The Problem

According to UN.org¹, commercial and residential buildings consume over half of all electricity across the globe. This is due to the usage of coal, oil and natural gas for heating and cooling which emits a large amount of greenhouse gases (gases contributing to global warming.)

As you will be aware, over the last 10 years, energy costs have risen and continue to do so. Therefore, it is important for large organisations such as universities to reduce energy to ensure they are lowering unnecessary costs. According to new research released by Centrica Business Solutions, UK universities could reduce energy bills by £146m a year if they upgrade outdated energy systems.

When looking at HESA.ac.uk², it shows the energy usage for every university in the UK across the academic years 2015/16 – 2019/20. It is categorized into total energy consumption, total fuel used in HE provider owned vehicles, total generation of electricity exported to grid, total water consumption and total renewable energy generated onsite or offsite. This shows just how much energy universities are getting through, and how many have already started to use renewable energy. 

Our Tips to Reduce Energy

• Looking at ways to focus on making the existing infrastructure sustainable and developing energy innovation plans with long term goals. Then, looking at smart building technology such as optimising BeMS (Building energy Management Systems) which monitor the functioning of such networks of equipment 24/7 with data on the energy consumption. This is also associated with controlling HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning). This ensures that heating or air conditioning is switched off when a room or building is not in use to save money and reduce energy consumption¹. These services are both available at Optimised.

• When using HVAC, it is important to control it, this can be done using a remote monitoring service, which would be able to optimise the temperature in each University room to ensure as little energy is wasted as possible.

• Working towards net zero by implementing practical solutions to improve University operations, such as demand reduction, onsite renewable energy, corporate green energy purchase agreements, and the purchase of carbon credits.

• Have a look at energy recommendations for the University to help improve carbon footprint, using an independent energy consultant, such as our Energy Procurement services.
  

1. https://www.un.org/en/actnow/facts-and-figures#energy
2. https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/estates/table-2
3. https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/how-energy-efficient-university.php