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UEL Environmental Sustainability Annual Report August 2011­ July 2012

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Introduction

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world­wide.

We adhere to a set of values as laid out in the University Strategy that guide what we do, one of which is sustainability; to promote and help secure a socially just, healthy, prosperous and environmentally responsible world.

Over the last three years we have been working hard to raise the profile of environmental sustainability at UEL. This has involved making changes at all levels from operational to strategic; working with staff, students and partners; and being creative about how we use our resources to secure continuous improvement across our activities.

We were proud to achieve a 1 st in the People & Planet Green League 2011­12, our highest ever ranking. We were also awarded ISO14001 certification for our environmental management system showing that UEL has a structured framework for managing its significant impacts on the environment.

One of the highlights of the year has been greater student involvement in environmental initiatives, a trend we hope to encourage by facilitating employability and entrepreneurship activities linked to sustainability.

We look forward to building on our successes next year and expanding the scope of activity even further.

Contents

Governance........................................................3

Resources ..........................................................3

1. Environmental Management ....................4

2. Energy and Water .....................................5

3. Waste Management ..................................6

4. Transport....................................................7

5. Sustainable Procurement .........................8

6. Construction and Refurbishment..............9

7. Biodiversity .............................................. 10

8. Community Involvement ......................... 11

Our vision is to be an enterprising, international university bringing transformational opportunities to individuals, communities and

businesses in our region, through diversity, partnership and excellence

in teaching and research.

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Governance

The Environmental Sustainability Board has the aim of promoting and enabling positive environmental activity and reducing negative environmental impacts across UEL estate, infrastructure, teaching and research. The Board is chaired by a Vice Chancellor Group member and consist of two School Deans, two Service Directors, the Director of the Sustainability Research Institute, the Students’ Union Environment Officer, the Associate Director of Facilities Services and UEL’s Energy & Environment Manager. Objectives of the Board are to:

• Provide support to ensure that the environmental policy, including the carbon management plan is being delivered across UEL and will monitor progress regularly.

• Provide strategic direction and make sure that there is effective communication of environmental initiatives both internally and externally.

The Environmental Sustainability Board meets at least once a semester and ensure that an Environmental Management System is implemented, resourced and maintained, and to monitor its performance.

There are reporting links to the:

• Board of Governors • Vice­Chancellor’s Group • Programme Board for Outstanding

support for business: economic regeneration, social change & environmental sustainability

Go Green Week: Reusing plastic bags through knitting

Resources

In 2011­12, the Environment Team consisted of:

• Energy & Environment Manager (permanent)

• Green Impact Project Officer (temporary contract until April 2012)

• Waste Projects Officer (temporary contract until April 2012)

• Environmental Projects Officer (permanent from March 2012)

• Two interns (3 month placement each)

An annual budget of £250,000 was allocated for environmental management including staff costs.

Green Impact Awards: Nirmal Borkhataria, pro vice­ chancellor with guest speaker Dusty Gedge

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1. Environmental Management

Objective 1 ­ Develop and maintain a structured environmental management system (EMS) to promote good environmental performance and ensure continual improvement.

Ref Target Achieved Explanation 1.1 Achieve and

maintain ISO14001 certification.

ü ISO14001 certification for environmental management system achieved in January 2012.

1.2 Up to date legislation register in place.

ü Legal register is reviewed at least once a year and any new information is cascaded to relevant staff.

• Waste legislation training held in Nov­11 for 25 staff from different departments.

1.3 Prevent potential pollution and minimise emissions and discharges in accordance with legislation and best practice guidance.

ü A comprehensive internal audit programme was carried out in Nov­11 to review compliance, and corrective actions implemented on an ongoing basis.

1.4 Fully embed the EMS across UEL and promote good practice.

Ongoing An online Wiki has been developed to centralise and track document­control whilst allowing easy access to documents by staff across UEL.

• EMS communications take place regularly but fully embedding the EMS is an ongoing process.

1.5 Ensure that there are at least 6 internal auditors trained to IEMA standard available to conduct audits each year.

ü In June 2012, 5 members of staff received internal auditor training for the first time in addition to 7 staff that were trained last year.

• This year an IEMA­accredited training provider was selected but the particular course delivered wasn’t IEMA­accredited as it was felt that this verification was no longer required.

Successes

• UEL was the second university in London to achieve ISO14001 certification. The route chosen was the Acorn BS8555 scheme rather than Eco Campus.

• The EMS has been a true cross­ departmental project, bringing together staff for joint training and assessing environmental impact across the institution.

• UEL has hosted internal EMS auditor training for other universities and actively shared best practice with the sector through relevant forums.

