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University of Reading

We have EcoCampus status!

Tuesday, 10 August 2010

EcoCampus bronze award

'In the past 12 months we have made great strides in reducing our carbon footprint...' Colin Robbins, Director of Estates and Facilities Management

Thanks to the efforts of its staff, the University has achieved an EcoCampus Bronze award for its work towards environmental sustainability.

EcoCampus is an Environmental Management System and Award Scheme for the Higher and Further Education sectors, which aims to help institutions develop good operational and management practices.

Colin Robbins, Director of Estates and Facilities Management, said: "In the past 12 months, we have made great strides in reducing our carbon footprint through, for example, the way we build new facilities, consume energy and recycle our waste. In this year's Green League table, we jumped 43 places and we now have over 200 staff and student Environmental Champions to help us deliver our green agenda. A big thank you to everyone.

"This Bronze Award is not only recognition of the work done to date, but also offers us a framework and process to improve our environmental performance in the future. We are committed to continuing this work and to minimising the impact of a large organisation such as ours."

EcoCampus is closely aligned to ISO 14001, the international environmental management standard, and BS 8555, the British guidance standard. At Bronze level, the University has demonstrated institutional commitment through its senior management, set up environmental awareness training for staff, conducted a baseline review of its impact on the environment and produced a draft environmental strategy.

Highlights of the University's green achievements in the past 12 months include:-

  • Achieving Fairtrade status
  • Recycling 98% of Whiteknights Hall for the new Mackinder Hall
  • Reducing carbon emissions significantly
  • Recycling almost 40% of waste
  • Introducing a car club, car share and cycle to work schemes, bringing new bus routes onto campus and installing 707 bike racks
  • Exploring the use of wind power
  • Instituting Switch Off campaigns which have raised awareness of energy consumption among staff and students, and show reductions of, on average, 8% in electricity consumption.
  • Energy efficiency projects funded by Salix, which include projects such as the insulation and lagging of pipes and energy efficient lighting, are already delivering £70,000 of annual energy savings.

The EcoCampus system covers all aspects of the University's operations including: waste management, energy use, water efficiency, sustainable purchasing, construction and refurbishment, biodiversity, travel and community involvement. The University is now working towards a Silver Award for Spring 2011.

More information about the University's environmental performance and aspirations at http://www.reading.ac.uk/cleanandgreen

New Display Energy Certificates are now available. For more information and to check the energy efficiency of your building, visit 
http://www.reading.ac.uk/cleanandgreen/builtenvironment/cag-dec.aspx