Sustainability Report 2021-22

Table of Contents

Introduction
Goals and progress to date
Energy Use
Water Use
Waste & Waste minimisation
Transport

1. Introduction

   1. This report covers the reporting period from 1 August 2021 to 31 July 2022. We remain committed to reducing the environmental impacts of our operations and set objectives and goals in order to improve our environmental performance. We review our performance against these objectives and goals. This report sets out initial performance benchmarks and actions underway to monitor and improve the environmental impacts of our operations.

   2. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the closure of College campuses in March 2020, and again in January 2021 leading in turn to significant reductions in electrical and gas consumption during these lockdown periods. Provision for vulnerable students continued at our London Road campus These events significantly reduced electrical and, to a lesser extent, gas consumption for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 years in 2021/22 we returned to full-time opening resulting in an increase in usage.

2.  Goals and progress to date

   1.  Since 2018/19 the college has achieved the following improvements:
      2019/20:
      Installed energy-efficient LED lighting across its London Road campus.
      Reviewed of baseload electricity consumption which identified significant reductions through optimising use and performance of air ventilation and extraction systems at London Road.
      Replaced of single-use plastics in all College canteens with compostable alternatives, combined with incentives to use non disposable alternatives.
      Engaged with Terracycle to redirect writing implement waste to an effective recycling scheme.
      Active management of build-up of construction and motor vehicle waste
      2020/21
      Renewal and upgrading of windows in the Performing Arts block at London Road Campus to improve thermal efficiency and comfort of the building.
      Upgrading of London Road main building boiler with a more thermally efficient unit
      Review and re-procurement of waste disposal routes.
      2021/22
      Installation of a 200kwp Solar Panel system comprising 721 panels at the London Road campus (January 2022).
      2022/23
      So far in 2022/23 the college has
      Renewed and upgraded 180 windows with modern double glazed units in its Main Block at London Road campus to improve thermal efficiency of the block (completed Summer 2022).
      Installed Voltage Reduction equipment at the English Bridge and Welsh Bridge campuses to reduce carbon emissions. (December 2022) with installation of similar equipment at London Road due in February 2023.
      Installed improved power monitoring systems to enable actively identification of opportunities for further reduction in use at London Road.
      Commissioned Heat Decarbonisation Plans for 5 of its major buildings to identify the opportunities for improved thermal efficiency and to quantify potential costs for these improvements and the decarbonisation of heating systems.
      Goals 2022 to 2024
      Develop and start implementation of a long-term strategic plan to enable decarbonisation of building heating systems across all campuses over the life cycle of existing building heating equipment.
      Review needs and develop long term plans for EV charging points at all campuses where appropriate and taking into account the capacity of the local electricity infrastructure to meet future needs.
      Reduce total energy consumption in 2022/23 and 2023/24 by 10% using 2021/22 as the baseline.
      Continue staff and student engagement to raise awareness and engagement in sustainability activities and sustainable behaviours.

3. Energy Use

   Annual Electricity consumption

   1. The table below set out the past 7 years annual electricity consumption. The data is taken from the historic half hourly meter readings on each of the College’s campus sites.
      
      

      Electricity	Campus
      	London Road	English Bridge	Welsh Bridge	Total	Total
      Academic Year	KWh used	KWh used	KWh used	KWh used	CO2e emissions (t)
      15/16	1,594,738	306,514	363,549	2,264,801	1046
      16/17	1,558,571	250,178	354,863	2,163,612	891
      17/18	1,501,099	295,692	303,782	2,100,574	739
      18/19	1,470,657	286,709	287,380	2,044,746	575
      19/20 (P)	1,055,099	223,931	234,605	1,513,636.00	387
      20/21 (P)	1,004,891	236,891	241,483	1,483,264	311
      21/22	1,080,954	264,463	253,374	1,598,791	336
      	London Road	English Bridge	Welsh Bridge	London Road	English Bridge	Welsh Bridge
      	KWh per m2 used			GIA
      15/16	89	37	70	17,924	8,236	5,204
      16/17	87	30	68	17,924	8,236	5,204
      17/18	84	36	58	17,924	8,236	5,204
      18/19	82	35	55	17,924	8,236	5,204
      19/20(P)	59	27	45	17,924	8,236	5,204
      20/21(P)	55	29	46	18,376	8,236	5,204
      21/22	59	32	49	18,376	8,236	5,204

       GIA = Gross Internal Area m2
      (P) = Year impacted by COVID Pandemic lockdowns

   2. Electricity consumption is measured on a half hourly basis. Consumption is people driven with substantial increases in consumption during hours when staff, students and visitors are present. A significant “base load” remains during periods where people are not present.
      
