Affordable and clean energy 2024
Operations
As part of its commitment to achieve Carbon Neutrality (Scope 1/2) by 2030, the University has committed to address energy efficiency issues in its existing estate. The same commitment describes the overall approach that will be taken to carbon management and reducing carbon dioxide emissions. It specifically addresses the need to achieve efficiency to reduce overall energy consumption, through reviews to identify areas where energy use (and wastage) is highest.
The University is reviewing opportunities to increase the proportion of renewable energy that it uses, and has committed to significant investments in PV infrastructure in the immediate future. The first of these major schemes, consisting of over 500 panels to deliver 150,000 kWh per year, was completed in 2022, and further installations, of 840 panels to deliver 369,552 kWh per year, were completed in the early part of 2024.
The University targets BREEAM Excellent in all new builds, aiming for best practice levels of energy efficiency in those projects. It has also recently adopted the WELL Building standard, further expressing its commitments to sustainability in building design and management, achieving Platinum for the Jo Cox More in Common Centre completed in 2022, the first UK Higher Education building to receive the highest possible grading. The University is now targeting Platinum for its next major building project, the Daphne Steele Building on the new National Health Innovation Campus, which opened in September 2024.
Considering energy more generally, the University has a long-standing commitment on ethical investment. The University does not directly invest in fossil fuel linked businesses. Our Socially Responsible (Ethical) Investment Policy (contained within the Treasury Management Policy at https://www.hud.ac.uk/media/policydocuments/Treasury-Management-Policy.pdf ) states that ‘the University will not invest directly into organisations whose values do not reflect those of the University with regard to social, environmental and humanitarian concern.’
Public and Business Engagement
The University supports start-ups and growing businesses which foster and support a low-carbon economy. For example, Simplifai (simplifaisystems.com), a Huddersfield spin-out in the field of artificial intelligence being used to monitor traffic flow data, in order to influence the use of traffic signals to reduce air pollution, connects directly to University of Huddersfield research.
Impact for Students
Meanwhile the University through its Enterprise Team helps student start-ups which support a low-carbon economy. Many (perhaps most) of those involved in University Enterprise programmes are considering the environment and sustainability as part of their idea, or approach. For example:
A graduate is designing and manufacturing high-performance and aesthetically appealing, sustainable, acoustic wall panels. The panels will be manufactured locally in West Yorkshire using socially responsible British wool materials, which are biodegradable, renewable and recyclable, therefore supporting the circular economy. This graduate was awarded £5000 from the University's Alan Lewis Seed Fund to enable prototypes and samples of the acoustic panels, trials of different installation formats, and various test reports.
Research
Amongst the research centres and groups at the University addressing this SDG is the Energy Integration Laboratory, which is a pilot-scale test centre for trialling processes for converting organic waste materials into useful energy.