Energy, Water and Carbon

Do the lights need to be on?

The University spent £9.5m on energy and water in 2011/12. Energy consumption in buildings released 46,303 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere.

Many factors can affect the emissions in a particular year, for example:

• Hot summers can require more cooling and colder winters require more heating
• New equipment can add to or reduce consumption – for example, computers working on climate change modelling have added significantly to our emissions since their installation in 2007!
• The installation of energy efficiency measures.

This makes trends difficult to identify, but we are seeing underlying reductions of around 1% a year in our emissions, after allowing for weather and the inclusion of new buildings.

Carbon Management Plans

In August 2009, the University graduated from the Carbon Trust’s Higher Education Carbon Management (HECM) Programme, having developed a Carbon Management Plan describing a path to reducing emissions by 15% from 2007/8 to 2015/16. This will mainly be through implementing efficiency and conservation measures.

We update our Carbon Management Plan annually; the current version can be found here.

This aims at reducing emissions from buildings by 38% by 2020 based on a 2005/6 baseline. We also have targets for Scope 3 reductions.

Our emissions from buildings since 2005/6 are shown in the table below:

Conversion factors from DEFRA http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/business/reporting/pdf/100805-guidelines-ghg-conversion-factors.xls Aug 2010 version

“Fugitive emissions” from non-energy sources are estimated to add another 470 tonnes CO₂ equivalent a year, and we will be working over the next three years to assess our “Scope 3“ emissions. Emissions from University owned and leased vehicles are estimated to be 140 tonnes CO₂e.

Energy & Water Management at the University of Bristol - Key Areas

• Energy and Water Saving projects
• Heating Policy - Heating Specifications
• Air conditioning Policy - Air conditioning and Cooling Specifications
• Purchasing utilities

Energy Saving In The Workplace

If we all carry out the actions noted below, we will not only help tackle climate change by reducing our carbon dioxide emissions by up to 1,500 tonnes but also save money to the tune of £250,000 a year.

Remember most of these tips work just as well at home as they do at work, so you can save yourself some money as well.

1. Switch lights off in empty rooms
2. Working in a large lab or office, only switch on the lights you need
3. Make the most of natural daylight especially with spring and summer coming, switch off the lights
4. Switch off computers and equipment when you’re not using them
5. Don’t leave mobile phone charges plugged in when they are not charging
6. Heating on too high – report it to Sustainability
7. Print less and print double sided
8. Only boil the amount of water you need in a kettle, don’t over fill it
9. Don’t leave taps running, report leaking taps to Maintenance Services, ext. 89898
10. If you are aware of energy wastage, tell Sustainability

You can contact Sustainability on ext. 89100, or via email to sustainability-estates@bristol.ac.uk.

The Head of Sustainability has responsibility for overseeing carbon performance.