Harper Adams University Progress review of the Environmental Sustainability Strategy Action Plan Aug 2013 –July 2014 A report to the Board of Governors – April 2015 DRAFT Environmental Sustainability Strategy: 2013 – 2014 Progress Review Table of Contents Executive Summary _______________________________________________________________ 3 Introduction _____________________________________________________________________ 3 Progress against the Action Plan ____________________________________________________ 4 1. Natural resource and waste management ___________________________________________ 4 1.1 Energy efficiency ______________________________________________________________ 4 1.2 Renewable energy generation ___________________________________________________ 5 1.3 Water Usage _________________________________________________________________ 6 1.4 Recycling and waste management ________________________________________________ 6 2. Carbon Minimisation ____________________________________________________________ 7 2.1 Travel Planning _______________________________________________________________ 7 2.2 Greenhouse gas emissions ______________________________________________________ 8 3. Conservation and the Environment ________________________________________________ 9 3.1 Biodiversity, soil quality, water quality (Overview) ___________________________________ 9 3.2 Biodiversity __________________________________________________________________ 9 3.3 Soil Quality __________________________________________________________________ 10 3.4 Water quality ________________________________________________________________ 10 4. Sustainable Research and Teaching _______________________________________________ 10 4.1 Integration of sustainability into courses to promote sustainability literacy ______________ 10 4.2 Research and consultancy into sustainable areas ___________________________________ 11 5. Estate and farm management: ___________________________________________________ 12 5.1 Sustainable building design and refurbishment _____________________________________ 12 5.2 Procurement_________________________________________________________________ 13 6. Rural community relation _______________________________________________________ 14 6.1 Promotion of diversification opportunities, sustainable development and renewable technologies opportunities in the rural sector _________________________________________ 14 Conclusion _____________________________________________________________________ 15 2 Environmental Sustainability Strategy: 2013 – 2014 Progress Review Executive Summary This Environmental Sustainability Strategy Action Plan progress report covers the period of August 2013 to July 2014. As of July 2015 the current Environmental Sustainability Strategy 2010-2015 will conclude and the new Strategy will be produced to cover the period 2015-2020. 2020 is a major milestone with regards to the Sector set target for reducing carbon emissions so the new Carbon Management Plan 2015-2020 will set out in detail how we will achieve our 2020 target. The new Environmental Sustainability Strategy and Action Plan and Carbon Management Plan will be available later in the year. This period 2013- 2014 saw some specific challenges. The Anaerobic Digester (AD) continued to have a significant and positive effect on our carbon emissions throughout 2013-14 despite our continued growth in campus size and it generated c.55% of the University’s electricity requirements. This decrease compared to the previous year was purely because the latter three months of the year the AD plant was not in operation. The unforeseen closure of the AD in May 2014 will be felt in the next academic year. There were some important external factors, such as the continued economic downturn and the changes in student finances which, although not obviously affecting our environmental performance, no doubt had an indirect impact on all of our activities. We successfully achieved re-certification of the Carbon Trust Standard in June 2014 achieving a 10% absolute reduction in carbon emissions. We have maintained our certification to the Standard for six years, continuing to demonstrate our reduction in carbon emissions year on year. The next submission will be in early 2016. All of these positive developments meant that our ‘relative’ carbon footprint (i.e. carbon impact per student) continued to improve during this period. However, our overall consumption caused by this year-on-year expansion continues to challenge our ‘absolute’ carbon footprint. Introduction Each section will contain the following sub-sections: A brief summary of progress Where applicable, key progress and interesting developments in the time period are summarised. Table of plans and progress A table noting the progress and plans for 2014 - 2015 with a red / amber / green indicator: Red: Not completed. Amber: Work had started and was on-going. Green: The planned work had been completed. Responsibility The member(s) of staff responsible for implementing the improvements 3 Environmental Sustainability Strategy: 2013 – 2014 Progress Review Progress against the Action Plan 1. Natural resource and waste management Environmental Sustainability Indicators in the natural resource and waste management group will draw from the areas of Sustainable Technologies (Rural), Natural Resource Management and Conservation and linking with the urban and rural agendas 1.1 Energy efficiency Progress Summary 2013/14 Achieved a 6% reduction in gas consumption, accounted for by a mild winter and energy saving measures undertaken by the Estates department Electricity consumption increased by 7.5%, attributed to campus growth with the addition of the Weston Building and the Agriculture Engineering Innovation Centre opening (Sept 2013). Energy saving measures were introduced to reduce gas consumption by turning heating down by 1oc, putting the heating on a couple of weeks later and programming the heating to go off earlier in the day. Plan for 2014/15 Action Status Specific SMART target to reduce gas Consumption is monitored monthly – compare Amber consumption by 5% on 2013/14 consumption the usage to last year (August 2015) Specific SMART target to reduce electricity Consumption is monitored monthly – compare Amber consumption by 5% on 2013/14 consumption the usage to last year (August 2015) Apply energy savings measures to reduce Turn down the heating by 1oc, turn heating on Green consumption later in the year and turn off earlier in the day Monitor and update progress against the CMP Performance to be reported to staff and Amber target & report performance to all staff & students after the year end (July 15) once all students data is complete for the year. Continue to monitor energy consumption Facilities explored and available. Amber monitored via e-Sight. Explore in more depth Audit conducted (March 2015) the facilities that e-Sight can offer to drill down Implementation project underway (complete and obtain comprehensive management by July 2015) information Engage students in the Student Energy Resources and funding were diverted to Amber Reduction Challenge focusing on energy management infrastructure. Will be reviewed for 2015/16 Improve building performance for Display On-going project Green Energy Certificates (DECs): Investigate buildings with high DEC ratings to implement energy saving measures through behaviour and working practices Calculate energy use per m3 On-going project, continued into 2014/15 Amber Responsibility: Estates & Facilities Manager and Environment & Waste Management Officer 4 Environmental Sustainability Strategy: 2013 – 2014 Progress Review 1.2 Renewable energy generation Progress summary 2013/14 Expansion of the Anaerobic Digester to provide additional electricity to south side of campus was completed with infrastructure works undertaken. However, the possibility of extending the AD plant for a second engine became no longer viable following the shutdown of the plant in May 2014. A micro-AD was commissioned in May 2014 as part of the KTP programme and has been proven to be suitable for mono-digestion of food waste. An extension to the project was given. Funding was achieved through collaboration with Aston University on the ‘Interreg’ Project. This saw two innovative pieces of equipment, a Pyro-Former and a ‘BAF Reactor’ being installed and trialled on-site. As well as purchasing electricity from the AD plant, we also produced our own electricity from the photo-voltaic cells (PVs) on the roof of Jebb Halls of residence. 2013/14 saw a 17% increase in electricity generation, attributed to less cloud cover enabling more sun to be absorbed and converted to electricity. The graph below (Fig. 2) shows the electricity purchased from the grid for the main site and the electricity generated and exported from the AD to the university. Harper Adams Electricity Sources 2013-14 700,000 600,000 500,000 400,000 AD Self-generated kWh 300,000 Electricity 200,000 Total Grid 100,000 0 Jul-14 Jan-14 Jun-14 Oct-13 Apr-14 Sep-13 Feb-14 Dec-13 Aug-13 Nov-13 Mar-14 May-14 Month Figure 1: Electricity Sources 2013/14 Plan for 2014/15 Action Status Gain further funding for future capacity to Funding achieved through collaboration with Green generate renewable energy Tuffa UK Limited, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships programme (KTP), the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and Defra to find better systems for farm and small businesses scale anaerobic digestion. Further options continually monitored Research into design,