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Transcript of UoBGuildofStudents NUSHEFCEStudentsGreenFundBid Energy Wragg WORKING
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1. Project title:
Low Carbon Student Homes A Co-operative Transition: Retrofitting for Change
2. Executive summary
The private rental market in the vicinity of the University of Birmingham has been slow to respond to the
opportunities of energy saving measures. There is an opportunity to decrease energy demand in the
private rental market in order to decrease energy bills, improve comfort and facilitate the ambitious local
authority target of a 60% reduction in CO2e in Birmingham by 2027, based on 1990 levels.
The main aim of this proposal is to reduce the energy consumption of student houses in the areas of
Bournbrook and Selly Oak in Birmingham by offering free environmental assessments to Landlords,
these assessments will form the basis of a business case to inform and empower them to act at low cost
to them.
The students union is well place to do this as it already has an in-house lettings agency (SHAC) and a
wide range of support from across the University of Birmingham. Links made with local community
charities, Birmingham City Council, Birmingham Energy Savers, the Energy Saving Co-op and other
partner organisations is indicative of the support required to make the project a success.This proposal requests funding of 278,078.
3. Students union leading the proposal
The University of Birmingham Guild of Students is a large union representing 28,000 students, with 60
FTE staff members (including 250 part-time student staff), and an annual turnover in excess of 4m.
Figure: Student demographics as of November 2013 (Garrett, 2013)
The Guild of Students has gone from strength-to-strength in the Green Impact receiving a Silver Award
in 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12 brought a Gold Award, allowing us to take part in the Green Impact
Gold Standard Excellence, which was achieved in March 2013 through Greening The Curriculum project
with the University of Birmingham.
Also, through the University of Birmingham Estates, we have completed a number of energy-saving
projects, such as the new boiler room (750k). In addition, some were funded through the UK
Governments SALIX fund: sealing of all external windows (20k) & changing of 250 light fittings to LED
alternatives (4.5k).
The University of Birmingham is a Russell Group University in Birmingham, West Midlands. Theinstitution caters to a broad range of students through five Colleges: Life & Environmental Sciences;
Medical & Dental Sciences; Engineering & Physical Sciences; Social Sciences; and Arts & Law. The
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activities are split over two campuses, with the majority of those taking place at the Edgbaston Campus
in the South of Birmingham.
4. Other organisations involved
We are aware that the University of Worcester has been working on its Worcester Energy Pioneers
project with DECC for some time, and would really appreciate a partnership of real value to student
housing in Year 2 of the project. In Year 1, we will aim to review the Worcester Energy Pioneers projectand work with them to deliver services that impact students from other universities.
In addition, we have conducted a flash consultation with a number of organisations, and have received
very enthusiastic engagement. Those include:
Northfield Ecocentre a charity based less than five miles from the University of Birmingham, which
is a specialist in energy assessment and consultation regarding social housing and problem
landlords
City Council the largest Local Authority in Europe, Birmingham City Council (BCC) aims to cut its
CO2e by 60% by 2027 (based on 1990 levels); BCC covers 410,000 homes, of which 60,000 is social
housingthey feel Selly Oak provides an excellent pilot opportunity to become trailblazers in energy
efficiency (Sandy Taylor, Head of Climate Change & Sustainability)
University of Birmingham (Estates; Hospitality and Accommodation Services; College of Engineering
& Physical Sciences; Centre for Urban and Regional Studies) the University, as our parent
institution has found it difficult to penetrate the Selly Oak housing market, along with the Guild of
Students. We feel the Green Deal and ECO (Energy Company Obligation) offer great opportunities
for students to work with local providers and improve their lives, reducing student fuel poverty,
increasing comfort and reducing carbon
SHAC Lettings Agency (Guild of Students) the relatively new service has built up quite a wide
range of contacts with local landlords
Energy Saving Co-op (ESC) started around 18 months ago, the ESC is a multi-stakeholder co-op,
of which the Guild of Students could become a member and share our student assessments with
them, so that the Co-op can work with the landlords to complete necessary work.
Birmingham Energy Savers (BES)as Birmingham City Councils retrofitting actors, BES have a
wealth of knowledge of how to engage landlords and tenants effectively, and gaining knowledge.
