Work to make York St John University a cleaner, greener place has seen it leap to the top of the sustainability league.
A decarbonisation project on campus will mean an annual energy saving of 640,000 kilowatt hours combined with a reduction of 82 tonnes of CO2 emitted per year.
The university says this puts it on track to meet its 2030 target of an 80% reduction in emissions over 25 years.
And it has seen York St John named joint first for carbon reduction in a new study of universities by People & Planet, the student network campaigning for social and environmental justice.
YSJ won £840K from a government-backed scheme to carry out the green upgrades at the Lord Mayor’s Walk campus, Haxby Road Sports campus and the St John Central student accommodation site.
The upgrades include:
- roof mounted solar panels on St Anthony’s House, Foss & Skell, De Grey, Fountains and St John Central
- solar car ports and battery storage at the Haxby Road Sports Park
- and air source heat pumps on campuses and accommodation sites.
York St John University’s director of estates management Nick Coakley said: “We are clear in our mission to be sector leaders in environmental sustainability and biodiversity, to significantly cut our carbon footprint and lower our energy usage.
“We know that this is what our students and staff want to see and it’s embedded in our Strategy as a university. My thanks to everyone who’s played a part in pushing this project through, but our work and ongoing commitment to environmental responsibility doesn’t end here.”
The next phase of decarbonisation will focus on reducing gas consumption and the installation of air source heat pump technology.
The main partner for the works was CorEnergy Limited, which specialises in renewable energy generation and battery storage projects.
“These successful projects deliver a major step forward by the university to decarbonise its estate,” said director Tom Griffin.
Read more about YSJ’s green university plans here.