How Schools Can Cut Energy and Water Use: A Practical Guide for 2026

Most schools can cut their energy bills by 10 to 20% through simple, low-cost changes, and many of the biggest wins happen outside teaching hours. This guide draws on the Department for Education's Good Estate Management for Schools (GEMS) advice and adds what we see every evening as the team cleaning schools across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

Why energy and water matter for schools

After staffing, energy and water are among the largest costs a school carries, and they make up a major share of its environmental impact. The Carbon Trust estimates that most organisations can reduce energy spend by at least 10% with simple efficiency measures, and often by 20%, with quick returns on any outlay.

The benefits go beyond the budget line:

• money saved year after year, available for teaching and learning
• warmer, better-lit and more comfortable classrooms
• less demand on finite resources
• lower carbon emissions, and a visible example for pupils

Savings come from three places: how people behave, how actively the building is managed, and where you choose to invest. We cover each below, then explain where your cleaning contractor can help.

Behaviours and culture

The cheapest savings come from people, and schools are well placed to win them because pupils and staff often care deeply about the environment. This part is for headteachers, school business professionals and all staff.

Write a green policy. A short policy shows leadership backing and gives staff and pupils permission to act. It should set out a mission statement, objectives and targets, who is responsible for what, how actions are planned, and when progress is reviewed. The Carbon Trust publishes free resources to help.

Share the numbers. Start by understanding how energy is used now, then tell staff and pupils what it costs in pounds and in carbon. Meter readings make excellent material for maths and science lessons, building numeracy while changing habits at school and at home. Eco-Schools and the National Energy Foundation's Energy Envoys programme both offer ready-made resources.

Make small changes stick.

• Switch off lights and equipment when rooms are empty, and label light switches so only the ones needed get used.
• Keep windows and radiators clear of displays and furniture so daylight and heat reach the room.
• Keep doors closed, and turn the heating down before opening a window.
• Appoint pupil eco-champions to check classrooms at the end of the day and report anything left on.
• Compare buildings or year groups with simple graphs, set targets, and celebrate when usage drops.

Active management of the building

Using the controls, meters and bills you already have can cut energy waste by up to 40% without new equipment. This part is for school business professionals, estates teams and site staff.

Run heating as designed. A badly operated or poorly maintained boiler can push heating costs up by 30% or more, so service it at least once a year. Every 1°C of extra heat adds roughly 8% to heating costs. Set temperatures to suit each space, check timers match real occupancy, and reset clocks after they change in spring and autumn. Consider limiting who can adjust thermostats.

Stop the draughts. Keeping cold air out can save up to 30% of heating costs. If a heated room is too warm, turn the heating down rather than opening windows. In summer, use open windows or air conditioning, never both.

Ask for help. Your building management system installer, heating or lighting contractor, local authority or building user guide can all explain your controls. Your Display Energy Certificate advisory report lists improvements grouped by payback: under 3 years, 3 to 7 years, and over 7 years.

Read your meters. Regular readings are free and show patterns quickly, such as heating left on during holidays. Most schools have sub-meters, and many now have smart meters on gas, electricity and water. Compare your figures with the DfE's energy benchmarks for lighting, small power, heating and kitchen gas, or use CIBSE's benchmarking tool.

Check every bill. Make sure bills use actual readings and the right tariff. Shifting load to off-peak hours and reducing peak demand can save significant sums. The DfE's Get Help Buying for Schools service gives free, impartial advice on energy contracts and approved frameworks.

Find water leaks. Read the water meter last thing at night and first thing in the morning. If it has moved while the building was empty, you probably have a leak; many water companies offer free leak detection. Cistern dams, urinal controls, flow restrictors and push taps can cut water use by up to half.

Strategic investment

Targeted investment in controls, lighting and solar now pays back quickly, and government-backed solar can come with no upfront cost. This part is for headteachers, finance directors, school business professionals and estates teams.

Upgrade heating controls. Modern controls are accurate, tamper-proof and programmable seven days a week, so heating follows the timetable and switches off for holidays. Lowering the temperature by 1°C saves 5 to 10% of the heating bill, and running the heating one hour less each day saves a similar amount. Check thermostats are not sited in draughts, especially after layout changes.

Switch to efficient lighting. Lighting uses around half the electricity in a typical school. LEDs use up to 90% less energy than traditional lamps and last far longer, cutting maintenance too. Occupancy sensors suit corridors, toilets and stores, and daylight-linked controls can save up to 80% of lighting energy in bright rooms, though the capital cost needs a payback check first.