5. Contact person for the proposal
Name: Thomas Wragg
Job title: VPDR
Address: Guild of Students, Edgbaston Park Road, B15 2TU
Phone: 0121 251 2337Email:[email protected]
6. Funding request summary
The fixed price of the application is 278,078 over two years:
Capital costs: equipment for project leader = 2,150.00
Salaries and related costs: recurrent costs = 63,746 (19,789 costs absorbed by Guild)
Recurrent costs for project leader: 2760.00 (3,120 costs absorbed by Guild)
Energy assessors: cost of assessments and related costs = 170,350
Promotions and materials = 19,872Monitoring/Evaluation = 19,200.00
7. Rationale for project
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected] -
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The private rental market in the vicinity of the University of Birmingham has been slow to respond to the
opportunities of energy saving measures. The opportunity is to decrease energy demand in the private
rental market in order to decrease energy bills, improve comfort and facilitate the ambitious target of a
60% reduction in CO2e in Birmingham by 2027, based on 1990 levels. There is reluctance on the part of
landlords to act but we believe it is down to a lack of information and if we were abler to provide free
assessments this would empower them to act.
We propose 4 key aims to begin a process of change in the Bournbrook area of Birmingham in year one
widening the impact to the wider Selly Oak area in year two. There are around 2300 properties in the
Bournbrook area.
Beyond Bournbrook, Selly Oak (as defined by constituency boundary) consists of around 83 roads. Of
these most have a given student population.
We want to see large scale measures taken up in the sector to improve the quality of housing and
improve students living standards. The Green Deal and ECO are both incredibly new, and awareness is
relatively lowbut we want landlords to know the benefits of making their houses more effective and
also to help students to understand what they can do to cut carbon and cut their bills.
The students union is well place to do this as it already has an in-house lettings agency (SHAC) and awide range of support from across the University of Birmingham. Links made with local community
charities, Birmingham City Council, Birmingham Energy Savers, the Energy Saving Co-op and other
partner organisations have been facilitated through work completed by the incoming VPDR regarding
housing and energy in Birmingham. Attending the recent Sustainability Forum on Greener Homes for
Birmingham showed the level of enthusiasm and opportunity Birmingham City Council and major
companies can see.
The process will aim to train students to become energy assessors, making them more aware of the
challenges in the area and empowering them to influence their peers and landlords. Landlords need to
improve the quality of their housing, such that by 2016 they are unable to refuse reasonable energy
efficiency requests made by tenants, and by 2018 will not be able to rent properties with EPCs of lessthan E they also need to become aware of the LESA (a tax incentive for improvements). The pre-WWI
housing stock with Solid Wall construction makes insulation often expensive, but the ECO is an
opportunity for that bridge to be gapped at no expense to the landlord or tenant; the Green Deal is a
boon for landlords, and if appropriate installation times can be identified (summer and vacant times),
change can be made without adverse impact on those tenants. The league table will be published, and
houses which rank highly will be rewarded with certification/awards.
The People & Planet Green League has been a driver of change in the HE sector in the UK since its
inception in 2007. It has developed a number of stakeholder engagement procedures, including
consultancy and awards, amongst other methods. The creation of a league can help to facilitate change,
and certainly has done at other institutions. However, the private rental market near the University ofBirmingham needs motivation to catalyse the change and shine a light on its poor performance and
neglect of students. With a decrease in students moving into the market this coming year, landlords may
be facing somewhat of a crisis (turning towards a buyers market), and in addition the University of
Birmingham is investing into a large increase in halls. The league would aim to identify those landlords
who are respecting that students want a decent, comfortable place to be able to study at and relax.
As evidenced by the success of Worcester Energy Pioneers, students will be empowered by the
knowledge of energy ratings in their choice of accommodation, and understand the potential running cost
savings of choosing a better house they will also be able to make reasonable adjustments to their
behaviour through the lessons learnt by NUS Student Switch Off. The market will need to improve in
order to attract students and thus the area will continue to have a vibrant student feel. CO2e emissionsreductions will be significant as domestic heating demand has the largest single impact on emissions in
the UK (~28% of energy demand).
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Free assessments to Landlords will have an impact which is why we want to train students to assess
properties. The comfort of housing around the University of Birmingham will be improved as simple
measures, such as draft excluders and radiator foils, will have been put in place and efficient appliances
can be installed through Green Deal. Indeed Green Deal and ECO can work together, so there are a
number of opportunities coming online right now and they need to be tested.
