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Providing education and training to Plymouth, Devon, Cornwall and the wider community
The College is a member of Plymouth City Council’s ‘Low Carbon Network’, called Plymouth 186. The group share best practice, support training initiatives and assist with delivering the carbon reduction goals. With the support of the group, the College have established their carbon footprint and plans to reduce the impact of its energy use in terms of both costs and emissions.
To do our bit towards the UK’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 34% by 2020, and at least 80% by 2050, the College actively measures and records its energy and water use and the resulting carbon footprint. The figures, together with recommendations for improvement, are reported quarterly with an annual report being produced at the end of each academic year. The aim will be to match the government’s target of a 34% reduction by 2020 on a base year of 2000.
Over the last ten years City College Plymouth has saved thousands of pounds and greatly reduced our impact on the environment by improving the efficiency of our buildings. We have invested in initiatives like upgrading lighting to low energy use, installing automated meter reading and now monitoring the ventilation system in the Hospitality building with speed controls. The College is in the lower quartile for its energy consumption under the national benchmarking scheme for colleges known as ‘emandate’.
You can find out what further efficiencies are planned in the College’s Energy Strategy, which sets out yearly targets and prioritises actions for energy reduction.
Every 12 months the College is rated on its energy efficiency and issued with Display Energy Certificates which give details about our performance and are posted around the College to raise awareness.
Supporting staff and students to be able to make environmentally-friendly decisions is important to the College. Nowhere is this more evident than with the Transport Strategy Action Plan, the aim of which is to reduce reliance on cars and switch to more sustainable methods of transport.
The College provides a free shuttle bus between its Kings Road and Goschen sites and Plymouth city centre which enables staff and students to use public transport on a budget – plus the buses stop right outside. We also keenly support the government’s Cyclescheme initiative, which allows employers to provide cycles and safety equipment to employees as a tax-free benefit. 16 members of staff have already taken up the scheme, so if you would like to know more please contact Laura Wellington (lwellington@cityplym.ac.uk).
You might think that what we throw in the bin is of little importance, but disposing of our rubbish conscientiously is a central part of the College’s sustainability work, and actually saves money thanks to sending less and less waste to expensive landfill sites. Effective recycling makes the most of the world’s resources, and as it often takes less energy to make products from recycled materials, has a positive impact on energy consumption too. The College’s Waste Management Strategy and the Annual Report spell out clear objectives for the year ahead, and report on past successes.
The College has a Waste Management Strategy, adopting the concept of the Waste Hierarchy, to help staff and students achieve its vision to:
Water is an expensive commodity, so it’s not only for sustainability reasons that the College takes water conservation seriously. The College have invested in waterless urinals and percussion taps to reduce water usage, and rain water is harvested to flush the toilets in the Innovation Centre. The College is benchmarked in the lower quartile against other Colleges in the UK for its water efficiency, and is looking to set new targets for the forthcoming year.
Energy Saving Technologies Case Studies
Below are some of the energy saving technologies introduced by City College Plymouth (click to find out more).
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