Areas for Future Focus

• Maintaining momentum for continuous environmental improvement is an ongoing process and this will be the major challenge for next year and beyond.

• Ensuring that staff are constantly aware of their EMS responsibilities and that training is kept up to date.

• Encouraging use of the wiki to store and access relevant information related to the EMS.

• Finding new ways to engage staff and students in the EMS.

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2. Energy and Water

Objective 2a ­ Reduce the institution’s carbon footprint and save energy across the estate and infrastructure through practices such as greening ICT.

Objective 2b ­ Promote water conservation, and reduce water consumption.

Ref Target Achieved Explanation 2.1 To reduce our Scope

1 and 2 carbon dioxide emissions by 22% by 2020 against a 2005 baseline of 8750 tonnes CO2.

x The interim milestone for 2011/12 was 7912 tonnes CO2.

• The actual Scope 1 and 2 emissions for 2011/12 was 7946 tonnes CO2, missing the interim target by just 34 tonnes.

• Compared to 2010/11 (8090 tonnes CO2 emitted) there has been a 1.8% absolute reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. This is good progress considering that the estate has increased due to the construction of a new sports centre at Docklands campus.

2.2 Reduce water consumption by 1% annually.

ü Water consumption in 2010/11 was 97,421m 3 .

• There has been an absolute reduction in water consumption of 1.4% in 2011/12, to 96,086 m 3 .

• Again, this includes the additional consumption of the new Sports Dock building at Docklands campus.

Successes

• Power management: Deployment of a tool to control energy consumption of PC’s has been the major contributor to reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in the last year. Implemented across 4,000 PCs, the biggest energy saving impact has been in 24­hour library spaces.

• Lighting: Installation of automatic lighting sensors in teaching rooms has reduced energy consumption significantly as these are areas of high frequency use.

• Water efficiency: An ongoing programme of measures such as installation of urinal controls and percussive taps has helped to achieve savings in water consumption.

• Combined heat and power (CHP): A detailed CHP) feasibility study has been carried out for both campuses to assess options for meeting UEL’s absolute carbon emission reduction target by 2020.

Areas for Future Focus

• Scope 3:Work towards collecting and monitoring Scope 3 emission data (waste, water, air travel, commuting, business travel and procurement).

• Awareness campaign: Maintain an energy awareness behaviour campaign, including adherence to university temperature standards.

• Automatic meter reading: Improve monitoring and targeting of energy consumption through installation of automatic meter reading and sub­ meter infrastructure.

• Renewable energy: Investigate funding for renewable technologies.

• Space management: Integrate space management and energy management further to ensure the estate is being used efficiently.

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3. Waste Management

Objective 3 ­ Minimise waste through careful purchasing, efficient (re)use of resources and recycling materials where appropriate.

Ref Target Achieved Explanation 3.1 Achieve a 60%

recycling rate by 2014/15 against a 2010/11 baseline of 26%.

ü The interim milestone for 2011/12 was a 40% recycling rate.

• The actual recycling rate for 2011/12 was 45%, exceeding the interim target. This figure is based on the main Veolia waste and recycling contract, plus white paper and confidential waste collections. Additional waste streams and recycled materials such IT equipment and fluorescent tubes are not included.

3.2 Achieve a 5% annual reduction in overall waste output against a 2011/12 baseline tonnage until 2015.

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The baseline has been set this year (2011/12) as prior to this, waste for halls of residence was being collected by the London Borough of Newham who were unable to provide any accurate data regarding amounts recycled and sent to landfill.

• The contract for the halls waste was switched to Veolia as from August 2011 and a baseline of 676 tonnes for the whole estate has now been set.

3.3 Adhere to a schedule of annual waste monitoring reviews, covering compliance, operational performance, strategy and targets.

ü A waste management strategy was approved in December 2011 which will be reviewed at least annually.

• A waste composition analysis conducted in February 2012 indicated that the majority of staff and students are aware of the materials which can be recycled across the University. People who do recycle do it correctly i.e. recycling bins aren’t contaminated with general waste but there are still people who don’t recycle and put recyclable materials in general waste bins. This shows that there is further work to be done to encourage recycling.

• The ISO14001internal and external audits covered waste and recycling operations in a number of areas.

Successes

• Bin the Bin: Over the last year, individual desk bins have been removed from approximately 150 staff offices and replaced by shared central recycling/waste points. The aim is to reduce waste sent to landfill and increase awareness of recycling facilities.

• Green Move Out: This hall of residences reuse project is in its second year and thanks to enthusiastic student volunteers, more

than 3 tonnes of unwanted materials including clothes, bedding, kitchen equipment, food and books were collected. 82% of this was reused or recycled in partnership with a local charity.