8. Aims of project
1. Train students in home energy assessments2. Change behaviour of students when renting
3. Encourage energy efficiency improvement from landlords
4. Work co-operatively with energy assessors and providers
9. Project plan
In detail we wish to do the following:
1. Assessments - Produce energy assessor training scheme in year 1. Build team of 100 assessors
through Community Wardens and dedicated student energy assessors co-operative. Encourage
assessment by engaging students on housing and co-operatives through a student-led
conference. Work in partnership with Northfield Eco centre for training of assessors and creation
of energy packs (autumn 2013). Carry out 1600 assessments over 2 years and develop clear
business cases for Landlords to drive change at low cost to them
2. Change in student behaviour in year 1 target 2000 properties in the Bourne brook area of
Birmingham to target a further 2000 properties in year 2 in the wider Selly Oak area. Produce
league table of Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings and other housing criteria. Run an
awareness campaign on the cost of student housing in Bournbrook and Selly Oak (Birmingham)
link with EPC. Create energy saving packs (freebies, advice) to engage students and show
what changes they can make immediately and cost-effectively. Organise a student conference in
year 1.
3. Preparing Landlord for change - through the Guild Shac lettings agency where we can have
access to 100 landlords and 300 properties, we also wish to work with Birmingham UniversitysLiving where they use landlords from the Midlands accreditation list. Produce case studies of
properties that have already been improved or the landlord wants to go through the process
using SHAC and LIVING. Produce/promote the best ways of improving the property through links
made. Work co-operatively with energy assessors and providers to create energy packs, share
ideas and develop implementation mechanisms .Work with academics, local council, Domestic
Energy Assessors, Green Deal Assessors/Providers and Energy Saving Co-op (ESC) to develop
innovative methods, share ideas and effective practice establish implementation mechanisms
for the business cases resulting from the assessments.
4. Immediate actions as follows: Appoint a project manager, Assemble working group whom the
project manager will work with and write terms of reference, Assemble advisory board and writeterms of reference, Develop detailed action plan for training the assessors and booking the
assessments, Appoint contractor for evaluation and monitoring of project.
10. Partnership plan
The University of Birmingham is currently making significant investments into student halls on and near
to campus, which has the potential to force landlords out of the market due to a depression in demand in
the privately rented sector. Therefore, we are presented with an opportunity to influence the landlords to
more rapid change than they are currently indicating.
The LIVING department is the University of Birminghams accommodation service (predominantly online
advertising), which is increasingly working with the Guild of Students SHAC (student lettings agency).Between the two departments there is a wide range of influence over the sector, with 50 managed
properties and influence over 300 landlords. The LIVING department uses landlords accredited through
the Midlands Landlord Accreditation Scheme (MLAS) where there is access to over 2000 landlords and
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currently has around 70 properties advertised
.(http://www.birminghamstudentpad.co.uk/Accommodation). LIVING holds copies of Landlords Gas
Safety Certificates, Electrical Safety Certificates, HMO Licences, Tenancy Deposit Scheme details and
EPC (Energy Performance Certificates) on all properties where applicable.
The Director of Hospitality & Accommodation Services is supportive and LIVING is under his overall
control. We are currently talking with the Student Accommodation & Community Manager (LIVING) in
order to ascertain the possibility of partnerships and engaging both students and landlords to ensure
students are making well informed decisions and influencing the market at the grassroots level. Currently
the institution is making significant investments in new accommodation and it is vital students are able to
meaningfully influence how that accommodation is delivered as there is a perception that the
accommodation will have a good EPC rating.
Our other partners will be included through learning and outreach within the context of energy saving
and efficiency work that can impact on the wider community. Working with the Northfield Ecocentre is a
real opportunity for both of our organisations to build a working relationship that impacts the wider South
Birmingham community, particularly in areas of high deprivation and high energy demand.
11. Legacy plan
With 100 student assessors being trained in energy assessment processes to deliver 1600 free
assessments over two years and with the impact those assessments may have on landlords decision-
making processes, we are confident the housing stock of Selly Oak and surrounding areas can be
improved dramatically.
