Sustainability Champions Network

Sustainability Champions Network As part of the Our Future First sustainable behaviours programme, a network of sustainability champions has been set up across all schools and functions with the University. Champions are volunteers who care about sustainability and want to work collaboratively to make a positive difference, helping to reduce the environmental impact of their department and the University. Our champions are integral to the Our Future First programme - they inspire others; influence departmental decisions to factor in sustainability; act as our 'eyes and ears' across campus to identify opportunities for improvements; and share ideas, listen and learn from…
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Our Future First

Our Future First is the University’s sustainable behaviours programme which will embed sustainability into our culture, with everyone playing their part to create collective, positive change for our community and our planet. Why: To address the dual challenges of meeting our sustainability commitment to become Net Zero Carbon by 2030 and tackling rapidly rising energy costs. Who: Develop a network of sustainability champions across all schools and fucntions on Whiteknights, London Road and Greenlands. How: Collaborate, listen, share, teach, learn, inspire, connect, evolve, celebrate - everyone working together to take small actions which collectively have a big impact. We can…
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Celebrating sustainability – Green Festival 2022

By jackiesimpsonDec 05, 20220 Comments
Green Festival is the University of Reading’s annual sustainability celebration, where we come together to promote, educate and celebrate sustainable actions amongst our local community, staff and students. This year a range of different events were held from 1 to 11 November, with something for everyone. Sustainability is a key strategic priority for the University and an estimated 500 attendees participated in the festival –clearly demonstrating that sustainability is important to each and every one of us. Highlights this year included: The ‘Play your emissions right’ game from Reading Buses was an effective and popular way of showing staff and…
Awards and Achievements, Behaviour Change, Energy and Water
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Sustainability Volunteering

MAKE A DIFFERENCE We all have our part to play in transitioning to a more sustainable future. If you're feeling inspired to help make a difference, why not take action and join a sustainable volunteering group. There are plenty of options to choose from both on campus and in the local area, enabling you to give back, support the cause and ultimately make a contribution to reducing the environmental impact on our planet. Not only will you be helping the environment, volunteering can provide an opportunity to meet like minded people, learn new skills, and studies have shown that it…
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A new LEAF in laboratory sustainability at the university

By rhidiandaviesJun 29, 20220 Comments
A new LEAF in laboratory sustainability at the university The University of Reading provides invaluable teaching and research through our on-campus laboratories. The nature of laboratory work is very carbon-intensive and, as a result, the universities’ science-based buildings represent 25% of total energy consumption and produce 20% of total day-to-day waste (by weight) . In order to support all relevant departments with creating a more sustainable laboratory culture, we are now participating in the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF). LEAF is an online assessment tool to aid improvements in the sustainability and efficiency of both research and teaching laboratories and is already…
Awards and Achievements, Behaviour Change, Energy and Water, Waste and Recycling
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BEIS’ Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF) grant

By jackiesimpsonJan 31, 20220 Comments
The University has been awarded a £100,000 grant from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The grant comes from BEIS’ Green Heat Network Fund (GNHF) and will be fund matched by the University. The GNHF aims to transform UK heating by switching existing heat networks to low carbon fuel sources. This grant will enable us to commission design work to assist with the decarbonisation of the heating systems at Whiteknights campus. Specifically this will focus on plans to install a large heat pump into our energy centre. The energy centre currently provides heating to 16 buildings on the…
Awards and Achievements, Energy and Water
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Energy Manager’s Association (EMA) award for Net Zero Strategy 2021

By jackiesimpsonJan 27, 20220 Comments
We were honoured to win the EMA’s Net Zero Strategy 2021 award, recognising our ambitious plan to become net zero by 2030 as the best in the UK. This award puts us among the leading public and private sector organisations in the UK for sustainability. The University’s Net Zero Carbon plan is wide ranging, including shifting buildings to carbon-free heating, cutting emissions from national and international business travel, and reducing waste and improving efficiency across the estate. The judges highlighted the clear, comprehensive nature of the plan, including the clearly-defined milestones to help measure progress. This award gives us the…
Awards and Achievements, Energy and Water
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Big Sustainability Awards’ Carbon Reduction Project of the Year

By jackiesimpsonJan 27, 20220 Comments
Our partnership with Salix Finance has won a major sustainability ‘carbon reduction project of the year’ award. The decarbonisation and energy efficiency project has been delivered across our campuses with a total cost of £3.3m and has enabled carbon emission reductions of 816 tonnes per year. The work centred on delivering low carbon heating, with a major redesign of heating in key buildings to change how heating is zoned to reduce wastage. It has also enabled major lighting and energy efficiency upgrades and a further nine solar panel installations.
Awards and Achievements, Energy and Water
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Movin’ on up the Green League

By danfernbankDec 15, 20210 Comments
This year’s People & Planet University Green League saw Reading achieve it’s highest ever position, being placed 15th amongst 154 UK universities for its environmental and ethical performance.  For the third year in a row, the degree-style classifications awarded Reading a 1st class performance. We maintained or improved our scores in every area but one (we’ll come back to the one!), with particularly impressive improvements in the areas of Ethical Investment, Education for Sustainable Development and Staff and Student Engagement.           An overall improvement in our score from 55% to 69.9% reflects the significant amount of…
Awards and Achievements, ,
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Grant funding award for Earley Gate decarbonisation study

By danfernbankOct 07, 20210 Comments
The University has recently been awarded a £50,000 grant from Phase 2 of Salix Finance’s Low Carbon Skills Fund (LCSF2) to undertake a heat decarbonisation study for the Earley Gate side of the Whiteknights campus. Funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the LCSF2 is specifically focused on helping the public sector make plans for how they can decarbonise their heating systems in the years ahead.  The University’s Net Zero Carbon Plan commits it to full decarbonisation of its heating systems by 2030 and with all of the buildings on Earley Gate currently heated with gas…
Awards and Achievements, Energy and Water, , , ,
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