Areas for Future Focus

• Food waste: There are a number of areas for action in the waste strategy, including collection of food waste for composting.

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4. Transport

Objective 4 ­ Encourage the use of sustainable forms of transport by staff, students and visitors; reduce the impact of any vehicle fleet used for university activities.

Ref Target Achieved Explanation 4.1 Sell 75 bicycles

through the staff Cycle to Work scheme (2009­ 2012).

ü Over the last three years (1/8/09 – 31/6/12), 78 bicycles have been sold through the Cycle to Work Scheme which UEL participates in.

4.2 Maintain an up to date travel plan.

x A draft travel plan has been produced and requires travel behaviour information for Docklands campus to complete the draft before further consultation and approval.

• There has been a lack of staff resource to complete this work although sustainable travel options have actively been promoted throughout the year.

Successes

• Cycle to Work Scheme: The number of employees taking advantage of access to a new, tax­free bike (and accessories) through the Cycle to Work scheme has maintained steady. The initiative is promoted through staff environmental champions and general staff communications.

• Free workshops: Throughout the year various activities to encourage cycling have been organised in conjunction with Newham Council including Dr Bike servicing sessions and maintenance workshops.

• Cycle stands: Additional cycle stands have been installed at both campuses and an openly accessible fixed pump at Stratford campus.

Areas for Future Focus

• Student cyclists: Although there is an active staff bicycle user group, there is a need for greater engagement of student cyclists. This includes investigating locked cycle storage for student to accompany the facilities that already exist for staff.

• Travel plan: A travel plan covering both campuses needs to be completed and approved.

First Week: Guided cycle tour of Stratford

Free workshop: cycle maintenance

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5. Sustainable Procurement

Objective 5 ­ Purchase products and services using sustainability criteria including whole­life costing and environmental performance.

Ref Target Achieved Explanation 5.1 Maintain Fairtrade

University status. ü UEL has maintained Fairtrade University Status by

ensuring that Fairtrade products are available in as many places as possible and raising awareness amongst students and staff of the benefits Fairtrade brings to producers in developing countries.

5.2 Implement a Sustainable Catering plan.

ü A Sustainable Catering Plan has been produced over the last year and is in the process of being implemented.

• UEL won a Good Food on the Public Plate award for improving sustainability of food and drink served and a Good Egg award for using cage­ free eggs.

• UEL has signed the Sustainable Fish City pledge to use sustainable fish in catering, and to promote sustainable fish to staff and students.

5.3 Achieve Level 2 of the government's Flexible Framework.

x Some work has taken place to draft a sustainable procurement strategy, taking into account the Flexible Framework but this has not been completed.

• There has been a lack of staff resource to produce a signed­off sustainable procurement strategy.

• The LUPC (London Universities Purchasing Consortium) is starting to use procurement spend data to estimate the carbon footprint of purchased goods and services for each university in London, including UEL.

Successes

• Catering: There has been a real focus on the environmental impact of catering­related procurement. From looking at issues of packaging to animal welfare, a good start has been made on implementing a Sustainable Catering Plan.

• Fairtrade: The range of Fairtrade products available on campus has increased.

Areas for Future Focus

• Sustainable procurement strategy: This needs to be completed and approved, with training provided to relevant staff to ensure that there is an awareness about economic, social and environmental sustainability implications when procuring goods and services.

• Catering: In the new academic year, the catering and hospitality function will be delivered by a private contractor. UEL will need to work closely with the contractor to ensure the Sustainable Catering Plan is delivered.

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6. Construction and Refurbishment

Objective 6 ­ Ensure that ambitious energy and environmental standards are incorporated into all new build and refurbishment projects.

Ref Target Achieved Explanation 6.1 Achieve BREEAM

‘Excellent’ for all new­build construction projects, and ‘Very Good’ for major refurbishments.

ü The one major new building completed in 2011­12 (SportsDock) achieved an ‘Excellent’ rating.

Successes

• Staff training: Specific training has been delivered for staff occupants of the new building, focusing on the environmental features of the Sports Dock. The aim is to maximise the environmental performance of the building by engaging users in operating it sustainably.

Areas for Future Focus

• Stratford new buildings: Two projects due for completion in 2012­13 (Stratford Library and University Square, Stratford) are also targeted to achieve BREEAM ‘Excellent’.

• Refurbishments: There is a need to focus on the environmental impacts of refurbishments of the existing estate as well as new buildings. Applying the RICS Ska rating is one method for doing this which is to be explored.

Sports Dock staff environmental training

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7. Biodiversity

Objective 7 ­ Conserve and enhance biodiversity across the university estate.