      
   3. Over the past 5 years the College’s consumption has been affected by:
      
      1. Implementation of improved energy efficient lighting at the London Road Campus towards the end of calendar year 2019.
      2. Reviewed and identified the sources of, and where practicable took action to reduce, baseload electricity consumption at our London Road site by improving management and monitoring of air extraction and ventilation systems.
      3. From 23 March 2020 until August 2020 all campus buildings which were not required to support provision for vulnerable students were closed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and energy use was minimised during this period.
      4. This shutdown was repeated in January to April 2021 as part of the second national lockdown.
      5. From August 1st 2021 to 31st July 2022 all the colleges were open on a full time basis for the whole year.
   4. Consumption for 2019/20 and 2020/was substantially reduced by the impact of national lockdowns due to the COVID pandemic. 2021/22 consumption should therefore be compared to the last full year of operation – being 2018/19

   5. Annual Gas Consumption

      Gas is used to supply heating and hot water at all three campuses. Gas demand is expected to be driven primarily by outside temperatures. The differing thermal efficiencies of the buildings at each campus primarily drive the amount of heating and gas consumption required. The London Road campus has a Building Energy Management system designed to control manage and monitor heating in several buildings. Use of such BEM systems are estimated to reduce overall gas usage. The age and condition of existing heating systems at the English Bridge and Welsh Bridge mean that installation of equivalent systems at these campuses is not currently considered practical. Alternative mechanisms for enabling improved regulation of heating will be kept under review and implemented as practicable.
      
      The table below set out the past 7 years annual gas consumption. The data is taken from the historic meter readings on each of the College’s campus sites.
      

      Gas	Campus
      	London Road	English Bridge	Welsh Bridge	Total	Total
      Academic Year	KWh used	KWh used	KWh used	KWh used	CO2e emissions (t)
      15/16	1,897,040	555,390	549,002	3,001,432	552
      16/17	1,868,148	526,039	475,659	2,869,846	528
      17/18	2,023,711	602,633	458,134	3,084,478	568
      18/19	2,162,152	631,907	445,588	3,239,647	596
      19/20 (P)	2,238,606	656,876	406,586	3,302,068	608
      20/21(P)	2,550,008	626,716	462,501	3,639,225	669
      21/22	2,173,211	742,159	383,861	3,299,231	603

      GIA = Gross Internal Area m2
      (P) = Year impacted by COVID Pandemic lockdowns

4. Water Use

   1. Water is a precious resource and clean, drinking water is both energy and chemical intensive in its production and supply. Water use is primarily people related with most water being used in toilet and cooking facilities. At the London Road campus, water is also consumed by the Sports Centre changing facilities and other curriculum areas such as sports, hair and beauty and brickwork. At the English and Welsh Bridge campuses water is only used primarily for toilet and cooking facilities.
   2. The table below set out the past six year’s annual water consumption. The data is taken from the historic readings on each of the College’s campus sites.
   3. There was a major leak at London Road in December 2021 that affected metered consumption at London Road. Due to the location underneath a building the leak was not evident and hence was not quickly identified and addressed. More regular monitoring of metered consumption has been implemented to ensure any future leaks are identified and addressed more promptly.
      

      Water	Campus
      	London Road	English Bridge	Welsh Bridge	Total	Total
      Academic Year	M3 used	M3 used	M3 used	M3 used	CO2e emissions (t)
      15/16	4,664	2,724	-	7,388*	2.54*
      16/17	6,803	2,809	-	9,612*	3.31*
      17/18	5,585	2,340	1138	9,063	3.12
      18/19	5,761	2,410	1067	9,238	3.18
      19/20	4,379	2,050	691	7,120	2.45
      20/21	9,125	1,774	559	11,458	1.70
      21/22	23,793	1,744	974	26,511	3.95

