The University recognises the performance in operation, of the vast majority of our buildings, requires close working between the estates' projects team and maintenance staff in order to help us rise to the challenge of meeting our carbon targets.
We aim to provide spaces that enable health, wellbeing and productivity for all our students and staff and have a development and construction policy developed from the Green Building Council delivering better performance review.
We will continue to work with students to help us match their needs to our requirements, utilising projects where ever possible.
Construction and refurbishment targets
Construction and refurbishment SMART targets for 2021/22
- All new build projects designed to achieve a DEC B rating or above and refurbishment projects to achieve a C as a minimum, but aim for B
- Where feasible all new build projects should be designed to meet average water consumption targets of 1.35m3/m2 per m2 of the GIA for residential and 0.71m3/m2 per m2 of the GIA for non-residential
We are working with our construction supply chain to help them map the manufacturing locations of university suppliers and have added in key performance indicators as the start of this process in both smaller contracts and £1m plus contracts. We have targeted this supply chain because of its relatively high value to begin this work.
Some examples of how are we going to achieve this target?
- Review the construction and refurbishment strategy to ensure it aligns with the new sustainability strategy and net carbon neutral target by December 2021.
- Ensure renewable energy sources to a minimum of 15% in all new build projects and where feasible for refurbishments over 1,000sqm
- Refurbishment projects over 1000m2 implement RCIS SKA assessment rating for all refurbishment projects aiming for Gold
Digital Twin of Sheila Scott
The University has created a digital twin pilot of the Sheila Scott building on our St Johns campus with the goal to contribute to the decarbonisation program. A digital twin is a live model of a building and allows the users to view all live data of the environment, such as temperature, humidity, Co2 levels and occupancy. The data is collected via various sensors and metering systems. In addition to these sensors, electricity and gas usage is monitored through metering. The data collected by the sensors feeds to the digital twin will allow the University to suggest proper changes to the equipment or settings to improve building efficiency and save carbon.
The University currently had a team of student researchers investigating “Integrating Stakeholder Needs with Digital Twin Data”. This vital research goal was to analyse stakeholder feedback and observational data alongside the digital twin. This human element is a vital part of a digital project. They identified the stakeholders that engaged in building operations and retrieved information that is known to the building operation. With the data gathered they created a case that will help us identify the in-depth human factors in the building. You can watch a video of their research here.
DEC ratings
View our current display energy certificate (DEC) ratings.
All tenderers for new projects are made aware of these objectives and the University’s commitment to sustainability. They are referred to the institution’s Sustainability Construction and Refurbishment Policy and relevant strategies (energy, water, transport waste and biodiversity) and targets.
