Swansea Met Scoops City Green Award

Swansea Metropolitan University has once again been highlighted as an environmental leader by winning the Low Carbon Organisation prize at the recent Sustainable Swansea Awards.

The accolade, presented by Welsh Assembly Minister for the Environment, Jane Davidson AM, was given to Swansea Met in recognition of its many environmental initiatives.

This year, Swansea Met gave the biggest indication yet of its environmental credentials with the installation of a solar photovoltaic system on its Mount Pleasant campus. The system is already generating 8.8 kW of electricity which is used in the University's Owen Library, while any surplus energy is exported to the national grid. A similar system has also been installed at Swansea Met's Townhill campus.

In addition, Swansea Met has received the Green Dragon Environmental Standard for its environmental management. The announcement was made by Groundwork, initiators of the Green Dragon certification and a leading local, regional and national environmental regeneration network building sustainable communities across Wales.

Last year, the University introduced two small wind and solar powered generator external campus lights, a small but crucial symbol of Swansea Met's environmental intentions. There are plans in introduce more in the future.

Swansea Met is one of the top five UK universities for its low energy usage. In addition, the University also produced the best carbon reduction figures in Wales, while coming top fourteen in the UK. These figures demonstrate the effectiveness of campaigns within the institution, aimed at staff and students, tackling issues such as sustainability and recycling. This year, the University signed up to the national 10:10 carbon reduction campaign, hosting ten weeks of on-campus awareness raising activities.

Swansea Met is regularly awarded for its environmental efforts, annually being commended at events such as the prestigious Green Gown Awards, NIACE/ Cyfanfyd Global Citizenship Awards, the SWWITCH Travel Awards and the Sustainable Swansea Awards.

Earlier this year, the University was named in the ‘first class' category of the People and Planet's Green League 2010. The influential Green League, supported by the WWF-UK, assesses the environmental performance of all the UK universities, focusing on criteria such as environmental policy, management and actual performance in areas such as carbon reduction, waste recycling, energy efficiency, transport emissions, sustainable procurement and water consumption. It is the only league table that ranks 133 UK universities - awarding them a First, 2:1, 2:2, Third, or Fail.

Professor David Warner, Vice Chancellor of Swansea Metropolitan University, commented: "We have a very pro-active approach here at Swansea Met regarding the reduction of energy usage and we employ lots of different and innovative tactics. These not only contribute to the greater planetary issues but also help us to save quite a lot of money."

Receiving the award on behalf of Swansea Met was Graham Allen, who said: "We are delighted to have won this category. It shows the commitment that Swansea Met, its staff and students have to reducing their environmental impact. However, we still have more to do and hopefully we can continue improve."

Published: Tuesday 9th November 2010

For further information on electricity produced and carbon saved by photovoltaic array please follow the link below...

https://www.sunnyportal.com/Templates/PublicPageOverview.aspx?plant=8a2191b2-0773-4aaa-a7b3-ebef7ee752b7&splang=en-US