5. Waste & Waste minimisation

   1. The College recognises the importance of the UK Government’s waste hierarchy, namely ‘reduce, reuse, and recycle’. The College is committed to disposing of materials in an environmentally sensitive manner and encouraging the reuse and recycling of waste materials where possible. However, the minimisation of wastes produced is the first priority.
   2. Since 1 April 2021 all of the College’s waste is disposed of by Veolia, who have recently invested in a new disposal facility in Shrewsbury, with the additional benefit of reducing transport mileage to and from the college and the disposal site.
   3. Veolia transports solid waste to specialized sorting centres. Waste resulting from the selective collection of commercial waste and non-hazardous industrial and commercial waste is sent to high performance sorting centres managed by Veolia. Specialised processes, such as auto-adaptive sequential sorting (TS2A), are used to achieve recovery rates of up to 95%.The recovered waste then becomes secondary raw materials for industry. Veolia also separates and recycles complex waste, such as batteries and electronic cards.
   4. Non-recyclable non-hazardous waste is estimated to be 60% of the waste stream is transported to incineration plants or landfills. The incineration process produces energy in the form of steam which is converted into electricity and fed into the national grid distribution network. Veolia also captures gas generated by the fermentation of organic waste in its landfills. This biogas is then directly delivered to a distribution network, used to produce electricity through turbines or engines, or used as fuel for vehicles.
   5. Specialist wastes (e.g. building waste, metals etc.) are stored and disposed of separately through appropriate routes. e.g. Metal waste is sold to scrap metal merchants for re-use. Waste streams from London Road campus are measured and reported by Cartwrights. The table below shows the total waste by type for London Road.
   6. During 2020-21 London Road campus waste streams were as follows
      

      Material	Proportion	Sum of Weight: Tonnes
      Commercial	43.6%	44.5
      General Construction Waste	28.8%	29.4
      Paper & Cardboard	11.1%	11.3
      Food Waste	8.5%	8.7
      General Waste
      Plasterboard	6.5%	6.67.6
      Glass	1.6%	1.6
      Grand Total	100.00%	102.0

   7. Waste streams from English Bridge campus are measured and reported by Veolia. The table below shows the total waste by type for English Bridge. area.
      

      Material	Proportion	Sum of Weight: Tonnes
      General Waste	46.0%	7.4
      General Construction Waste	54.0%	8.7
      Grand Total	100.00%	16.0

   8. Waste streams from Welsh Bridge campus are measured and reported by Veolia. The table below shows the total waste by type for Welsh Bridge.
      

      Material	Proportion	Sum of Weight: Tonnes
      General Waste	40.8%	4.01
      Mixed Recycling	59.2%	5.9
      Grand Total	100.00%	9.9

6.  Transport

7. In 2021-22 staff travelled 54,376 miles on college business and College minibuses and other vehicles travelled 42,740 miles. This equates to the following CO2 emissions.
   

   	CO2e emissions (t)
   Business travel in employee owned vehicles	17.40
   Owned transport	13.791

   
   

   Streamlined energy and carbon reporting for college corporations

   The following table summarises the College’s annual UK energy use (in KWh) relating to gas, purchased electricity and transport fuel and the associated greenhouse gas emissions (in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e))

   Greenhouse gas emissions and energy use data for the period 1 August 2021 to 31 July 2022 – UK	2021/22
   Energy consumption used to calculate emissions (kWh)	4,940,762
   Energy consumption break down (kWh) (optional):
   Gas	3,299,231
   Electricity	1,598,791
   Transport fuel	42,470
   Scope 1 emissions in metric tonnes CO2e
   Gas consumption	603
   Owned transport	14
   Total scope 1	617
   Scope 2 emissions in metric tonnes CO2e
   Purchased electricity	336
   Scope 3 emissions in metric tonnes CO2e
   Business travel in employee owned vehicles	17
   Total gross emissions in metric tonnes CO2e	970
   Intensity ratio
   Tonnes CO2e per member of staff	1.59

   We have followed the 2020 HM Government Environmental Reporting Guidelines. We have also used the GHG Reporting Protocol – Corporate Standard and have used the 2021 UK Government’s Conversion Factors for Company Reporting.

   Intensity measurement

   The chosen intensity measurement ratio is total gross emissions in metric tonnes CO2e per staff member, the recommended ratio for the sector.

   Measures taken to improve energy efficiency during the year have been set out in section 2 above.