The retrofitting of existing properties is a vital activity that needs to be taking place alongside the zero-
carbon homes plans being implemented at regional and national levels. The project will re-organise in
line with the objectives of sustainability through infrastructural changes to effect carbon reductions via
entirely energy efficiency measures to save money on heating and electricity bills by decreasing load
in spite of unit bills increasing.
The strategy moving forward will be to take the more interventionist approaches which will challenge ourinstitutions to make major step changes in sustainability issues across campus and indeed looking off
campus and into the private sector.
On the academic side, the Guild of Students is aiming towards greening the curriculum through
Education for Sustainable Development. This has led to a major meeting between the Guild of Students,
university academics and management (including the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education). There appears
to be a commitment to making this work across the universitys activities, so sustainability is not
neglected.
The Ethical, Environmental and Procurement Policy for the Guild of Students has recently been updated
and we feel the partnerships that we will built up through this project will allow us to have a more
effective impact on CO2e reduction over the next ten years.
The league table model can be used to ensure this project works, and then the methods of stakeholder
engagement can be made more effective, nuanced and student-focussed. The potential to benefit the
wider student movement is excellent as it can show how student-led intervention on housing issues can
affect the housing market and improve the comfort and costs of student living. NUS Connect could be
used to good effect to identify where the problems and successes have been within this project and can
aid replication and improvement.
This project is particularly suitable for areas of high percentage student housing, where students are
staying for short terms and often being exploited. If this scheme was to reach all students landlords in
the vicinity of the University of Birmingham, the reach may mean that all landlords must become part ofthis league in order to have the confidence of student tenants.
It is notable that as soon as a house has been assessed and the information has been gathered for the
first time, it can be stored and then added to as appropriate. The landlords are incentivised to improve
http://www.birminghamstudentpad.co.uk/Accommodationhttp://www.birminghamstudentpad.co.uk/Accommodationhttp://www.birminghamstudentpad.co.uk/Accommodationhttp://www.birminghamstudentpad.co.uk/Accommodation -
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their position through the league whereby a top 50 position might mean a set of tenants the following
year. The knowledge supplied through the assessments will focus the landlords and students on the
scale of the current problem and be an important first step towards affecting real change over the next
10 years
12. Reach, outcomes and impact statements
12.1 Reach statements
1. 10,000 unique page views on this project over the two years.2. 3,000 students on Birmingham University campus engaged on this project over the two years.
3. Over 1,000 social media followers on this project over the two years
4. 25-50 Guild & University staff engaged on this project over the two years
5. 500 Landlords reached
6. 50 Lettings agents reached
12.2 Outcome statements
1. An institutional increase in student participation in pro-environmental actions.
2. An institutional increase in student awareness of sustainability initiatives.
3. An increase of between 10-15% adoption of pro-environmental behaviours.4. Students leave higher education feeling they have the understanding and skills to take
positive actions on sustainability particularly with Green Deal and energy assessment skills which they
can apply in personal and institutional situations.
5. Students are more attractive to employers as they understand the wider social, economic and
environmental costs of energy in their homes, workplaces and public spaces.
12.3 Impact statements
1. 2,000 tCO2/year saved across all HEFCE/NUS funded projects; One ton CO2e/year per house
retrofitted on this project.
2. An increase in the LiFE5 and Green League6 scores at institutions with funded projects.
3. The potential to increase good attitudes that have an impact on students bills is very significant and
can provide scope for students to implement energy saving measures in the houses they live in
throughout their lives due to having the knowledge of simple things they can do, as well as what they can
ask landlords to do and how they can use grants to improve their comfort, energy bills and environmental
impact.
4. Institutional leaders become more concerned about the holistic problem of sustainability, not just
regarding CO2e emissions (which have improved at their targeted rate).
5. Guild Councillors passed work to push the Guild of Students to challenge the University of
Birmingham on their 0% renewable electricity supply. There are a significant number of academics
interested in energy saving measures and creating a low carbon energy system, but little is being done
to make it happen in Birmingham. The Education for Sustainable Development work the Guild ofStudents and the University of Birmingham are working on together will be catalysed by student
participation in course development; this project may enable engineering students in particular to engage
with real life scenarios that affect their lives and use their skills.
