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Carbon Trust helps universities go green

Posted: 11/05/2007

Fifteen universities across the UK are set to cut their carbon footprints and reduce energy bills by joining phase three of the Carbon Trust´s Higher Education Carbon Management (HECM) programme. The Carbon Trust´s HECM programme is designed specifically for universities and Higher Education colleges, providing them with practical advice on cutting their carbon emissions and reducing energy costs.

To date, the Carbon Trust has worked with 33 universities – one third of the Higher Education sector – and has identified annual savings of more than £12 million and 125,000 tonnes of CO2 for the sites involved.

The Higher Education Carbon Management programme is designed to deliver improved energy management of academic, accommodation, leisure buildings and vehicle fleets. It also provides practical support to organisations by helping them identify carbon saving opportunities, providing software to analyse energy consumption and delivering workshop support for staff and senior managers to improve their awareness of energy efficiency.

The programme is supported by a bespoke toolkit – a web-based manual that gives detailed guidance on the programme´s process, technical advice and examples of best practice.

Richard Rugg, Public Sector Programme Manager at the Carbon Trust, added: "In England alone, the Higher Education sector emits 3.3million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, so cutting carbon should be a key priority for all universities and colleges. With the Higher Education sector currently spending more than £200 million on energy each year, improving energy management and therefore reducing energy bills is crucial – particularly as the money saved can be invested in valuable resources for staff and students.

The third phase of the Carbon Trust´s Higher Education Carbon Management programme will run until March 2008.

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