Manage ICT loads. Choose efficient equipment and turn on power management. Where staff cannot switch off at the wall, an automated out-of-hours shutdown stops screens and devices running all night. Use free ventilation cooling instead of air conditioning when it is cool enough outside; payback can be under two years.

Improve insulation. Draught strips on doors and windows are one of the most cost-effective fixes: a 3mm gap around a standard door is roughly the size of a house brick. Lag hot and cold pipes, seal ventilation ducts, and plan to replace single glazing.

Consider renewables. Solar panels, heat pumps, solar thermal, biomass and small wind can all suit schools, and they make a strong teaching resource. Check planning, land tenure and lease implications first.

Look at current funding. The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme referenced in older guidance closed to new rounds in 2025 (Schools Week). Solar is now the main route. The Great British Energy Solar Partnership is adding 100 more schools, and a pilot for 150 schools and colleges in Yorkshire and the Humber, the East Midlands and the South East lets them buy panel-generated power below their normal tariff with nothing to pay upfront. Government estimates secondary schools with solar and LED lighting save around £58,600 a year, and primaries around £21,000 (GOV.UK, July 2026). A CIBSE-accredited low carbon consultant can help you prioritise.

Where your cleaning contractor fits in

Your cleaning team is often the last group in the building each day, which makes it one of your best-placed allies in cutting waste. Most guidance overlooks this. Here is what ICS Cleaning teams do in the schools we look after.

An end-of-day switch-off check. Our cleaners visit every classroom, office and toilet after the school day. As they finish each room, they turn off lights, interactive screens and equipment left on standby, close windows and shut internal doors. We agree the routine with your site team once, and it becomes a nightly habit that costs you nothing.

Eyes on the building. Dripping taps, running urinals, leaking cisterns, radiators on in empty rooms and heating running late are easy to spot during an evening clean. We report them to your site manager the next morning, so they are fixed before they show up on a bill.

Cleaning that uses less water and fewer chemicals. We use concentrated products with controlled dilution, so every bottle is mixed to the right strength with nothing wasted. Microfibre cloths and mops clean effectively with far less water and chemical, and our floor cleaning methods are chosen to keep water use low. Less chemical also means fewer containers and better indoor air for pupils and staff. One concentrate, OdorBac Tec4, now covers hard surfaces, carpets, soft furnishings and drains, replacing several separate products and tackling odours at source rather than masking them with fragrance.

Lighting only where we are working. Our teams clean to a zoned plan, working through the building area by area. Lights and heat are only needed in the zone being cleaned, rather than the whole school staying lit all evening.

Less waste. We keep waste streams separate right through to the bins, so the recycling your pupils sort during the day is not undone at night. Our main multi-surface product arrives in 5-litre containers and is decanted into refillable dispensers on site, so we are not throwing away a ready-to-use plastic bottle every time one runs out.

Proof, not promises. ICS Cleaning holds ISO 14001, the international standard for environmental management, alongside ISO 9001:2015 for quality. Both are independently audited. We are happy to build simple sustainability checks into your school's cleaning specification and report on them.

Start this week: a no-cost checklist

These steps cost nothing and can begin on Monday.

1. Take water meter readings at close and at opening to check for leaks.
2. Check heating timers and clocks match the school day and term dates.
3. Set classroom temperatures and agree who can change them.
4. Clear displays and furniture away from radiators and windows.
5. Label light switches and appoint pupil eco-champions.
6. Agree an end-of-day switch-off and reporting routine with your cleaning team.
7. Check your latest energy and water bills use actual readings and the right tariff.
8. Dig out your Display Energy Certificate advisory report and pick its short-payback actions.

Sources

• Department for Education, Good Estate Management for Schools: Tips to reduce energy and water use in schools
• Hundreds more schools to save on bills as government solar drive slashes millions off energy costs, GOV.UK, 16 July 2026
• Government ends school decarbonisation grants scheme, Schools Week, 17 June 2025

Reviewed by the ICS Cleaning team.

Make your cleaning contract part of your sustainability plan

ICS Cleaning holds ISO 14001 and builds switch-off checks, leak reporting and low-chemical, low-water cleaning into every school contract. Talk to us about your school or trust.

Talk to our education team