Carbon, energy and water management

The Carbon and Energy Management Plan 2020-2030 (PDF), produced in consultation with students and staff, outlines the University's commitment and ambition for reducing our carbon emissions.

Using science-based targets, this outlines how we will reach net-zero through working through the carbon reduction hierarchy to avoid, reduce and replace before considering means to compensate for carbon emissions (e.g. through offsetting and insetting). Our latest targets can be found in our Climate and Sustainability plan 2024-2026.

The UWE Bristol Heat Decarbonisation Plan is constantly being worked on. This will identify the clear route to decarbonise the UWE Bristol campuses to achieve the net-zero target.

Official Race to Zero Signatory

We are part of the Race to Zero and are leading the education sector for a healthy and resilient zero carbon recovery.

Scope 3 presents the most significant challenge in reaching our carbon reduction targets with large parts of our footprint laying outside our direct operational and financial control. To assist us in our work in March 2023 we were one of the first universities in the country to hire a member of staff to focus solely on scope 3 emissions.

Our strategy for addressing scope 3 emissions is based on three areas:

• Data – accurately measuring supply chain emissions and using data to inform and direct our strategy.
• Internal engagement – engaging staff and students, and shaping behaviours, policies and processes.
• External engagement – working with suppliers and collaborating with partners to decarbonise our supply chain and the regional transport system.

Our carbon emissions table (PDF) shows our progress in all scopes since our baseline date to 2022/23.

By way of illustration of our commitment, In the last five years we’ve invested in decarbonising our campus including:

• £85 million in new passivhaus student accommodation – largest development of its kind in the UK and one of the largest in Europe.
• Continued investment in solar generation, with a further 720 solar panels on the W and T blocks of the Frenchay campus, at a value of £350k.
• £3 million on the first phase of Frenchay district heat network, with installation of combined heat and power plant (2020) with a further investment this year of £2.2million along with funding achieved for £2.5 million to extend the heat network to cover most of the Frenchay Campus.
• And new projects are planned every year to meet the net-zero carbon target.

The Water Management Plan 2020-2030 (PDF) outlines the approach UWE Bristol take to ensuring good water management.  The Carbon and Energy Team is continuously monitoring water use patterns and identifying water saving measures across the University. Successes include:

• over £125,000 savings in the student village per year - this is a reduction of over 66 million litres
• approximately £13,000 savings in Bower Ashton Campus
• savings of £15,000 on the Glenside Campus
• the expansion of the universities rainwater harvesting systems, R and Z block
• carbon emissions arising from water use and disposal have fallen from 145 tCO2e in our baseline year 2018/19 to 41 tCO2e in 2022/23.

There is an ongoing programme of projects being carried out to reduce the University's water consumption. The following are a selection of more recent examples:

• The new metering software ESIGHT, developed by the Carbon and Energy Team, generates alarms when high water consumption occurs which allows the fault to be rectified within hours.
• The Showering Research Project run in collaboration with UWE Bristol academics and the International Water Security Network, we are investigating water-reduction methods on Frenchay Campus. This project, has provided not only savings to the university, but various academic papers and published journals that have provided data that has benefited institutions globally.
• Hot water reduction - with water consumption being reduced throughout the University, substantial savings can be identified by reducing hot water. This provides UWE Bristol with an opportunity to further reduce our energy costs, and help us to achieve our commitment to reduce carbon emissions.
• Water sub-metering - to manage the water use of the site, we need to understand where and when it is used. There is a rolling programme, installing sub-meters across all campuses to help understand water consumption patterns in more detail. This includes water sub-meters in major water-use areas such as catering and research labs.
• Rainwater - we included rainwater harvesting in the new Engineering Building to use for toilet flushing. 
• Low water use specification (new build and refurbishment) - ensuring low-flow water fittings and waterless urinals are included in refurbishment and building specifications where suitable.

UWE Bristol is committed to maximise the solar photovoltaic potential on our sites and already generates our own energy from both solar photovoltaics and from our CHP engines.

At the time of installation in 2015, the array on the Frenchay Campus T-block was the largest single roof-mounted solar installation in the UK higher education sector. Since then we have increased our solar arrays and in the 2022/23 academic year generated 456 MWh, saving 94 tonnes of CO2 and reducing UWE Bristol operating costs by £114,000.

Alongside this, UWE Bristol purchases 20% all electricity from a power purchase ;agreement. Supporting UK onshore wind, this electricity is generated from the following Statkraft wind farms:

• Alltwalis Wind Farm, Carmarthen, Wales
• Andershaw Wind Farm, South Lanarkshire, Scotland
• Baillie Wind Farm, Scottish Highlands
• Berry Burn Wind Farm, Scottish Highlands

The remainder of our electricity is purchased from the grid under a zero-carbon contract. UWE Bristol's ambition is to increase the use of renewables through further installations of solar photovoltaics on site, and through entering more power purchase agreements to support new developments of renewables in the UK.

We are continuously working on new projects to reduce the University’s energy consumption and proactively save money. Below are some examples of the Energy Team's recent work.

The journey to net zero needs everyone at UWE Bristol to understand and participate in action to push forward change. To help all staff and students at UWE Bristol feel they have both the knowledge and the ability to make a real and significant difference, we run a Climate Action programme which includes:

• Climate Action cafés specific to the interests of those attending and their areas of work.
• Sustainability action planning for services.
• Free Climate Education module for all students and staff – a new initiative for 2023/24 brought in as a result of a student campaign.
• Staff Carbon literacy training – ‘Carbon and You’ sets out the essential facts on climate change and aims to give a clear understanding on how to act to reduce their contribution to the causes of climate change. ‘Working at UWE’ is focused on how staff can understand the impact of their work decisions on UWE Bristol’s carbon footprint and incorporate changes that will help to reduce this.

Our work is presenting increasing academic and research opportunities for our students and staff. The Energy Team are exploring the Living Lab concept with the aim of enhancing our academic offerings, encouraging collaboration, increasing research opportunities, and ensuring our access to the latest research with a view to enhancing future projects. As we develop the Living Lab over the coming years, we plan to widen it out to include partnerships with other education institutions, industry and regional partners.

Email: energyteam@uwe.ac.uk

Students and academics are welcome to contact us for statistics on our carbon data, campus and building energy and water use, display energy certificates and access to more detailed consumption data.