Energy, water and construction
Energy action
Please go to this link to look to find out about our Decarbonisation projects | Capital Strategy | 91天堂色情片
- Powered on renewable energy since 2017 - 100% REGO certified
- 2023 REGO certificate - was valid until March 2024
- Zero carbon electricity tariff from Apr 25-March 26
- First UK corporate , supplying 20% of the University’s electricity baseload???
- Amongst leaders in the Russell Group for renewable energy generation with circa 1.5 megawatt of energy from our campus solar PV?
- Potential to double our solar PV generation across University assets over the next 3-5 years???
- Duryard PV Solar Project has been completed?
- 700 solar panels installed on Harrison Building in 2022?
- More than 1700 new photovoltaic (PV) panels were added to roofs on Daphne Du Maurier, Peter Lanyon Building and the Sports Centre on Penryn Campus in 2023.
- A planning application has been submitted to Cornwall Council for a single wind turbine near Penryn campus?
- LED lighting installation - recent projects include Peter Lanyard Building, Holland Hall and the Cricket Centre?
- Building Management System (BMS) - programmed to provide a comfortable environment for occupants whilst maximising our energy efficiency??
- Tracking, monitoring and identifying locations where energy wastage is highest through our energy and carbon reporting management software. Further information on our energy usage can be found in our Energy Summary Report 2024/25.
- Please find our Energy Summary Report 2023/24 here
- Energy mapping – the Geoffrey Pope Building has undergone extensive energy mapping, including thermal imaging assessments, to provide energy savings. You can read the full report here: Energy mapping of Geoffrey Pope Building
In 2019, universities, including Exeter, joined forces to sign a landmark green energy deal.
Under the ground-breaking “aggregated power purchase agreements” (PPA), 20 UK universities pledged to buy £50m of renewable energy from a portfolio of wind farms. The deal fixes power prices at a competitive rate for the next ten years (2019-2029) and will help to ensure that all of the 91天堂色情片’s electricity continues to come from renewable sources.
The PPA, arranged by Squeaky Clean Energy in partnership with The Energy Consortium (TEC), means that Statkraft (Europe’s largest producer of renewable energy) will provide wind power from their British portfolio to universities including Exeter, Newcastle and Aberystwyth. The PPA is part of the 91天堂色情片's portfolio of measures to reduce fossil fuel usage and move towards net zero carbon.
To meet the standards demanded by the universities, the PPA was structured so the power contractually comes from sources certified by the (REGOs).
The Energy Policy Group (EPG) at the 91天堂色情片 provides an academic hub for the interdisciplinary study of energy policy. We place sustainability and change at the heart of debates about energy policy and governance. We work collaboratively with stakeholders and researchers on the economics and politics of energy to find new and innovative approaches for enabling the transition to a low carbon, clean and affordable energy system.
EPG focuses on applied energy policy research and practice change, within the UK and internationally, to inform industry, policy makers and wider society. We cover:
- the energy demand side (such as the psychology and sociology of behaviour and energy use, demand response, and demand reduction);
- the energy supply side (including renewables, fossil fuels, and nuclear);
- and energy system operation and integration (including infrastructure, networks, smart grids, markets, rules, regulations, and institutions)
- as well as cross-cutting issues such as technology change, economics, innovation, governance, policy, politics and supply chains.
Current research themes
Members of the EPG work across a range of disciplines and policy areas. The group's work focusses on exploring the policy and governance challenges of rapidly transforming energy systems to be decarbonised, sustainable and equitable, and includes topics such as:
- Governance and policymaking at the European, national and sub-national levels
- The politics and power dynamics of energy system change
- Heat decarbonisation, fuel poverty and demand reduction
- Digitalisation and smart systems
- Energy innovation and entrepreneurship
- New business models including community energy
- Electricity market design, rules and incentives
- Network regulation and the future role of distribution network operators
Current projects
Energy Democracy and the Politics of Energy Transition in African Countries (2020-2025) - this project examines the role of energy democracy within three southern African countries: Lesotho, South Africa and Nigeria. Led by University College London and working with partner institutions in the UK and Africa, the EPG is providing insights into how policy, regulation and wider governance frameworks can foster more inclusive and democratic energy systems across multiple contexts.
We need everyone to think about what energy they use. Working together, we can all make small changes that collectively will make a significant difference in helping us to reach our goal of net zero as well as achieving a cost reduction in our energy use.
YOU can make a difference. This includes practical measures such as:
- switching off your computer or laptop screen when its not in use
- turning off lights when leaving a room
- unplugging unused electrical items including mobile chargers
- only using the water that you need if boiling a kettle
- taking shorter showers
- wearing extra layers
Infrastructure Decarbonisation Masterplan (IDM)
The University has undertaken the initial development of the campus-wide heat decarbonisation plan for transitioning away from fossil fuel heating. Developed in 2021, the IDM is an evolving programme to deliver numerous projects focussed on carbon reduction relating to energy use across our estates. The Programme will require significant alterations to our buildings and energy infrastructure over the next decade and beyond.