6. The University of Birmingham will lead the way in creating a sustainable Russell Group University, that
doesnt just care about its CO2e emissions, but also looks at its other activities; in addition, it will look at
how academic and student travel (particularly flights) affects their Scope 3 emissions.
7. The University of Birmingham will integrate sustainability as a core skill of graduates by the end of the
funding period by ensuring ESD is a priority.
13. Added-value themesSustainability issues: The socioeconomic elements of sustainable development as a theme shall be
explored, particularly looking at Hopwood et al (2005) on mapping different approaches and perceptions
of the meaning of sustainable development.
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Institutional issues: Engaging student officers, Trustees, Guild Councillors and Student Reps in
sustainability; engaging institutional leaders in sustainability, particularly the University Executive Board;
engaging academics in sustainability, particularly those concerned with urban resilience and
sustainability; engaging the University of Birmingham in their relationship with the private rental sector, in
order to create wide-scale change; bring different Schools and Colleges within the University of
Birmingham together to engage students, landlords and lettings agents through sustainability issues.
Engagement themes: Change personal behaviours through participation with students with training and
energy packs; engage those not yet engaged in sustainability, particularly by aiming to improve landlordengagement and uptake of sustainability issues; green the curriculum and learning through the
Education for Sustainable Development measures being worked through the last year and into this
coming year; green student homes / home energy conservation in the private rented sector is the main
focus and looking at stakeholder relationships; community learning and development on sustainability
through our work with the local Northfield Ecocentre, a charity, Green deal and the energy saving co-op.
14. Supporting the movement
The NUS wishes students unions to have impacts on their institutions and local communities, as well as
being examples of green institutions in themselves. Unions are delivering green programmes to ensure
they are not put in a hypocritical position. The unions aim to create tangible benefits at the local level,and we think we are in a strong position to influence the local housing market through our broad
partnerships and student engagement/leadership. We believe Student Switch Off and this project are
very complementary, as the behaviours of students and their opportunity to challenge property owners
into change is vital. The providers of accommodation to students beyond their first year at university are
predominantly in the private sector.
A large component of this project is Creating community bridges and engaging the local stakeholders
whilst being strong to protect students and work for students is. Employability skills relating to
sustainability issues have been identified as a priority of employers from the HEA/NUS report on
Education for Sustainable Development. The low carbon economy is the target area we need to be
looking at for student employability, looking at the scientific evidence of our unsustainable progress. Our
students union can put itself in a stronger position through using SHAC (student lettings service), along
with the LIVING in the University of Birmingham. The potential of working with Northfield Ecocentre for
the duration of the project will help the Guild of Students make stronger cases to the University of
Birmingham in pushing for tangible and intangible changes to student life at the institution this includes
making our supply chain greener and more ethical.
15. Monitoring and evaluation plan
A full monitoring and evaluation plan will be developed at the start of the project by the Energy Saving
Trust. This will lay out what the expected outputs, outcomes and impacts of the project are and how
each of these will be measured. Ensuring that this is produced and developed prior to project design
and delivery will allow progress against objectives to be monitored throughout the life cycle of the project
and ensure overall success is assessed against objectives and lessons learned collected at the end of
project completion
The main aim of the project is to reduce the energy consumption of student houses in Bournbrook and
Selly Oak areas. In order to achieve this aim there are a number of outputs that will be delivered which
will result in a number of different outcomes and impacts across the course of the project (as described
in section 12).
Monitoring of the project will be undertaken quarterly to collect necessary information and evidence
about pre-determined indicators which will be used to track progress against project objectives, to informcontinual best practice delivery of the project and to feed into the evaluation at project completion. This
will then be included in the quarterly NUS progress report.
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The outcomes will be measured through monitoring data collected as part of the project. A spread sheet
will be created to log all students that have been trained with information on when they were trained,
contact details, demographic information on the students, together with information on the number of
properties they have assessed. A linked spread sheet will collate all of the information on the houses
assessed, this will include information such as type of property, number of bedrooms, fuel type, address,
assessor. Website stats will be collected through partnership between Guild and the energy trust. The
number of students engaged will be monitored through the number actively engaged at events, training
etc. together with the potential reach of media.
Outcomes are more difficult to monitor regularly as they generally require analysis, to some extent, of the
cause effect chain relationship that caused them to happen because of the intervention. Where possible
they will be assessed during the lifecycle of the project, however, certain outcomes will not be able to be
assessed fully until the end of the project and will be incorporated into an overall ex-post evaluation.
