Reduce Your Use 2023/24

In Autumn 2023, public bodies were asked to sign up to the Reduce Your Use campaign and to commit to maintaining or improving on their savings.

Who signed up?

163 organisations signed up, representing over 70% of the public sector's energy use.

Public Sector's Energy Use 
RYU participants71
Non participants29

Participation by sub-sector

Public bodies from across the sector participated in the campaign

Sub-Sector% signed up
Health29
Government agency38
Education - 3rd level46
Semi State50
Education - ETBs56
Central Government & OPW66
Local authority81

Results of the 2023/24 Campaign

Reduce Your Use 2023/24 ran from October 2023 to March 2024 and was evaluated by a survey sent to all public bodies in April 2024. 78% of the respondents had formally signed up to the campaign.  The survey asked about actions taken and energy saving practices, staff engagement, use of Reduce Your Use materials and energy savings achieved. 

What did public bodies do?

Public bodies took a variety of actions to reduce energy use over winter 2023/24, including reducing use of lighting, limiting temperatures in buildings and reducing hours of operation of heating, undertaking audits and running staff energy awareness campaigns using the Reduce Your Use materials provided

Reduced unnecessary lighting,79 Used RYU campaign materials,64 Set hours of operation for heating,55 Reduced heating temperatures,54 Turned heating off early,53 Adopted new operational controls,42 Optmised water heating,41 Undertook O&M audit,37 Promoted Avoid-Shift-Improve,37 Undertook out of hours audit,32

Staff behaviour change

  • 76%

    of staff are very aware/somewhat aware of energy awareness practices after the campaign (compared to 43% before the campaign)

  • 71%

    of staff always or usually turn off lights and electronic devices after the campaign (compared to 44% before the campaign)

  • 81%

    sometimes/usually bring in their own heaters after the campaign (compared to 27% before the campaign)

  • 67%

    drivers aware of eco driving after the campaign (compared to 17% before the campaign)

Self reported energy savings

Based on responses from 45 organisations, who provided their baseline and post campaign monthly average consumption data. 

  • 13%

    reduction in electricity use reported

  • 9.2%

    reduction in gas use reported

  • 4%

    reduction in oil use reported

Case studies

Very good campaign with excellent learnings from an organisational point of view
RYU participant 2023/24

2022/2023 Reduce Your Use campaign results