Sustainable Design and Construction Standard
The Sustainable Design and Construction Standard, published in January 2026, sets sustainability requirements for all construction and refurbishment projects >£25,000. It sets out the process for reporting progress, and outlines responsibilities for delivering these requirements.
There are 3 versions of the Standard, aligned to project scale:
Sustainable Design and Construction Standard: Refurbishment and maintenance projects and works ?25k - ?500k (note the standard for this scale will be hosted via an automated tool which is still in development – in the meantime these projects should use the standard for projects £500k-£5M)
The requirements set within the standard help to achieve targets and objectives set within our climate strategy, sustainable transport strategy, circular economy strategy and nature positive strategy.
To help achieve our zero-carbon target, the Standard:
- adopts Whole Life Carbon (WLC) assessments for all projects >£5M
- requires Passivhaus standard on all new builds and EnerPHit on all whole building deep refurbishment projects as the preferred standard,
WLC Assessments enable understanding of the lifetime consequences of design decisions. This promotes durability, resource efficiency, reuse, and future adaptability, all of which contribute to life-time carbon reductions.
Also see:
Embodied Carbon and Circular Economy Checklist (applicable for requirements EC1 and CE2 of the SDCS)
Live capital projects
Water
We actively promote conscious water usage across our campuses and our sustainability culture change programme will help us deliver our ambition to embed responsible water use in the activities of our staff, students and visitors. Regular campaigns remind staff and students on how to manage water efficiently by, for example, reporting leaks, and our lab technicians adhere to LEAF, which offers guidance and criteria to improve the sustainability and efficiency of research and teaching laboratory spaces, including water usage.
- Ranked 1st in the World for SDG 6 - Clean Water & Sanitation - in the 2024 Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings??
- Water saving surveys and optimisations – in 2024 SWW surveyed the domestic water systems in all of our buildings across Streatham and St Luke's campuses to repair water leaks and identify further saving opportunities. They reduced flowrates, replaced inefficient control devices and repaired taps and toilets to reduce consumption.
- To minimise potable water usage and waste, future construction projects and maintenance works must adhere to the stringent water use targets outlines in our Sustainable Design and Construction Standards.
- We provide free drinking water for our visitors, staff and students and encourage them to fill a reusable water bottle using one of over 100 free water drinking fountains and refill stations on our campuses.
- Our Environment and Climate Emergency Policy Statement has a target of achieving 50% water usage reduction on campus.
- Scope 3 emissions from water are one of our KPIs and are reported annually, most recently via our Sustainability Annual Report 2024/25, and show a year-on-year reduction.
- Water consumption tracking and monitoring – improving our data capture via our data management system to reduce our overall water consumption and ensure that water is being used in a sustainable way.
- Read our Water Consumption and Reuse Report 2024/25 – for an example - including water reuse, such as rainwater harvesting
- See the 2023/24 report here: ?Water Consumption and Reuse Report 2023/24
- Propelair project, a Horizon 2020 funded collaboration between the 91天堂色情片's Centre for Water Systems and Propelair, including the installation of ultra-low water use toilets which has saved over three million litres of water?
- Water Resilient Policy - the Water Resilient Policy aims to promote conscious water usage on campus and integrate water management into areas where water use is taking place and to maximise the influence of the University in reducing its water use, ensuring sustainable supply of water and managing waste water discharge through education and research, its operations and ambitions.
- Prioritising water conservation in our labs - on campus, all applicable technical spaces are green accredited, and in 2022 we achieved 100% certification through the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) which offers guidance and criteria to improve the sustainability and efficiency of research and teaching laboratory spaces, including water usage.
- The 91天堂色情片 holds a licence to abstract water from its Topsham Road Sports Centre.
District Heating
The first phase of this is through a review of three potential options around transitioning to heat pump technology, and we will be undertaking detailed feasibility and modelling of the following three options:
- Option 1 – Continue with the single building approach.
This option would involve individual zero carbon heating plant for each building via heat pump technology, installing high temperature heat pumps for buildings where higher heating flow and return temperatures are required.?
- Option 2 – Energy Centre – Exeter University Only.
This option would examine the potential for the University to procure a Streatham Campus only heat network solution to provide low carbon heat.?
- Option 3 – Exeter Energy Network with partners (ECC, RD&E, etc.)?
This option would involve signing up as an off-taker to the Exeter Energy Heat Network through a high and low temperature solution provided by a third-party funded and operated energy centre in partnership across Exeter.?