Reading is the first university to be awarded the independently assessed ‘Evidenced Energy Conscious Organisation (EnCO)’ certification in recognition of its commitment and actions to embed people and behavioural solutions into energy management.
EnCO is a not-for-profit and industry-led organisation, backed by the Energy Institute. Their mission is to make people-based solutions mainstream in global energy management.
A critical element of the University’s decarbonisation plan is ongoing energy reductions. Alongside the technical projects we undertake to reduce energy use, we adopted the EnCO framework as part of the Our Future First (OFF) sustainable behaviours programme. This was to maximise opportunities to identify and resolve energy waste through people’s behaviours, aligned with the 5 EnCO pillars.
1. Engagement
Energy management has long been embedded into our organisation with a clear policy, the support of top management, and a well-established and embedded Energy Management System. We sought to build on this through:
- 121 engagement meetings with all heads of departments
- an all-staff sustainability talk led by the VC
- focussing on the actions individuals can take
- developing a network of sustainability champions
2. Alertness
We set out to better understand how energy management integrates with and positively impacts other key drivers for the University. The below graphic summarises the understanding we gained of key drivers at different levels across the organisation, showing the landscape within which sustainability sits. This helps us when implementing energy and sustainability projects to understand where we can advance other priorities at the same time, and where there may be tensions to address.
3. Skills
To create our vision of local action being taken by empowered teams themselves, we sought to upskill staff through:
- running a champion induction course
- a number of topical ‘Learn with Sustainability’ sessions open to all staff
- undertaking workshops with key groups which included ‘Energy Treasure Hunts’
- tasking colleagues to find and report back on energy opportunities
- putting what they had learned into practice
4. Recognition
It is important to track the impact of behavioural factors on energy use. We have taken a whole facility approach to recording our energy savings associated with behaviour change. Our year-on-year energy consumption is adjusted for any significant factors (including weather adjusting our heating data, addition or removal of buildings etc.), and the calculated energy savings for building upgrade projects completed within Sustainability and the wider Estates department are deducted, with the balance attributed to behavioural measures. Applying this methodology, we have achieved a 12.9% energy saving associated with behaviour change over the course of the two years following our 2022/23 baseline.
5. Adaptability
Our established network of sustainability champions enabled us to quickly form a working group. They designed and implemented a ‘major energy savings programme’ in response to the energy cost crisis in 2022/23. Working together, we identified and implemented a number of collaborative initiatives including:
- Adjusting server room cooling set points
- Shutting down 1,350 PCs and monitors over closure periods
- Modifying heating schedules
- Optimising heating during low occupancy periods
- Enhancing lighting management.
Currently, we have over 60 sustainability champions through the OFF programme, with representation across every School and Directorate within the University. Champions engage in our campaigns, report back areas of energy waste and undertake local activities within their departments. Therefore, this all helps us to continue to improve sustainability and reduce our energy consumption. Thus resulting in the estimated savings from behavioural measures over the 2-year period being 7,767,174 kWh, £806k and 1,421 tCO2e.
Interested in getting involved with the OFF programme and becoming a sustainability champion? Email sustainability@reading.ac.uk.
