George Leslie Ltd (GL hereafter) is a leading Scottish civil engineering and construction company that maintains some of Scotland’s critical infrastructure in many remote and challenging environments. 

Beginnings

Our work started in 2020 when COVID disrupted our lives. As restrictions eased over the summer, we delivered a design-out-waste workshop and circularity assessments through the Zero Waste Scotland Circular Construction Programme, in partnership with Resource Futures. 

We cemented, excuse the pun, our relationship with GL’s team by supporting them with their Carbon Management Plan for Scottish Water in 2022.  

As we moved into 2023, Phase 3 of ESOS (Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme) was approaching. This was GL’s first experience with ESOS compliance, and they were unaware of the significant change in the Phase 3 requirements.  

ESOS

We quickly reassured them, explained how we could build a set of templates for the GL team to collate the necessary energy data and streamline energy audits for complex construction sites. Above all, we were confident in our experience of proactively engaging with the Environmental Agency ESOS helpdesk to obtain guidance on applying the regulations to the construction sector. 

As we embarked on the new year, we drew on our experience of delivering 10 ESOS Projects since 2015 alone, and nearly 1000 energy assessments overall, to deliver the three key requirements for this project: 

1. Calculate Total Energy Consumption and Significant Energy Use
2. Conduct an Energy Assessment for GL head office, transport activities and site activities.
3. Prepare the ESOS report for GL’s board

We drew on our expertise in working with the construction sector to estimate energy savings for a sample of construction projects – a very different process to calculations for a standard manufacturing process or office building. Working with our partner Chris Asensio from Carbon Change, we developed a site energy assessment and conducted coaching sessions with four GL team members. Working together, we combined our expertise to identify significant energy savings, such as using Hushpods, variable-speed drives for pumps, improved insulation for welfare facilities, dehumidifiers, and the benefits of mains grid connection. The GL team then sourced the required activity data for the identified opportunities, and the BG team prepared calculations to estimate energy and cost savings, investment requirements, and associated carbon reductions. Together we reviewed the results, made changes and shared the outcomes with the Senior Leadership team to develop implementation plans. Importantly, the ESOS savings feed into the company’s next Net Zero roadmap.

Future Plans

Central to how we work is collaboration, ensuring we bring everyone involved in the journey toward a lower-carbon future along. We continue to work with the GL team through our annual retainer, which covers their organisational GHG emissions reporting, supporting the leadership team with the Carbon Management Plan, and the team with data processing. 

We have just completed the implementation of an easy-to-use carbon accounting platform from our partners and fellow B Corp: Carbon+Alt+Delete (CAD). Through our coaching and video tutorials, GL’s team is confident and equipped to lead the carbon accounting process in the coming year, with Beyond Green focusing on independently verifying the emissions and supporting them with their PAS2080 certification. We will again turn our attention to ESOS Phase 4, due by December 2027, with the added benefit that CAD will automatically calculate all the in-scope energy data required!   

ESOS Phase 4 will require companies to submit the results of their total energy consumption and energy savings by 5 December 2027, and partnering with BG, GL are already on the path!

Looking for more real business examples of our work? You can find our other case studies here.

The post George Leslie Ltd: ESOS Case Study first appeared on Beyond Green.

Centre Circle Event Management Ltd (CCEM hereafter) is a company that provides security staff for some of the UK’s most iconic venues and events, such as football stadiums and music venues. 

Beginnings

It started with the introduction from our community: Richard Whitney from Edinburgh based On-site Generation. Richard, like Beyond Green’s Director, Paul Adderley, is a registered ESOS Lead Assessor; CCEM had initially reached out to him, but he did not have capacity at the time and redirected them to us. With Christmas 2024 fast approaching, Beyond Green promptly responded to the call for help from CCEM to support them with their ESOS Phase 3 compliance. This was CCEM’s first experience of ESOS compliance, and they were unaware of the requirements going into the project.  

Now

We quickly reassured them, explained how to engage with the Environmental Agency, and set up templates for the CCEM team to collate the necessary energy data before we all headed off for a well-deserved festive break. 

As we embarked on the new year, the Beyond Green team drew on their experience of delivering six ESOS Projects in 2024 alone, and nearly 1000 energy assessments overall, to deliver the three key requirements for this project: 

1. Calculate Total Energy Consumption and Significant Energy Use
2. Conduct an Energy Saving Opportunity Assessment for CCEM’s head office, and transport activities
3. Prepare the ESOS report for CCEM’s board

The BG team drew on their digital expertise to facilitate a virtual energy savings ideas session. Using an online whiteboard tool (Miro), we guided the CCEM team through a brainstorming and prioritisation process to identify viable energy and cost saving actions around using company cars and grey fleet. Our Miro process allows everyone to participate and to easily develop ideas together. Once we had some great ideas in the bag, we then worked with CCEM’s finance director to quantify the savings; examples include the fuel saved from staff staying in rented accommodation for summer events, and switching to Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) or Electric Vehicles (EV).

Future

Central to how we work is collaboration to ensure we bring along all those involved on the journey to a lower carbon future. We hear that the ESOS process has energised the team to be more engaged with energy management, and CCEM’s operations team is already switching to EVs and PHEVs ahead of plan. CCEM’s landlord has also been very supportive, and new smart electric heaters are now being installed. 

ESOS requires companies to submit progress to their action plans in December 2025, and CCEM are already ahead of the curve!   

The post Centre Circle Event Management Ltd Case Study: ESOS first appeared on Beyond Green.