Woodland Court E and John Wood Building win the Student Switch off!

Woodlands Court E (on campus) and John Wood building (off campus) students have won the Student Switch Off energy-saving competition 2010-11 and bagged themselves a Beer and Curry night in the Claverton Rooms. Students in the winning halls pledged to save energy where possible in their residences and it paid off as electricity use in John Wood Building was reduced by 13% compared to the same period last year and by 16% in Woodlands Court E.

Around a third of student residents from all the University of Bath halls embraced the campaign, with over 900 Eco-Power Rangers pledging to switch off lights and appliances when not in use, put lids on pans when cooking and not overfill their kettles. They managed to reduce carbon emissions by 18 tonnes, which is equivalent to leaving a 15 Watt energy-saving light bulb on for 263 years or making 208 return flights from Manchester to London! Students were provided with top tips on the web, handouts to explain how they could help reduce consumption and regular updates including updated graphs showing how much electricity they have been using. Accommodation staff, resident tutors and the SU also played their part in promoting this and improving practices.

For further details about Student Switch Off, click here.
To view totals for all the accommodation blocks click here

The Student Switch Off scheme is currently being reviewed and will be run in a slightly different way next academic year, including an earlier end date for the Beer and Curry competition.
In other areas of the University the awareness-raising message is being promoted through the Green Impact initiative, involving a network of around 170 staff who have been busy changing environmental practices in their respective departments and are encouraging a further 1,900 staff to do the same. This initiative is to be extended next year as part of efforts to embed an environmental culture across the campus.

The recently published Carbon Management Plan aims to achieve 25% reduction in carbon emissions by 2015, with investment of around £6 million and potential saving of over £1.2 million. More than 50 technical and non-technical projects are proposed, including major changes to campus heating systems, metering, laboratories, lighting and insulation, IT server room upgrade and biomass and solar projects.

For further info on these and other related matters see

http://www.bath.ac.uk/estates/energy/