption, reviewing projects at high strategy level demonstrated the challenges still remaining, allowing Kent Police to understand the overall impact of projects identified and selected for specific sites.

Conclusion

Kent Police now have a clear, actionable Roadmap which, alongside the building audits and feasibility studies, will guide the Force in prioritising and implementing projects to further reduce their carbon emissions.  It will also give them a good understanding of the financial impacts of the projects.  The detailed design work allowed for an in-depth exploration of alternative heating solutions and presents a solution if Kent Police wishes to proceed with this project.

LASER remains committed to supporting Kent Police on their journey, with our dedicated account managers who will regularly check in to offer ongoing support with our Roadmap service.  The Carbon Descent Plan can continue to be developed by incorporating further detail and information – this can be from outputs of additional building audits or information from other sources. We can also support progress monitoring of projects, understand reductions and remaining emissions, and update and evolve the Force’s Carbon Descent Plan, as well as supporting with project implementation with our Net Zero frameworks.

 

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