The outcomes and impact of the project will be measured through a number of ways using both
quantitative and qualitative data collection. As well as providing the data to measure the outcomes the
data collection will help to provide information on the satisfaction and experience of the project to help
improve the project during its progress and for any future projects. This will be obtained through
feedback from all stakeholders including student assessors, landlords and tenants. Information obtainedwill include, but not limited to:
Attitudes and behaviour towards energy efficiency (this will be designed to be comparable to
other data collected such as the NUS HEA survey)
Satisfaction with the project and their involvement
Any changes to their behaviour or property as a result of the project
Feedback will be obtained through a mix of online, telephone and face to face feedback through
interviews and focus groups. The mix of methods will allow for quantitative data on the impacts and
benefits of being involved in the project but also allow for the more qualitative information to be obtained
around understanding how behaviour was impacted and understanding what made the difference. In
addition information will be obtained from the EPC data to help estimate any savings achieved following
the install of measures.
The Energy Saving Trust will provide support and guidance on the development of the monitoring and
evaluation plan. They have a dedicated evaluation team who regularly evaluate energy efficiency
projects and their impact on behaviour change and the installation of measures and the impact that this
has on CO2e emissions.
16. Marketing, communications and media plan
Target audiences
Students at the University of Birmingham; and/or living in private rented properties; and/or
interested in volunteering or furthering their employability skills; and/or with an interest ingreen/energy efficiency projects;
Landlords in the Selly Oak/Edgbaston area;
Staff at the Guild of Students; and at the University of Birmingham.
Key messagesGet your house assessed - save energy; save money; save the planet
Specific messages for target groups:
Students at the University of Birmingham:
Become an energy efficiency assessor and gain employability skills;
Are you interested in promoting energy efficiency? Become an energy efficiency assessor;
Get the energy efficiency of your house assessed to save money and you could win a [insert
prize];
Do you know how much you could save on your energy bills? Get your house assessed for free!;
How energy efficient is your house? Find out with an energy efficiency assessment;
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When looking for a house to rent ensure you consider the energy efficiency it could save you
money!
Students living in private rented properties:
Do you live in private rented accommodation? Get the energy efficiency of your house assessed
and see if you can save money;
Do you know how energy efficient your house is? Get your house assessed for free!;
Get the energy efficiency of your house assessed to save money and you could win a [insert
prize];
When looking for a house to rent ensure you consider the energy efficiency it could save you
money!
Students interested in working or furthering their employability skills:
Become an energy efficiency assessor and gain employability skills;
Do you want to educate students and landlords on energy efficiency? Volunteer to be an energy
efficiency assessor today!
Students with an interest in green/energy efficiency projects:
Do you want to educate students and landlords on energy efficiency? Volunteer to be an energy
efficiency assessor today!;
Do you want to contribute to an energy saving initiative? Volunteer to be an energy efficiency
assessor today!
Landlords in the Selly Oak/Edgbaston area
Improve the energy efficiency of your houses and help the environment, and students;
Support the local community and get involved in an energy saving initiative.
Get a free energy assessment on your property and improve the value of your asset.
PR Opportunities
Volunteering Fair 26th September 2013: This fair is specifically designed for students who are
looking for volunteering opportunities; the project could advertise volunteering opportunities and
the other ways for students to get involved in project.
Housing Fair Early January 2014 (date TBC): Over 800 students attend this fair to look for
private rented accommodation and over 20 landlord and letting agents exhibit; this is the ideal fair
to promote the project to both students and landlords.
Go Green Week 10th 16th February 2014: The project sits within the aims of Go Green Week
and will partner effectively with other marketing efforts.
Community Day June 2014: A University event supported by the Guild. The project could
secure a presence here to promote the scheme to the wider community (approx. 12,000
attendees).
Summary
The Guild of Students will utilise its many established communications channels to effectively reach key
stakeholders with an overarching message, and to target individual stakeholder groups with tactical
messages throughout the project. These channels include the Guilds Union Cloud website; a dedicated
section of the website will house information on the project and will be updated frequently, the project will
also be given a homepage presence. Key messages and updates throughout the campaign will be
disseminated via Guild social media profiles (Facebook (6800+), Twitter (6350+) and YouTube.
