Switched on staff switch off for green awards
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Initiatives in the Carrington building have resulted in a nomination for the Green Gown Awards
'We're delighted to have been nominated for this award as it recognises all of the hard work that staff around the University have put in to achieve a common goal.'
The University has been nominated for two 'Green Gown Awards', in recognition of some of the hard work undertaken by staff to raise awareness of green issues and help the University meet its target of reducing carbon emissions by 35% by 2015/16.
The Green Gown Awards recognize exceptional environmental and sustainability initiatives being undertaken by universities, colleges and the learning and skills sector across the UK.
The first nomination is in the 'Promoting positive behaviour' category, for our 'smarter approach to sustained behavioural change' project. The project now covers over 20 buildings, but initiatives in the Carrington building have included shut down weekends, removal of unnecessary equipment and a competition to write a green mission statement limerick.
Another initiative in Carrington allows live, detailed energy data to be provided to staff working in the building. In this way, they can instantaneously see the effects of their actions. So far these fun and easy methods have contributed to a sustained 25% reduction in 'plug in the wall' small item electrical and lighting power consumption.
Energy Officer, Tom Yearley, said: "We're delighted to have been nominated for this award as it recognises all of the hard work that staff around the University have put in to achieve a common goal. We chose our most efficient building, Carrington, as a pilot - we knew that if we could make savings there then they must be applicable elsewhere, so now we are transferring these initiatives to other buildings to help the University make further savings."
The second nomination, in the ‘Research and Development' category, is for Reading's role in the Carbon Brainprint project, which is HEFCE funded and coordinated by Cranfield University. A team from the School of Construction Management and Engineering worked alongside the Facilities Management Directorate, using their 'intelligent building' expertise to increase energy efficiency in an accommodation block on the Greenlands campus. They demonstrated that 24% savings in heating energy could be made, simply by introducing a Building Energy Management System which intelligently controls heating and cooling in the building.
The Green Gown Awards are administered by the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges. The winners will be announced next month.