Green Gown Awards 2014 - Carbon Reduction - University of Salford - Finalist

Creating a carbon saving case study on campus

The University of Salford has a challenging carbon target of an absolute reduction of 43% by Sept 2020 from 2005/6 baseline. In order to ensure investment for efficient technologies, a test bed was developed using a University building to be able to trial technologies to demonstrate savings before rolling out implementation to the rest of the campus.

Technology House is a University owned and managed office space facility; a diverse environment. Energy efficiency projects include lighting upgrades, intelligent controls installation, modulating boilers, insulation and an energy display screen in the main reception.

Despite occupancy going up, electricity consumption has gone from a very consistent 9,700kWh/week to an average 5,200kWh/week for a similar period; a 46% reduction, saving of 234,000kWh/year (just short of £26k/year). The University’s working week now consumes less than a total Christmas shutdown from a few years back!

The main aim of this project was to benefit other areas of the institution; roll out has achieved total University carbon emissions reductions of nearly 13% over two years and another 11% reduction to date.

Top 3 learnings

1 A test bed for energy efficiency project demonstration supports investment bids on a larger scale
2 Implementing energy efficiency projects on a smaller scale in a more controlled environment enables better estimation of savings and evaluation of additional benefits
3 Using a building where external organisations are based aids communication and raises the profile of University sustainability

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