Improving energy efficiency on campus

Students from the School of Science and Engineering (SSE) have developed a fun and educational game to help students and staff learn about various actions that can help them save energy on campus and at home. This collaboration supports the University’s Estates' Carbon Neutrality Roadmap initiatives to reduce energy wastage on campus by raising awareness on energy efficiency.

This game will also be used during Freshers’ Week and other sustainability events to engage our new and existing students and staff, introducing them to the University's sustainability initiatives.

Hamid Homatash, senior lecturer in SSE who led the game development project, said: "Sneaky Savings is a game designed and built by students on the BSc Game Development and BSc 3D Animation and Visualisation programmes to highlight how much energy can be wasted be leaving appliances and heating on when it is not needed. The student team designed a game where the player sneaks and rushes around turning off electrical items and heating of residents living in a home environment. Helpful tips are given as the player progresses, which can be used in real life, and the player learns more of these as they play.

The project was built over a period of 24 weeks as part of the studentss programmes and the students learned a lot through their interaction with Paulo Cruz, Head of Operational Sustainability, Marianne Campbell, Energy Manager and Kärt Tori Sustainability Coordinator. It also encouraged them to become more passionate about home energy usage and to be more environmentally friendly and only use what you need to.

Along with this, the students loved working on the project and being able to show their game-making skills for a different kind of game that was for social good and positive change. They all really showed the common good spirit and I’m proud of them!”

Marianne Campbell, Energy Manager, said: “We in the Sustainability Team were delighted to be a part of this project, and were really impressed throughout by the team of students working on the game. We are excited for staff and students to have fun playing it, while learning about how they can make small changes to save energy in their everyday lives!”

You can play the Sneaky Savings energy game here and visit the sustainability pages to learn more about the University’s energy saving initiatives.