Ref Target Achieved Explanation 7.1 Increase number of

native species on campus.

? A number of projects have been implemented at both campuses to enhance biodiversity although the results of the latest biodiversity survey to provide quantitative evidence has not yet been completed.

Successes

Vegetable and fruit growing: Three raised beds installed at Stratford campus for vegetable growing have been maintained by staff and students. To celebrate National Apple Day, an ‘orchard’ was also planted at Stratford campus, consisting of 6 native varieties of fruit trees in barrels.

Bee hives: A lecturer manages three bee hives at Stratford campus which produced the first batch of UEL honey this year. The medicinal herb garden has proved a good source of pollen for the bees and

Beetle bump: UEL’s Environmental Research Group worked with wildlife charity Buglife to create a mock brownfield habitat to re­home one of the UK’s most endangered invertebrates – the Streaked bombardier beetle (Brachinus sclopeta).

Areas for Future Focus

Landscaping: All planting should consist of native species and the landscape maintenance contract should be sensitive to enhancing urban biodiversity. A greater focus at Docklands campus is required to vary the landscaping and biodiversity interest.

Biodiversity survey: To improve quantitative measurement of progress in the area of biodiversity enhancement, an annual survey should be completed.

Stratford campus vegetable growing

Stratford campus honey

Streaked bombardier beetle

Stratford campus medicinal herb garden

Stratford campus urban orchard

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8. Community Involvement

Objective 8a ­Work with the local community (schools, community groups and businesses) on projects and events, to raise awareness about environmental issues and catalyse action.

Objective 8b ­ Raise awareness about environmental issues amongst staff, students and partners; encouraging participation and provide training where appropriate.

Ref Target Achieved Explanation 8.1 Increase student

involvement in environmental activity and awareness of environmental issues.

ü A range of events including environmental activities during Week One, Green Week and Fairtrade Fortnight have been organised to raise awareness amongst students.

• Volunteering opportunities have been offered through the Green Impact staff environmental competition (as student project assistants and environmental auditors), and the halls of residence Green Move Out initiative. There have been 48 attendees to associated student Green Skills Workshops throughout the year.

8.2 Engage organisations in the borough on environmental issues.

x There has not been capacity within the Environment Team to engage with local organisations apart from at a basic level e.g. Newham Fairtrade Group.

8.3 Promote integration of environmental sustainability into teaching and research.

ü A network has been established for teaching and research staff to share ideas and practice regarding environmental sustainability but further attention is required in this area.

8.4 Increase Environment Team capacity and provide students with sustainability work experience.

ü The Environment Team hosted two student interns from Kings College and one student was recruited from UEL to coordinate the residences Green Move Out project.

8.5 Integrate environmental sustainability into strategic documents.

ü Environmental sustainability has been included in the Student Charter.

• Work has taken place to include education for sustainable development when the Learning and Teaching Strategy 2009­12 is updated.

8.6 Every School and Service to have at least two environmental champions.

x 20 teams from different Schools and Services completed the Green Impact office environmental competition, with each team being led by at least one staff environmental champion.

• One school does not have a nominated environmental champion.

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Successes

• Green Impact: Twice the number of staff teams were involved in the competition compared to the previous year, carrying out environmental improvement actions in the areas of energy, waste, procurement, biodiversity and transport. The enthusiasm of staff involved last year has spread and the initiative has made a real difference to environmental performance in offices and labs/workshops across both campuses.

• Student engagement: UEL historically has low student engagement levels for environmental volunteering. To address this we took part in an NUS national pilot to train students as project assistants to assist staff teams. The focus was to support development of transferable skills such as communication, leadership and project management; as well as improving students’ sustainability knowledge. The initiative also provided an opportunity for staff and students to work together outside of an academic environment.

Areas for Future Focus

• Sustainability Skills: Building on last year’s success, we plan to expand the training and development opportunities for students by offering a comprehensive programme of sustainability skills workshops. Bringing together the Sustainability Team, Employability & Enterprise Team and Students’ Union, the aim is to provide students with training and opportunities to put this into practice.

• Education for sustainable development: A further focus in this area is required to produce sustainability literate graduates with desired employability skills. A number of academic staff have already incorporated elements of sustainability into modules, which with further support, can be built upon and expanding across all Schools.

• Responsibility for environmental management: Alongside integrating environmental sustainability into strategic documents, building sustainability objectives into School and Service annual plans will help to devolve responsibility for environmental management at an operational level, encouraging consistent environmental improvement across the organisation rather than just in certain areas.

Students at the Green Impact awards ceremony

Student training