For Energy Savers Week, we spoke with Phil Harris the University of Salford Carbon and Energy Manager about how the University is managing energy and our fantastic progress with energy reduction
Phil, can you tell us about your role at the University of Salford?
As Carbon and Energy Manager, I am based within our Estates and Facilities team and work closely with our wider Sustainability Team. My role includes monitoring building operational performance, energy project development supporting our building decarbonisation plan and reporting of relevant scope 1 and 2 carbon data for the University’s net zero carbon plan.
What does energy management mean at University of Salford?
Energy management means that the University of Salford can measure, report and reduce its energy consumption to support its sustainability work to reduce its impact on the environment. Our energy management system is combined with our environmental management system and is certified to both ISO14001 and ISO50001.
Energy management and reduction is a key enabler of our Net Zero Carbon Plan which includes a target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2038. This includes targets to achieve set reductions in scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions of 81% by 2030 and 96% by 2038, compared to our baseline year (2005/6).
How are we performing with energy reductions?
Our target for energy efficiency is a 25% reduction in energy intensity by 2029/30 from our 2016/17 baseline. We are incredibly pleased to share that we reached that reduction by the end of academic year 2023/24, six years ahead of our target!
Congratulations, that’s fantastic! How have we achieved those energy reductions?
In several ways.
We have invested heavily in our building management systems (BMS), and over the past 18 months, 20 of our buildings have received upgrades. This has improved our ability to view and control our heating, cooling, and ventilation systems and has allowed us to introduce more sophisticated control strategies.
This upgrade has been complimented by the introduction of over 900 smart meters which supply half hourly data to our energy monitoring software. As a result, we have greater visibility and understanding of energy use across the campus and we can respond when we identify unexpected deviations.
Alongside those measures we have taken steps to increase on-site renewable generation. We now have over 620 Solar Photo Voltaic (PV) panels across four buildings providing a steady amount of renewable electricity to support our ambitions.
One of the biggest contributors to our overall energy reduction has been the decarbonisation project that was implemented in our main library building. The replacement of the main gas boiler with four air source heat pumps has reduced gas use in this building by 84%.
What are the plans for energy reduction this year?
We won’t just step back and admire what we have achieved! We plan to build upon our progress and aim for greater reductions.
We aim to complete the remaining control upgrades in the buildings before the end of 2025. We will then have all our buildings on a modern monitoring platform, and an increased potential for implementing energy reduction strategies.
We will invest further in mechanical technologies to reduce the energy used to distribute heat across the buildings. This will include improved heat recovery in our ventilation equipment and modern pumping for our heating systems.
We are progressing a project to introduce an electric heat pump into one of our oldest buildings. We have already tested the feasibility, and our next steps will be to improve the emitters, controls, and pump strategy.
The replacement of older lighting technologies with modern LED will continue, and this will include improved controls to prevent wastage.
Our biggest ambition is to expand the solar PV systems we have on our existing rooftops, we would love to take the number of installed panels over 1,000!
You can see energy reduction in some of our individual buildings below:
The following figures are the individual buildings 23/24 utility performance figures compared to the previous academic year 22/23. The majority of our buildings have seen a significant decrease in the use of electricity and gas.
- Adelphi House – Electricity – Down 18.65%, Gas – Down 54.71%
- Brian Blatchford – Electricity – Down 33.37%, Gas – Down 37.86%
- Chapman – Electricity – Down 12.1%, Gas – Down 38.6%
- Clifford Whitworth – Gas – Down 83.96%
- Cockcroft – Electricity – Down 8.9%, Gas – Down 21.6%
- Crescent House – Electricity – Down 11.71%, Gas – Down 18.41%
- Faith Centre – Electricity – Down 21.39%, Gas – Down 30.28%
- Joule House – Gas – Down 15.11%
- Mary Seacole – Electricity – Down 26.97%, Gas – Down 21.69%
- Media City – Electricity – Down 7.64%
- New Adelphi – Electricity – Down 3.51%
- Peel Building – Electricity – Down 7.64%, Gas – Down 26.56%
- SEE – Electricity – Down 8.52%
- The Old Fire Station – Gas – Down 50.09%
- Uni House – Gas – Down 36.69%
About Sustainability at Salford
At University of Salford we recognise the climate and biological crises and that climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing our society across the globe. As a higher education provider we have a major role to play in enabling our students and staff to respond positively to global challenges through their study, work and life. Our vision is that by embedding sustainability in all aspects of University life, we will enable our University community to create impactful positive change for society and environment. We want to be a sustainable university and make sure it is a central part of our story.
The Sustainability Team at the University of Salford leads the development and implementation of the University Sustainability Strategy and is made up of the Sustainability Office and the Environmental Sustainability Team.
Sustainability Office
The Sustainability Office has responsibility for the holistic sustainability strategy and works with teams across the whole University to enable and embed sustainability. The Sustainability Office is a centralised team and reports to the Strategic Portfolio Board and the University Sustainability Board. It is championed by the Chief Infrastructure Officer, the University Leadership Team Lead for Sustainability.
Environmental Sustainability Team
The Environmental Sustainability Team based in Estates and Facilities have responsibility for delivering the Sustainability Strategy across our campus operations, as well as maintaining our Environmental and Energy Management System certification to International Standards ISO14001 and ISO50001.