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Sustainability

Greg, our Energy Manager (far right), is responsible for utilities procurement and budget management, and ensures that the University is achieving legal compliance. Greg also leads on the identification and implementation of measures to reduce water consumption. Bekki and Colin (far left and second from right), our two Energy Coordinators, work together to facilitate all aspects of utilities supplied to the University estate. Bruce (second from left), our Energy Assistant, focuses on processing the University’s utility bills, which includes validation, recording, and raising queries with suppliers.

This is what Greg, Bekki, Colin and Bruce get up to on a typical day in the office…

 

First thing:

We all start the day by opening up ‘SystemsLink’, the University’s energy management software. This is where all the energy data is stored. Bekki and Colin check that the half-hourly electricity and gas data for the day before has successfully downloaded, and Bruce checks if any invoices have been received in the post (which will need to be entered into SystemsLink later in the day). We receive approximately 500 invoices each month, which total over £18 million a year!

Figure 1: Plans are in place to work towards paper-free invoicing, but for the time being, Bruce sorts through the towers of paper invoices

Morning:

Greg checks our progress against the University’s utility budget. During Planning Round, we anticipate how much energy we think the University will consume in the coming year, and predict how much we’ll spend. Throughout the year, at each quarter, we report on our current position to Central Finance, and reforecast if necessary.

Meanwhile, Bekki is just finalising compiling data for our annual reporting. Data is provided to HESA and is also included in the team’s Annual Environmental Sustainability Report which will be available to download very soon. Keep an eye out on our webpage - https://www.environment.admin.cam.ac.uk/Annual-Report. We also provide data to colleagues in the Environment and Energy Section, Estate Management and the wider University.

Figure 2: Energy consumption and spend appears to be on track for now

Afternoon:

Colin is busy preparing for the upcoming SystemsLink training sessions. All members of the University are able to view their building’s energy data online – see https://www.environment.admin.cam.ac.uk/energy-dashboards for more information. Where half-hourly meters are installed, you’ll be able to see how much energy your building uses throughout the day and spot opportunities to reduce consumption. The training sessions will provide an overview of the system and will show you how to download and interpret your energy data – book a place via https://www.training.cam.ac.uk/theme/env-energy?providerId=2524726.

Before we leave:

Before we head home, we all make sure we turn off our PCs and monitors, and Colin even goes round the office turning off plug sockets. It’s important to make these small changes to our energy behaviour…it really does make a difference. Take a look at our top tips for saving energy in your office - https://www.environment.admin.cam.ac.uk/top-tips.

 

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