Taking action for a cleaner, healthier future on Clean Air Day

By jomerryJun 01, 20220 Comments
Air Pollution has been recognised as one of the biggest environmental health risks facing humans. In fact 9 out of 10 people across the world live in a place where air quality exceeds the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) guidelines. Many sources of air pollution also contribute to carbon emissions, so reducing air pollution has clear benefits for health, wellbeing and the environment. Clean Air Day is the UK’s largest campaign on air pollution. For 2022, this is being held on 16th June and the theme is “Air pollution dirties every organ in your body. Take steps to improve your health…
Energy and Water
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A cool 91% energy saving from our new air conditioning units

By jomerryMay 16, 20220 Comments
One of our recent Salix grant-funded projects entailed the replacement of 12 air conditioning units with 10 new, high efficiency units, yielding an impressive 91% saving in the energy that they use, with a carbon saving of 9.68 tCO2e per year. Our analysis conducted as part of the project also highlighted the important interplay that exists between technology and human behaviour, illustrating that as well as upgrading technology to improve efficiency, we can all do our bit to avoid wasted energy and minimise carbon emissions. In this blog we provide further information on the project and steps you can take…
Energy and Water
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Installing solar panels – are they worth it?

By danfernbankMay 13, 20220 Comments
Opinion: Dan Fernbank, Energy & Sustainability Director With energy prices skyrocketing, I find myself increasingly being asked whether solar photovoltaic (PV) panels are good investments at home.  There is no one answer to this question, but set out below are my suggestions of points to consider. The roof Firstly, do you own your home?  If you live in a flat, it is likely to be leasehold and so any roof installation would need the permission of the landlord. Assuming you have the right to install a PV system, your roof needs to be between east and west facing – ideally…
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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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Delivering Net Zero Carbon – FAQs

By danfernbankNov 12, 20210 Comments
This blog follows up a recent all-staff presentation on the University's Net Zero Carbon strategy, aiming to address the key questions raised. Active travel The University has invested over £500,000 in improved on-campus pedestrian and cycling facilities over the last 5 years, but we recognise that many of the barriers to more active travel lie outside of our boundaries.  We do actively engage with the local councils, have supported the installation of a much-needed pedestrian crossing on Pepper Lane and have committed our support for a crossing on Upper Redlands Road too. Reading Borough Council currently has a live consultation…
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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…
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Fridge freezer upgrades completed

By naomiwadsworthSep 13, 20210 Comments
We are pleased to publish details of a further two Salix grant-funded projects which we have now completed the energy saving measurements for. Over several weeks during spring 2021, a large number of lab refrigeration units at Whiteknights campus were replaced. These included refrigeration units, non-ultra-low temperature freezers (-20°C) and ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezers (-80°C). Each project has produced good energy savings, with a combined total annual saving of £ 5,450 per year and 8.3 tonnes CO2 per year. Why were the refrigeration units upgraded? Most of the refrigeration units were aging and inefficient, using excess electricity and resulting in…
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How data and the Institute for Environmental Analytics’ expertise are helping Small Islands States in their journey to renewables

By jackiesimpsonAug 09, 20210 Comments
By Dr Maria Noguer, Climate Programme Manager, Institute for Environmental Analytics (IEA) When we first tuned up in the Seychelles in 2018 to explain to our project partners that a combination of space data and our expertise could help them transition to a low carbon economy, they looked at the sky and then at us with suspicious eyes. Space sounded esoteric but they were intrigued and excited. Solar farm in Vanuatu (Maria Noguer and Alan Yates on a site visit) Addressing grand challenges: high cost of energy and climate change The Institute for Environmental Analytics had just been awarded a…
Energy and Water
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