WELCOME TO DISCOVERY (by James Brittain)

You often hear people say “You need investment and technology to deliver big savings in energy”.  We have discovered you can deliver much more when you work closely with people and give them the tools they need.  I know others have as well.  The Discovery Mill was set up to facilitate connections, mill ideas and pioneer support, tools and management systems that help businesses and organisations put ‘green’ fire into the belly of their... Read More

7 GREAT WAYS TO ENGAGE PEOPLE

“Do you have any ideas to generate a buzz whilst keeping it all fresh?” There are of course lots of ways to engage people – here are 7 which I hope are the ‘not so obvious’.  I would love to hear about any that have worked well, or not so well, for you – please contribute by commenting below. - Big green events - Accompanied energy walk-round surveys - Innovation trials - Speed sharing - Operational feedback - Video sharing - Beyond... Read More

BORN OUT OF SUCCESS

The Discovery Mill is born out of what we know works well – developed from over 15+ years’ experience in energy and environmental management and learnt from pushing boundaries and delivering success. In this time, I have been privileged to work with a wide range of organisations and facilities; as Energy Manager for Heathrow airport, Associate and (for a short time) Associate Director with ABS consulting, Sustainability Director for Natural... Read More

THE 5 LEVELS OF ENERGY MANAGEMENT

This post has been superceeded by the latest version of The 5 levels of energy management Do you know: “What type of energy leader you are?” “What level you want to be or need to be in the future?” “How you perform compared to everyone else?” “Which of your behaviours can you strengthen and which do you need to work on?” DISCOVER FOR YOURSELF AND GIVE YOURSELF AN EDGE. We are developing a set of ‘typical’ profiles for different... Read More

CASE STUDY – RELEASE YOUR POTENTIAL

PLUG-IN & RELEASE YOUR POTENTIAL This first case-study aims to give you a flavour of the approach to plug into ‘on-demand’ – ‘making sure you only use what you need’.    A key focus is getting the engagement right. I started thinking about these concepts some years ago while commissioning some lighting controls for a hospital trust with Patrick Kelly (ex EX-OR Lighting Controls).  Over the last few years, I have worked closely... Read More

WE NEED YOUR HELP, LOCKING-IN SAVINGS

SUCCEED 2011 is our collaborative research & development project for 2011. The aim is to develop a set of tools and management systems that: 1. Help give confidence to building owner operators by locking-in savings long-term, 2. Foster a sense of accomplishment and pride in getting things done, 3. Are proven and tested within existing operations, as a cost effective integrated solution. This short survey is our first step. We have lots of ideas... Read More

USEFUL ENERGY SAVING TIPS, TRICKS & TRUTHS

“How useful would it be to always have to hand a continuously expanding log of useful tips, tricks and truths?” I always thought it would be great if operations managers, energy leaders and engineers could swap and share their best energy saving tips, tricks and truths so that no one struggles for new messages and ideas. Well, here’s your chance.  I have started things off with an example for each.  I will periodically add to the following... Read More