jackiesimpson, Author at Sustainability

Henley Business School- Number 1 business faculty in the UK for smallest carbon footprint

By jackiesimpsonAug 14, 20230 Comments

Recently, the FT Masters in Finance Ranking has recognised our Henley Business School for having a minimal carbon footprint, coming joint first in the UK overall in this element the FT’s Rankings. This achievement reflects the commitment we have towards maintaining our green credentials, and also to our Net Zero by 2030 strategy. Click this link to our webpage, which details our carbon management projects: Carbon Management Projects - Sustainability (reading.ac.uk). We are currently the 4th most sustainable university in the UK, according to the latest ‘People and Planet’ University League in 2022. Click this link to find out more:…

Energy and Water

Consider the air handled! With AHU upgrades

By jackiesimpsonAug 14, 20230 Comments

The project Over the yearlong course from winter 2021-2022, we have successfully upgraded components of several Air Handling Units (AHUs) across our university campuses (Whiteknights, Greenland’s and London Road) in order to save huge amounts of energy and carbon. This sustainability project was funded by the Department for Energy and Net Zero, under the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) and delivered by Salix. The upgrades oversaw ten inverters and ten fan motors replaced within five older, inefficient AHUs. The units were replaced on a like for like basis, with more modern fittings and higher efficiencies where appropriate. All the AHUs…

Energy and Water

A Solar Success! New 600kWp Rooftop Solar PV arrays

By jackiesimpsonAug 14, 20230 Comments

During Autumn 2021, new Solar PV arrays were installed across 7 buildings on Whiteknights campus creating a huge annual energy and carbon saving. The project was delivered by Salix, and funded by the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS), whereby a grant was awarded to The University in order for us to be able to carry out such instalments to meet our net zero by 2030 target. What is a Solar PV array? A Solar PV array is an assembly of photovoltaic panels, that are most commonly known as solar panels. Across our university campuses in total, we have 3400 solar…

Energy and Water

A star-studded Fairtrade accreditation

By jackiesimpsonJul 12, 20230 Comments

Great news! We have recently been awarded a 2-star Fairtrade University and College status award, delivered by SOS (Students Organising for Sustainability) and the Fairtrade Foundation. This accreditation is an excellent achievement for us, as this shows the University’s commitment towards: reducing the impact of our consumption, sustainable practices, and ethical support towards fairtrade communities and livelihoods. We are passionate about continuing to involve Fairtrade practices into our policy making, procurement, campaigns, university studies and of course into our food outlets. As a University, we were originally awarded Fairtrade University Status in 2020, from which our recent accreditation means we…

Fairtrade

Staying warm for less – BMS improvements

By jackiesimpsonJul 12, 20230 Comments

During Spring 2021, several energy saving improvements to the Building Management System (BMS) were installed. The upgrades are part of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) delivered by Salix and funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. We received a grant from Salix in 2020 for sustainable fixtures such as the BMS improvements, where for this project £84,108 of the total grant was used. The central BMS improvements included updates to various Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, which in turn digitalised our heating system making them easier to track and…

Energy and Water

Lighting the way with energy efficient LEDs

By jackiesimpsonJul 03, 20230 Comments

During the summer of 2021, LED lighting upgrade projects were undertaken across all three of our major campuses; London Road, Greenlands, and Whiteknights, with an additional specialist project at Minghella film studios. The new and more efficient instalments have positively impacted energy consumption and lighting load creating huge savings as a result, which has been an effective step towards our net zero for 2030 any other projects strategy. The LED lighting upgrades are a Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme project (PSDS), delivered by Salix and funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. This project is just one of…

Energy and Water

Helping our hedgehogs in Reading

By jackiesimpsonJun 26, 20230 Comments

The UoR Hedgehog Society was launched in March 2023 at the Student Sustainability Summit. The society is led by an enthusiastic team of students, supported by staff from a range of roles but all have the goal of helping our spiky friends to thrive on University of Reading land. The number of hedgehogs in the UK has fallen dramatically since the 1950’s with some estimating there are just under 900,000 currently left. Urban populations of hedgehogs are showing potential signs of stabilisation, so organisations like the UoR Hedgehog society can make a real difference. Nilo Mason (undergraduate zoology student), one…

Biodiversity and Green Infrastructure

CEDAR Farm Refrigeration Upgrades

By jackiesimpsonJun 12, 20230 Comments

Back in 2020, the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme grants, delivered by Salix and funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for energy saving projects that were carried out over the period of 2021-22. Since then, we have successfully used the grant to carry out multiple projects across our university campuses that have reduced our environmental impact. The University has a mission to become carbon net zero by 2050, and so projects such as this one is an important step for us. One of our successful projects is the CEDAR farm refrigerator replacement. CEDAR farm is the Centre…

Energy and Water

Reading places 1-2-3 in Europe for work towards UN Sustainable Development Goals

By jackiesimpsonJun 12, 20230 Comments

University of Reading has been ranked as the best university in the UK and Europe for championing responsible consumption and production in the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings 2023. It has also been ranked second in the UK and Europe for climate action and third for research and education linked to protecting life on land. Compiled by THE, these rankings map how universities around the world are committing to the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are a global call to action to tackle some of today’s biggest global issues, such as poverty, climate change and inequality.…

Waste and Recycling

Bee extinction: more than meets the hive.

By jackiesimpsonMay 18, 20230 Comments

Bees and other plant pollinating species are reducing in number due to the detrimental effects of climate change. So, what’s all the buzz about? Bees are more important than initially thought, while you may think that dropping bee numbers is minor in comparison to other effects of climate change, 90% of the world’s flowering plants depend on pollination. Bees are just one type of pollinator that support the reproduction and survival of plants, but they are fundamentally important to the future of biodiversity, forest regeneration and food diversity. World bee day takes place this month on the 20th of May,…

Energy and Water