A Scottish charity has turned eco warrior by creating a new energy-saving role in a bid to reduce its carbon footprint and significantly reduce usage and costs across the whole organisation.

Leading social care and housing provider,Bield, has employed a full-time energy manager after research of the charities energy usage revealed considerable annual saving were possible if a dedicated role was set up to concentrate on energy-saving methods.

The new role, which will be carried out by Katarzyna Stradowska, will look to introduce and maintain higher energy efficient measures across Bield services which look after 20,000 older people across 23 local authority areas in Scotland.

The pioneering role aims to make the services more sustainable for both tenants and staff while reducing capital costs to help improve Bield’s overall green credentials.

Stuart Dow, Director of Asset Management at Bield, said: “We are all looking forward to seeing the benefits from the introduction of our new energy manager. We always strive to make our services the best possible place to both live and work, so ensuring we are as energy efficient as possible will have a positive impact on everyone involved.

“Having a dedicated manager in this role also ensures other Bield employees can concentrate on their roles and the tenants in each service.

As part of the new role Katarzyna will develop specifications and technical solutions for both new build and existing properties whilst looking at the future energy sustainability of the organisation.

Staff and tenants will also be provided with information on how they personally can help lower the charity’s carbon footprint and do their own bit for the environment.

Katarzyna has experience of undertaking this role within another sector and has worked across Europe developing systems and processes for better energy usage.

She said: “I have always been passionate about energy saving measures as they can have the double benefit of saving money and reducing the carbon footprint.

“Doing this for a charity like Bield is really exciting as it could really benefit their users and they may well learn a lot about energy saving techniques along the way.

“I’m looking forward to getting really involved with this role and helping Bield become as green as possible.”