Supporting materials will be produced, where appropriate, using the Guilds in-house marketing team,
including full-time Graphic Designer and Website Coordinator. Marketing collateral will include: flyers,
posters (to be displayed within the Guild building both in print and electronically on screens, and across
campus), and video production. Making use of the access to University communications channels, key
messages and campaign updates will also be issued to the Universitys central marketing department
and spread via its student portal, website, and e-communications.
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The Guild will call upon local media outlets, in particular the Birmingham Mail which the Guild has built
and maintained and positive relationship with. Reporters at the Mail and other local press including the
Birmingham Post, Express & Star, BBC Midlands Today, Central News and BBC WM, Sustainability
West Midlands (online), Birmingham Voluntary Service Council (online) and other environmentally and
volunteer specialist sites will all be included on any press release distribution list.
Related key words will be provided to the Guilds existing press monitoring service, Precise, in order to
collate coverage of the campaign and used to celebrate the projects developments.
17. Key milestones chart
Key milestone Completed by? Anticipated outcome(s)
1 Hiring project co-ordinator and other staff Aug 2013
2 Training designed (NE) Aug 2013
3 Website designed & social media Aug 2013 Twitter
4 Management Group assembled Aug 2013
5Rough assessment of current housing stock
pre-assessment online toolAug 2013
6 Advisory Board (AB) assembled Sep 2013
7Big launch (Welcome Week) - more students
recruited23-27 Sep 2013
8 Community Wardens recruited After 30 Sep
9First training session delivered for ten GoS
Community Wardens (NE)After recruitment
1090 more students trained in 4*2-day sessions (10
per group)Oct 2013
11 First pre-assessments carried out (50) Nov 2013
12 First Quarterly Review (AB) End Oct 2013
13 VPDRs Housing/Co-op Conference Nov 2013
14Thermal Imaging (video made) Dec 2013/Jan
2014
15 Housing Campaign Jan 2014
16 Housing pre-assessments carried out Jan 2014
17 Go Green Week 10-16 Feb 2014
18 Housing pre-assessments carried out 18-22 Feb
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18. Project Gantt chart
Jul13
Aug13
Sep13
Oct13
Nov13
Dec13
Jan14
Feb14
Mar14
Apr14
May14
Jun14
Jul14
Aug14
Sep14
Oct14
Nov14
Dec14
Jan15
Feb15
Mar15
Apr15
May15
Jun15
Jul15
Applicationsdeadline 3Successfulapplicationsannounced 29
Recruitment ofProject Stafflaunched 2
Branding
Twitter Feed andFacebook Pagelaunched
Website designedRecruitment ofProject Staffapproved 29
Training designed(NorthfieldEcocentre)
Academic buy-inand investigationsCheck CommunityWardens Managerrecruitmentprocess in place 12
Multimediapreparation work
1-20
Student assessorjob descriptionand personspecification
Health and safetypolicy specification
Assessmentmethod statement
Raise awarenessof project- softlaunch atWelcome Week
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27
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Project teamappointed andinducted
Project plandrafted/approved
8-10 CommunityWardens recruitedand trained
Events for studentstaff to raiseawareness
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27
10-
16
22-
269-14
Co-op andhousing
conferenceGuild HousingCampaign
Raise awarenessof project at GoGreen Week &Refreshers
10-
16
Project relaunch atWelcome Week2014
22-
26
Studentsexpression ofinterest
Leafleting andmultimedia
awarenesscampaign
ManagementGroup meets 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16
Monthly progressreports 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16
Advisory Boardmeets 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23
Quarterly fullreports 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23Training 100student energyassessors
Housing pre-assessmentscarried out
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Second stageassessmentscarried out
Review of pre-assessmentmethodology
Review ofpartnerships andproviders'performance
Implementation ofmethod changesThermal ImagingSeasonrecording andvideos
End of Year report 21 21
Evaluationundertaken, Year1
Evaluationundertaken, Year2
Evaluating optionsfor continuingactivities
Retrofitting activity
Planning,understanding andlobbying
Projectpartnerships
Review ofpartnerships
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19. Project team
Advisory Board (18 members) Quarterly: Report compiled by Project Co-ordinator with Support from
administration.
