In the Sustainable Development Team we’re taking a step back and looking at energy usage at NTU with a fresh pair of eyes! We think there’s plenty to be done that can improve our efficiency and help reduce NTU’s environmental impact and you can help too.

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 7 sets out an ambition to ensure people around the world have ‘Affordable and Clean Energy’. As a signatory to these goals, we are committed to contributing towards these global efforts and so our ‘Goal 7’ project was born!

As a snapshot, our data suggests lighting left on unnecessarily in the City Campus produces over a tonne of CO2 each year! This is the same as driving the average petrol car over 5000 miles! Think about the difference we can make if we help to change this, particularly with the summer holidays on the horizon. We’ve all seen the news lately with voices around the world raising the alarm on Climate Change – we hope this post will empower you to make positive changes yourself and learn what else is going on around energy at NTU.

The Sustainable Development Team are looking at energy data, surveying high usage buildings and talking with staff from all corners of NTU to prioritise different energy projects and find solutions that will help increase efficiency and reduce total energy usage wherever possible.

We can’t do it alone though, any project like this needs help and support from everyone across the University, in fact…it starts with NTYou! Small changes alone might not always seem like they’re worth doing but don’t despair – together we can make a huge difference!

What you can do will vary depending on your role here at NTU, whether staff or student. Some top tips for reducing your energy consumption while at work and home are:

• Turning off your PC and monitor at the end of the day
• Making sure lights are switched off and windows are closed when leaving an empty room
• Shutting down non-essential equipment and machinery when not in use
• Staff can report any faults with lighting, infrastructure and machinery via the Estates HelpDesk here to ensure things are fixed promptly
• Unplug chargers and other items when not in use
• Stop daydreaming in the shower and keep it to 5 minutes or less
• Don’t overfill your kettle when having a hot drink – only fill it with what you need
• Avoid the tumble dryer – now the weathers improving look to hang your washing outside if you can
• Consider the microwave to reheat food rather than the oven

If we all commit to doing some of the actions listed above, we’ll be well on our way to seeing significant improvements in our environmental performance as a university!

Want to know more or have any questions? Give the Sustainable Development Team a shout on sust.dev@ntu.ac.uk and follow us on social media on Twitter – @NTUEnvironment, Facebook and Instagram!

-Thank you to Dewi Howell who is a Sustainable Development Project Coordiantor at NTU, for writing this blog post!

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