Utilities
Free Insulation
Wouldn’t it be nice if household bills went down for a change? Now it’s easier than ever to reduce your energy bills by insulating your home free of charge.
That’s right – loft and cavity wall insulation is available at no cost to everyone; there are no criteria to meet and your income doesn’t matter – the only condition is that your home can take the insulation, and that’s easy to check with a free no-obligation survey.
Local councils in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Scottish Borders secured funding from the Scottish Government to insulate as many homes as possible free of charge.
What’s the catch? The only catch is that this is the last chance for homes in Scotland to get these measures free – once the funding system changes later this year grants for insulation will be a thing of the past. Don’t miss out – call the Energy Saving Scotland advice centre free on 0800 512 012 and book your free survey today, or click here for more information. You can also dial 0300 456 2655 from a mobile to be charged at local network rate or if you’d like a callback text ‘WARM’ to 81025 or send an email to freeinsulation@se.energysavingscotland.org.uk
p>And don’t worry if you’re already sorted for insulation – we’ve got all the up-to-date information on other grants and offers to help you make your home more energy efficient. Speak to your local advisor about the best option for you and your property today.
Energy and water
With rising energy costs, the University's bill for gas, water and electricity is predicted to be approximately £4.9 million for 2012/13 (up from £3.2 million in 2005/06). It is predicted that this could increase to £20 million by 2020. For financial and environmental reasons, the University is committed to energy and water conservation through the implementation of an ongoing energy and water management programme.
The University has successfully completed the Higher Education Carbon Management Programme. This is a comprehensive review of the carbon emissions of the university, which will identify measures that we can take individually to reduce these. The University is continuing to work on the recommendations raised through this, and is monitoring the results.
Find out how the University is managing utilities and minimising environmental impact by taking a look at the
The University is reducing its water consumption through a number of measures, ranging from water-efficient showers to low-flush toilets.
In terms of energy, the University is looking at both energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Monitoring and targeting
Every main University meter is read once per month, and all bills are validated and analysed in our Monitoring and Targeting software. For our most of our electricity and gas sites, half hourly profiles are downloaded from the internet and analysed. Targets are set and buildings benchmarked against each other, and against standards for all universities. This information is used to identify priority areas to address to improve the University's energy and water efficiency.
To see live energy data for your building, click http://energy.st-andrews.ac.uk/standrews/standrews.aspx
Interhall Energy Competition
In an attempt to reduce the amount of energy wasted in Halls of Residence, the University has been running an Interhall Energy Competition since 2006/07, in conjunction with the student's Environment and Ethics Committee. The competition ran from November to April, during which period the halls that entered saved a massive 45 tonnes of carbon dioxide! John Burnet, the winning hall, managed to reduce its electricity consumption by 20% over this period. The following year, St Salvator's managed to top this, with a massive reduction in electricity consumption of 33%! It's amazing how much difference you can make just by switching off lights and appliances that aren't being used.
Full details on the competition are at Interhall Energy Competition
Sustainability in Action
Our recent energy saving policy and practices used in the new building of the University Museum project (MUSA) has been published a Taiwanese Journal, Museology Quarterly. This is an example of our academic staff using our "sustainability in action" as part of their academic work. The paper is Energy Saving Policy - MUSA (PDF, 9,800 KB)
Energy in your building
There are a number of ways in which staff can help the University to reduce its energy consumption. This does not mean that you have to turn off your heating and not use your computer - a lot can be achieved simply by switching things off when they are not being used. Here are some suggestions for how we can work together to minimise the amount of energy wasted.
The University has recently secured £1 million from the Carbon Trust and the University to dedicate to energy-saving measures. Please help us to identify energy-saving projects that we can spend this money on.
Heating
Is your office too cold?
Before turning up your heating, consider whether this is really necessary. Why not put on another jumper? Try and bear in mind any colleagues who share your office - they may like the current office temperautre, and may not want the heating turned up. Try to keep your office within the recommended range of 18-21C. Above this temperature, germs will breed, and the high temperature may cause drowsiness. If you would like a thermometer to monitor the temperature, please contact the Environment Team. If you cannot raise your office temperature to 18C, please contact the Environment Team.
Please do not set your radiators to maximum, as this means that your radiator will continue to heat your room to ever-increasing temperatures. If you set them to between 2 and 3, this will level out the temperature and keep it steady. Do not expect an immediate response to adjusting your radiator - it may take up to an hour for your room to warm up.
Is your office too hot?
As mentioned above, the recommended office temperature is 18-21C. If your office is hotter than this, try to lower it by adjusting your radiator and opening the window. PLEASE ALWAYS TURN OFF YOUR RADIATOR BEFORE OPENING THE WINDOW. If your office is still above this temperature (especially if the weather is not particularly warm), or if you would like a thermometer to monitor the temperature, please contact the Environment Team.
Corridors
Corridors are often heated sufficiently by the offices leading off them, and may not need heat from their own radiators. As no one is responsible for the monitoring of these radiators, they often get overlooked and after being turned up in cold weather, are left on high when the weather has improved. If you notice a radiator in a corridor that is on higher than it needs to be, please turn it down/off.
Lighting
The University is introducing more energy efficient lights across the estate. However, a lot of energy is wasted by lights being left on in empty rooms. Please switch off any lights if you are the last person leaving the room. Even if you are only planning on leaving the room for a few minutes, it is worth switching them off - especially as you may get delayed or side-tracked. Switching lights on and off does not use any more energy than leaving them on.
Please make sure that your office light is switched off when you leave in the evening.
Maximise use of daylight by switching off lights when it is sunny.
Computers
Due to the large number of computers in the University, these contribute significantly to the University's energy consumption. However, there are a number of things that you can do to help with this.
- Turn off your monitor if you are leaving your desk for more than a couple of minutes. Two thirds of a computer's energy is used by the monitor.
- Turn off your computer completely if you are leaving your desk for more than an hour.
- Set up your computer so that the screen goes to standby after 5 minutes. Screen savers do not save any energy.
- Do not automatically switch on your computer when you arrive at work in the morning. Only switch on your computer when you need it.
Other Equipment
- Do not automatically switch on printers, photocopiers, etc when you arrive at work in the morning. Only switch them on when you need them.
- Make sure that these are switched off at night.