The Education Authority (EA) has received a UK public sector excellence award for a project that helped schools reduce energy costs and deliver environmental impacts. The EA was recognised for its work with software company SustainIQ, using data to transform energy management and sustainability in the NI schools estate.

The Capturing Our Carbon Capital project, which was also supported by the Strategic Investment Board (SIB), was named Best Public/Private Partnership Working Initiative at the UK wide Association of Public Sector Excellence awards. SustainIQ and EA worked with twelve schools from the primary, post primary and special school sectors to develop a solution for identifying levels of greenhouse gas emissions and make informed, data-driven decisions which help schools save money on their energy bills.

By using automated reporting and predictive modelling, the award-winning solution has removed the burden of capturing data manually and allows the EA to track and monitor emissions and uses machine learning to assess the impact of upgrades such as triple glazing, LED lighting and insulation.

Elaine Smith, the EA’s Senior Quality, Energy & Sustainability Manager, said: “The project has greatly exceeded our expectations, due in no small measure to the tremendous engagement of the participating schools and the innovative approach taken by Sustain IQ, to ensure that the solution supports schools and EA to fulfil their legislative responsibilities arising from the introduction of the Climate Change Act (NI) 2022 and the Climate Reporting Regulations, May 2024.

“School engagement and behaviour change were key objectives of the initiative. Schools underwent expert-led audits focusing on energy, waste, and water management, and are climate exemplars for others to follow to deliver significant carbon and cost savings. “This model has been recognised as best practice for public bodies to secure capital investment to make significant financial and carbon savings through targeted energy interventions and can be scaled up to suit the organisation’s capacity for delivery.” SustainIQ co-founder, Maria Diffley, added:

“The project with the Education Authority has allowed SustainIQ, as an indigenous small business, to work collaboratively with the public sector to produce a product and solution that can be easily replicated and utilised across other departments and organisations. “The complexity of automated data capture across the EA estate provided a challenge and required a flexible approach to develop a digital twin model to inform EA business cases to target investment in the most energy efficiency interventions.

“We are so proud to have developed a solution which helps reduce energy and put money back into the classroom." SIB Programme Director Sian Thornthwaite said: “This award celebrates the strength of Public/Private partnerships and the transformative work being done to help schools take action towards sustainability.”

Sharon Cassidy, principal of Knockavoe Special School, which took part in the pilot project, said: “The project has been a recipe for success – to get into the schools, to capture data and use it to bring positive benefits to the children, to the environment and to the community.”