Student leadership (9):
VP (Democracy & Resources) Chair
VP (Housing & Community)
Ethical & Environmental Officer2 students appointed through Ethical & Environmental Forum
Student Assessors Representative x3
Community Warden Student Representative
Academic/University leadership (4):
Academic from Centre for Urban and Regional Studies (Geography, Earth and Environmental
Sciences)
Other academic from Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences or Urban Resilience Research
Group
University Representative from Sustainability Task Group
Environment & Sustainability AdvisorExternal Members (7):
Birmingham City Council (Climate Change) Representative
Localise West Midlands Representative
Simon Wright (Head of Midlands & East, Energy Saving Trust)
Phil Beardmore (Birmingham Energy Savers, Energy Saving Co-op)
Northfield Ecocentre Representative
Green Deal/ECO Delivery Representative
Students Green Fund Representative (NUS)
Management Group (9 members) Monthly: Report prepared by Project Co-ordinator with support
from administration. In addition, some of the members of this group will look after day-to-day running ofthe project.
Guild of Students Community Warden Co-ordinator
Guild of Students SHAC Manager
Guild of Students Facilities ManagerVP (Democracy & Resources) - Chair
Ethical & Environmental Officer
Students Green Fund Project Co-ordinator
Student Assessors x3
University LIVING Representative
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21. Project leadership, governance and accountability
One significant issue for students is having ownership over how their accommodation is created and
developed. The Advisory Board (7/18 student members) will have oversight over the Management Group
(3/8 student representatives) and review its activities. The Management Group will have one University
Representative for the purposes of continuity and ensuring the University Management have someone to
talk to about the delivery of the project. Two Sabbatical Officers will be on the Advisory Board, along with
a Non-Sabbatical Officer. The Guild of Students will allow Community Wardens (8-10 part time student
staff) to be trained in this additional skill. SHAC will work with the University of Birminghamsaccommodation service (LIVING) for landlord/letting agency engagement.
22. Value for money
The project will have M&E delivered at cost by the Energy Saving Trust (an expert group of DECC). The
Energy Saving Co-op aims to use collective buying power to drive material costs down. Training
Community Wardens to become energy assessors allows those student employees to additionally
conduct short assessments whilst visiting properties they are already reviewing for students adding
value to the Community Wardens as well as to the Students Green Fund project. The Community
Wardens also have good information about the housing across the most concentrated student housing
area (Selly Oak). Student assessors will contribute invaluably to the project, and will be asked to conduct
at least 10 assessments, adding to their experience and employability skills. The governance is based in
the local region, and will ensure good value. University academics have very busy lives, but can
potentially conduct research which will really improve the M&E and strategic aims of the project such
as those who worked on the Birmingham Eastside project, linking with Birmingham City Council. The
monthly meeting of the Management Group will ensure costs are managed according to the constraints
laid down by the Advisory Board. The Management Group will ask the Project Co-ordinator to justify
costs of individual items over 1000 (though this figure may be revised by the Advisory Board). The
project will aim to utilise the Energy Saving Trusts free advice and information services to provide the
best information for users of the projects services and then give additional support throughout the
project at cost.
23. Equality
The primary aim of the project is to give good value to students who are currently being let down by
landlords where their houses are uncomfortable, leaky and expensive to run (without students realising
they could be improved). Home students with parents/carers who own the accommodation they live in
whilst at the University of Birmingham should be included in the potential energy assessments. The
targeted areas where those students live will be targeted and training provided as appropriate.
24. Project risks and mitigations
Low pick up by landlords
Low student engagement
Rental increases as a result of league/measures
Changes in legislation Green Deal, ECO, rental requirements etc.
Lack of qualified Green Deal Assessors and local Providers
Friction between the University of Birminghams Accommodation Service (LIVING), the Guild of
Students Student Lettings Agency (SHAC) and landlords.
25. Confirmation of approval
Confirmation by the President
Confirmation by the Chief Executive
Confirmation by the Facilities Manager
26. Other applications
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This is one of two project applications which are being submitted. The other project has elements
whereby food growing and low-carbon hot food options are worked on in partnership between the Guild
of Students, Winterbourne Botanic Garden and the University of Birmingham.
27. Letters of support
Sandy Taylor Birmingham City Council Head of Climate change & Environment