The University of East London (UEL) has completed the first phase of its new strategy to reach net zero by 2030, resulting in a 10% reduction in carbon emissions from the University’s 2020/2021 baseline.
To achieve this, the University partnered with Siemens to develop the strategy, which included a roadmap to reduce carbon emissions across the University’s campuses in the London Docklands and Stratford, which house 25,000 students.
“Our partnership with UEL will support the University in meeting its net zero targets, providing a structured roadmap to cut carbon emissions across both campuses. We’ve already made significant progress over the last 12 months, and the next phase will focus on installing more new renewable energy assets on-site to support sustainable generation,” said Faye Bowser, VP for the Higher Education Vertical at Siemens.
During the strategy’s first phase, Siemens installed LED lighting in all of the University’s buildings and installed building management system controllers to manage energy usage and reduce emissions.
For the second phase, Siemens will install various technologies across the University’s campuses to help decarbonize its energy consumption. This includes installing approximately 2 MW of solar photovoltaics, generating an estimated 1.2 GWh of zero-carbon electricity annually. The University estimates that 90% of this energy will be consumed across both campuses, with the remainder being exported to the National Grid.
Siemens will also install 27 electric charging points at the University’s Docklands campus, which will go live in June 2024.
“Our long-term partnership with Siemens is central to our commitment to becoming a national decarbonization leader and providing a global blueprint for urban sustainability,” said Professor Amanda Broderick, Vice-Chancellor and President at UEL. “We have already delivered significant carbon reduction savings and reduced both our emissions and energy consumption more than any other modern university in London.”
