EcoCampus

Sustainability

Glasgow Caledonian University has joined the Carbon Trust Scheme and EcoCampus.  The University recognises that higher educational institutions have a significant impact on the environment. They also have a pivotal role to play in encouraging sustainable development in the wider community.  HEFCE’s vision is that in the next 10 years the HE sector will be a leader and the champion of the sustainability debate.

Carbon Trust

Glasgow Caledonian University has started a carbon management programme organised by the Carbon Trust and sponsored by the University Secretary. The focus of the programme is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions under the control of the University such as academic, accommodation and leisure buildings.

The programme is designed specifically for universities and higher education colleges. This means that we will be provided with relevant support and guidance to help cut our carbon emissions and reduce energy costs.

It follows a successful pilot involving eighteen universities which has already identified savings of £3 million and 55,000 tonnes of CO2 for the sites involved.

Glasgow Caledonian University is committed to reducing its adverse impact on the environment.  This is in response to the Scottish Government's action to reduce Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions, and to the Climate Change Bill 2007, commitment has been made to reduce emissions nationally by 60% by 2050.

• With the advent of the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) the University is committed to future proofing not only existing facilities but ensuring that the facility is enhanced for all users while complying with legislation.
• The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) requires the University to analysis and display energy certificates which rate the performance of buildings.  The outcome of this analysis will inform future carbon reduction initiatives.
• The University also recognises the main drivers should not only be considered in financial terms:
• The efficient and best value use of University resources
• Universities and Colleges Climate Commitment for Scotland (UCCCIS) which provides a pledge to reduce carbon emissions and report annually on progress.
• The University’s own Master Planning and Estates Planning which provides strategic overview and direction of the institutions key drivers in both the short and long-term.
• As well as the University’s reputation as a leader amongst modern Universities the above are noted as key performance indicators.

The GCU Carbon Management Plan can be found here

The University had its Carbon Management Plan approved by the Carbon Trust on 30 April 2010 and will recieve a certificate at a ceromony being held in September 2010.

EcoCampus

GCU’s commitment to sustainability and creation of a greener campus was rewarded when it became the first university in Scotland to achieve the Silver Award in the EcoCampus Environmental Management and Awards scheme on 28 April 2010. The full EcoCampus register can be found here. The certificate was presented to Therese Fraser and Jim McQueen on 18 May 2010 at Nottingham Trent University where they attended workshop nine.

The University’s Sustainability Committee has been working hard on the various initiatives which have led to this success.

Glasgow Caledonian University has attained the Bronze Award in the Ecocampus Environmental Management and Awards scheme on 12 June 2009 and is working towards the Silver Award.

The Bronze Award was presented by EcoCampus Director, Dr Peter Redfern, of Nottingham Trent University to Jim McQueen, who received it on behalf of the Glasgow Caledonian University EcoCampus team, during workshop five at Bournemouth University on Wednesday 1st July, 2009. The award followed an off-site audit by EcoCampus.

EcoCampus is an Environmental Management System (EMS) and award scheme for the higher education sector. The scheme allows universities to be recognised for addressing key issues of environmental sustainability.

The aims of the EcoCampus Scheme are to encourage, reward and provide tools to assist institutions in moving towards environmental sustainability through good operational and management practices.

EcoCampus will ultimately benchmark the sector by rewarding environmental improvement, linking to indices such as the BITC and People and Planets Times Higher Green League.

The EcoCampus programme consists of four phases: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. By working through these phases the University will:

• review its current environmental performance and plan how it can be improved
• develop procedures to implement the plan
• check actual progress to see if it is functioning effectively against the plan
• ensure any recommendations for improvement are implemented.

Once established this cycle will be repeated so that the University continually improves its environmental performance.

Implementing is the next phase of the EcoCampus Scheme. It is important to ensure that the University is legally compliant. We are developing procedures for identifying, accessing and complying with legal and other requirements such as sector standards. We are identifying the University’s aspects and assessing how severely each aspect impacts on the environment. This will help us to rank their importance and deal with them appropriately. As a general rule, we will deal with the most significant aspects first. Once we have identified and ranked our significant aspects, we will use them to set objectives and targets for improvement. The environmental policy can then be refined to reflect the University’s objectives.

The final step is to ensure that we can achieve the targets set. This is done by developing an environmental management programme which will set the framework for setting tasks to deliver the objectives and targets.

Updated: 14 June, 2010| Site editor | Legal