Affordable and clean energy

Upgrade buildings to higher energy efficiency

Our Sustainable Buildings Strategy puts forward plans for how both new build and refurbishment capital projects should contribute to many of the University’s wider sustainability goals including energy efficiency stipulated by BREEAM certification. This includes the objective that all refurbishment projects between £750,000 and £3million build cost are expected to achieve BREEAM Refurbishment Excellent certification* and this is expected to be achieved in a cost effective manner

Plan to reduce energy consumption

Reducing energy and water consumption is crucial to meeting our target to become net-zero in our Scope 1 & 2 emissions from our buildings by 2030. We have been continuously focused on lowering our scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions with our Carbon and Water Strategy setting out activities we undertake to make it happen within the key 8 areas for carbon reduction, which includes actions to conserve energy and water, use energy and water more efficiently, and to build new buildings to the highest cost-effective energy standards.

Additionally, the plan includes the commitment to continuing to use ISO 14064 Scopes 1 & 2, externally audited, to measure our carbon emissions, and to use new technologies as they emerge to serve our aims in the most cost-effective manner possible.

Targets include capping grid electricity use at the 2015/16 total of 68.5GWh, caping grid gas use at the 2014/15 total of 83.5GWh, and reducing kWh use from grid gas and electricity per staff and student FTE by a third by 2030.

Energy wastage identification

Our Building Energy Management Systems, upgraded in 2021, enables us to reprogram our control systems to review, identify and eliminate energy waste. For example, making sure that a building is not being cooled when it is also being heated. Our Building Energy Management Systems helps us to reduce both gas and electricity consumption through actions including control changes, building system optimisation measures and additional metering. These actions alone will cut our carbon emissions by an estimated 8%, and support our longer-term investment program to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.

Implementing these controls at our Arts and Social Science Library across one year reduced gas use by enough to heat 25 homes a year. There are many opportunities to make saving like this as our campuses become smarter.

Public pledge toward 100% renewable energy

In addition to our own pledge to becoming a net zero carbon campus by 2030, we work with partners in the city and local authorities to both promote and plan for a transition towards 100% renewable energy.

Bristol City Council has committed Bristol to becoming a carbon neutral city by 2030. Achieving this ambitious target will require long-term partnership and investment that will help Bristol to fully realise its clean energy potential. The University of Bristol, through the Cabot Institute for the Environment, is working in partnership with Bristol City Council’s City Leap programme in its international search for potential partners to help reach the goal.

We are working with the One City Environment Board, which in addition to being responsible for driving forward 2030 net zero ambitions, puts forward the Bristol One City Climate Change Ask, for businesses and organisation.

Our Civic University Agreement puts forward our plans to work with key partners across the city to raise awareness of climate change via our education programmes and research, and champion sustainability and a just transition to net zero – bringing in other partners through city engagement and advocacy work.

Our Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus will connect to one of the UK’s most innovative heating systems, delivered by Vattenfall and the University. The project plans to export heat from its own computer servers and cooling system back into a citywide heat network, helping to heat other local buildings and reduce carbon emissions.

A Technology Innovation Partnership for Net Zero Aviation in the South West has been launched to work on the decarbonisation of aviation. We will be working with the University of Bath, the National Composites Centre (NCC) and the advanced propulsion R&I centre IAAPS, focusing  on delivering transformational innovation to advance net zero flight.

Energy efficiency services for industry

Climate Action Bristol (CAB) is an innovative project placing student volunteers with local organisations to develop and implement Climate Action Plans. The volunteer role will help assess the sustainability of an organisation with the aid of our bespoke on-line tool, supporting organisations to explore their impacts and therefore set out a wide range of actions, from energy use through to advocacy, to take climate action.