Taking Control of Trust Energy: Insights from the Ecoaim Model
Energy is no longer a background operational cost for schools and Multi-Academy Trusts. With bills rising, frameworks shifting and net-zero expectations increasing, trust leaders need a more strategic way to manage energy across their estates.
Integrated Energy Strategy for Schools and MATs
Ecoaim brings together consultancy, solar, procurement insight and estate-level planning to help education providers reduce costs and accelerate decarbonisation.
Here at The School Network, we have been in active conversations with Ecoaim — an energy consultancy and installer working across the public sector. Our aim was to understand how their integrated energy strategy is delivering real-world results for schools and Multi-Academy Trusts, and how their model might help others do the same.
Ecoaim describes itself as a renewable energy consultancy, contractor and installer, helping organisations reduce energy use, save money and move towards net zero.
Energy should no longer be treated tactically. For MATs, it is now a boardroom issue.
Trust energy strategy insightWhy Energy Strategy Is Now a Boardroom Issue
Recent volatility in the UK energy market has hit the education sector particularly hard. MATs managing multiple sites face higher costs, uneven contracts and rising pressure to decarbonise.
The Pressures Facing Multi-Academy Trusts
Tariff Variation
Trusts often face significant variation in tariffs across different sites, creating complexity and making central oversight harder.
Rising Energy Costs
Increased energy costs squeeze already stretched core budgets and reduce the money available for frontline education.
Decarbonisation Pressure
Schools and trusts are being asked to make measurable progress against climate and sustainability expectations.
Fragmented Delivery
A fragmented supplier and installer ecosystem can make it difficult to move from ambition to joined-up delivery.
10 academies, one trust-wide energy model
Ecoaim is currently delivering a 3MW solar project across 10 academy sites in the South East.
Instead of a site-by-site approach, the trust chose portfolio-level planning — unlocking scale, speed and long-term value.
A Real-World Blueprint for MAT Energy Savings
Energy sleeving also means non-solar schools can still benefit from the generation mix, helping the trust think beyond individual buildings and towards whole-estate energy performance.
What Trust Leaders Should Know
Ecoaim’s approach works because it addresses three common barriers for MATs: capital limitations, fragmented site data and short-term energy decision-making.
Three Challenges, Three Practical Responses
CapEx Limitations
Zero-upfront PPA and hire-purchase options can allow trusts to make progress without draining capital budgets.
Fragmented Site Data
A whole-estate energy health check and audit helps trusts understand usage, procurement inefficiencies and solar-ready sites.
Short-Termism
Long-term planning across assets and supply helps trusts move beyond reactive buying and towards strategic energy management.
Portfolio-Level Planning
Looking across the whole trust allows leaders to prioritise the sites and interventions that deliver the greatest combined value.
How MATs Can Move from Reactive to Strategic
Ecoaim helped us understand our usage, streamline contracts, and get solar where it made sense. We’re now saving over £80,000 a year — and we didn’t need to touch our capital budget.
COO, South East Multi-Academy TrustTake Action: Energy Health Check
Ecoaim offers an Energy Health Check designed to identify usage patterns, procurement inefficiencies and potential solar-ready sites across an estate.
For MATs, this can be a practical first step towards understanding where the greatest savings and carbon reductions may be available.
Final Thought
Energy should not be an afterthought. For MAT leaders, it is a strategic lever to reduce costs, boost resilience and meet decarbonisation goals.
Ecoaim’s model shows that with the right partner, trusts can address all three — without necessarily needing upfront capital expenditure.
Book a Trust-Wide Energy Health Check
Ecoaim helps schools and Multi-Academy Trusts identify usage patterns, procurement inefficiencies, solar-ready sites and opportunities to reduce energy costs across the estate.
Request your energy health check
