Chloe recently joined Essex County Council (ECC) as a School Energy Surveyor. Below we hear about her experience over the past few months of working at ECC.

• Hi Chloe, can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Hi, I am Chloe and I have recently joined the infrastructure and delivery team at Essex County Council as a School Energy Surveyor. Prior to this I studied Geography at the university of Lincoln and spent a year as an environmental technician, monitoring air, soil and water quality on sites throughout the UK.

I have always been interested in working as a part of the growing and multi-disciplinary teams across environmental sectors to achieve those big net-zero targets set out by our government following recent discussions at COP26.

• What prompted you to apply to ECC?

I applied to ECC as I was looking for a role which combined fieldwork and time out of the office with my academic skills. I wanted the ability to be a part of change rather than just to monitor it. I felt, after reading through reports published by Essex’s Climate Action Commission, I would have the skills pool and resources to draw from in order to make meaningful change. Additionally, while I had experience in monitoring emissions and environmental management, the retrofitting of buildings was new to me. I knew the Infrastructure and Delivery Team was a large a diverse team of engineers, surveyors and energy experts who I would be able to learn from throughout my role.

• Can you tell us a bit more about the role you do?

The aim of the role is to help schools identify opportunities for carbon reduction and improved energy efficiency throughout their buildings. I help schools to obtain, analyse and understand their energy data; allowing them to see the potential energy and cost savings associated with initiatives. Anything from powering down appliances over holidays to bigger projects such as LED lighting and solar PV, for the schools who have the capacity to do so, can be discussed. The ultimate aim is to see 100% of Essex schools retrofitted to net-zero standards by 2030.

For me, the biggest positive of this role is that every day is different. A typical week involves several site visits to Essex Schools to walk around with the business/site manager, signposting schools to resources, analysing energy data and meetings with funders about exciting investments into Essex schools involving heat pumps, solar panels, new windows and insulation.

• What would your advice be to anyone considering ECC as an employer?

My advice to anyone considering ECC as an employer would be to show your interest in new technologies, ways of thinking and achieving the goals Essex has set for its estate. Retrofitting buildings and the new technologies being used to do this are new to installers as well as us at ECC. We are all learning together which makes for a positive and collaborative environment.

I would also advise that the employee support and enrolment programme is very strong. This made the transition easy and since starting my role almost three months ago, I have managed to take part in a two-day training course on carbon literacy to improve my knowledge.

To find out more about our Infrastructure delivery team and their current vacancies please visit: PPH