Nottingham College Carbon Management Plan
The aim of the college is to become Carbon Neutral by 2030. The plan for doing this is contained in the below. We have already made some good progress with this plan and progressed further in April when we switched to a “green” energy supplier for all of the college’s gas and electric.
The college consumes energy for many different purposes including space heating, water heating, lighting, equipment, transport etc. This consumption has a number of environmental impacts. We intend to measure these impacts in Carbon Dioxide equivalents (CO2e).
Using the 2018/19 academic year as a baseline for Nottingham College’s energy consumption a 5‑year Carbon Management strategic plan has been produced to reduce the Carbon output.
Where practicably possible, procure energy from renewable sources. Implement energy saving initiatives to reduce the overall energy usage of the college.
Minimise pollution by ensuring all college equipment (including vehicles) are regularly serviced and maintained and where applicable, their emissions are checked.
Greenhouse gas emissions
In the 2018 ‑2019 academic year we established an emissions baseline, which is now utilised to monitor the savings achieved on our carbon reduction journey. In line with the government’s carbon guidance, we utilised the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) methodology reporting as a minimum.
Actions we have taken using the SECR guidance:
- Annual UK energy use (in kWh), as a minimum relating to gas, purchased electricity, transport fuel and associated greenhouse gas emissions (in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e).
- An emissions intensity ratio chosen by Nottingham College to be M2. Intensity ratios compare emissions data with an appropriate business metric to allow comparisons annually or with other organisations.
Consumption reduction journey
Following a planned estates relocation and disposal programme in April 2021, we have identified our highest consumers ranking them by tCO2e/M2 and will tackle those with the greatest emissions first.
The ranking of highest emissions:
- Stapleford.
- Adams Building.
- High Pavement.
- Basford.
- Highfields.
- Ruddington.
- 25 Stoney Street.
- City Hub.
- 16 Stoney Street.
With support from an independent Energy Consultancy Company, Compliance365 we have developed a NetZero Roadmap which details a controlled programme, commencing lower cost changes between 2021 and 2025 followed by a phase of mid to high-cost changes between 2025 and 2030. Our indicative roadmap is an extension of the Climate Action Roadmap for FE colleges.
Next steps
In line with Nottingham City Council’s Carbon NetZero plan, Nottingham College has committed to achieving Carbon NetZero for Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030.
In order to do this we will be striving to improve the efficiency of our estate through the completion of energy audits, which will identify operational and physical changes for each building.
We will be implementing smart building technology throughout the estate so that consumption and systems can be remotely monitored and proactively reduced along with reviewing the options for greener, more efficient heating systems and solar PV arrays.
