Keele University has secured £1 million in funding to implement a radical decarbonisation plan across its campus.
The establishment will use the money - from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme - to put in a three-step plan which is expected to save 241 of tonnes of carbon every year.
Keele University has already taken major steps towards its commitment of becoming net zero by 2030 after securing a £969,093.66 grant from Salix Finance, including lab upgrades, LED lighting, solar PV implementations, pipework insulation and the installation of Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP).
READ MORE: Developer on quest for land to build new homes in Staffordshire
Now, the third step of Keele's decarbonisation plan will see the implementation of a new smart room level heating control system in nine large academic buildings and one of the residence halls by September.
This will allow guests to monitor and adjust their room temperature instead of having their thermostatic radiator fixed on the highest level.
The new device uses intelligent technology that detects if the room is not occupied, in which case it rolls back to a lower temperature to save energy.
Elliot Jones, energy manager at Keele University, said: "The inspiration for the room level heating controls came from another university that had trialled it – and since we've deployed it at scale we've been advising others in the sector on how to make it work successfully, so we do all talk and help each other become more sustainable.
"One of the biggest issues that we have on campus is that we have a lot of office space which tends to be under-utilised because many of our academics are part-time. We are expecting that many of them will adopt an even more flexible way of working, which is why controlling our heating levels is going to be even more important. We need to make sure we are not heating rooms that aren't required when our staff work from home."
Keele University is currently constructing the UK's largest university-based renewable energy park which will have 12,500 solar panels, two wind turbines and a grid scale battery.
Built by Engie, the energy park will produce up to 50 per cent of the university's total demand in electricity.
