This help page provides a summary of the M&R rules, targets and calculations for schools.
For step-by-step guidance on entering data into the system, see report your data.
- Under Regulation 5(3) in SI 426 of 2014, every school is obliged to ‘report energy management and performance data to the SEAI on an annual basis, using procedures and calculation methodologies specified by the SEAI.’
To fulfil its reporting obligation your school must report:
- You must report the data annually to SEAI, in accordance with SEAI's annual reporting cycle. Each reporting cycle is named with reference to the recently completed calendar year, e.g. for the 2023 reporting cycle, you report data for 2023 and, where appropriate, for previous years.
- When your school logs in to the system for the first time during a reporting cycle you must accept the M&R terms & conditions.
- Reporting deadlines are final and late data is not accepted by SEAI.
- You must report data for every year from your school's energy efficiency baseline period onwards. This is 2013 for most schools.
- In general, if better data becomes available, you can change values that reported previously in earlier reporting cycles, e.g. during the 2023 reporting cycle you can change a consumption value that you previously reported for 2019 during the 2019 reporting cycle.
Using the data that you report, the M&R system calculates and tracks the progress of every school towards three energy and climate targets that apply for the schools sector:
- A 2030 fossil CO2 target. Fossil CO2 refers to emissions arising from your school's consumption of fossil fuels, including for heating (thermal) and transport. The system calculates your school's fossil CO2 each year by multiplying the annual consumption values reported by you for fossil fuels by SEAI emission factors. To achieve the 2030 fossil CO2 target, schools must reduce CO2 emissions by 51% by 2030, compared to a GHG baseline period. The baseline period for almost all schools is 2016-2018 (average).
- A 2030 total CO2 target. The system calculates your school's electricity CO2 and adds this to its fossil CO2 to calculate its total CO2. Schools will achieve the total CO2 target the fossil CO2 target is achieved and electricity consumption is maintained at the same level as it was at the GHG baseline period.
- A 2030 energy efficiency target. To achieve this target, schools must improve energy efficiency by 50% by 2030, compared to an energy efficiency baseline, which is 2013 for most schools. Schools can also choose to use earlier baselines, and some have later baselines. Your school’s progress towards the energy efficiency target is calculated by dividing its annual energy consumption by the number of students in that year. This is called an energy performance indicator (EnPI). A decreasing EnPI is an indicator of improving energy efficiency. And vice versa.
The CO2 targets are absolute reduction targets, i.e. there is no adjustment for changes in school size or activity levels. The energy efficiency target accounts for changes in student numbers in your school.
The system undertakes a series of calculations on the energy data that you report. These are all done automatically. The key calculations include the following:
- The energy use that you report in fuel-specific units (e.g. kilowatt-hours of electricity, litres of oil, tonnes of wood chips, etc.) is converted to kilowatt-hours (kWh) of final energy consumption using SEAI conversion factors.
- The proportions of any diesel and petrol consumption that are fossil and biofuels are calculated on the basis blend rates from statistical data available from the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation.
- The energy consumption used for heating your school is adjusted to account for variations in weather between different years. The impact of this calculation is to adjust downward your consumption (used for heating) for years that were colder than a 25-year average and adjust upward your consumption (used for heating) for years that were warmer than a 25-year average. The adjusted values are referred to as weather-adjusted final energy consumption.
- The weather-adjusted final energy consumption is converted to primary energy using fuel-specific conversion factors. For most energy types, the primary energy conversion factors do not change from year to year. However, the primary energy factor for electricity can change significantly from year to year.
- Your energy performance indicator (EnPI) for a year is calculated by dividing your total primary energy by your student numbers in the year.
- Your school's CO2 emissions are calculated by multiplying your school's final energy consumption by fuel-specific emission factors. For most energy types, the emission factors only change slightly from year to year (if at all). However, the emission factor for electricity can change significantly from year to year.
- All calculated values for energy consumption are expressed in kilowatt-hours (kWh). For larger schools, energy can also be displayed in data reports in megawatt-hours (MWh) or gigawatt-hours (GWh). 1 GWh = 1,000 MWh = 1,000,000 kWh.
- All calculated values for CO2 emissions are expressed in kilogrammes of CO2 (kgCO2). For larger schools, CO2 can also be displayed in data reports in tonnes of CO2 (tCO2) or kilotonnes of CO2 (ktCO2). 1 ktCO2 = 1,000 tCO2 = 1,000,000 kgCO2.
Your schools is responsible for ensuring that it submits complete and accurate data each year, by the relevant deadline(s).