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Reading University Energy Manager top in public sector

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EMA award winner 2019

The University’s Energy & Sustainability Manager, Dan Fernbank, has been awarded Public Sector Energy Manager of the Year at the 2019 Energy Management Awards.

Run by the Energy Managers Association (EMA), the awards recognise and celebrate outstanding work in the energy management and sustainability industry.

Dan has led the University of Reading’s Sustainability Services team since 2011. Some of the team’s main achievements during this time include:

  • Ensuring the University met its 35% carbon reduction target in 2016 (compared to its baseline 2008/09 emissions)
  • Achieving a 40% carbon reduction earlier this year – keeping the University on track to deliver on its current 45% reduction target by 2021
  • Introducing a campus-wide refillable bottle scheme in partnership with Coca-Cola in 2017, helping to reduce the number of single-use plastic bottles on campus by more than 150,000
  • Recycling more than 100,000 coffee cups since March 2018
  • A major expansion of the University’s solar panel programme, with more than 1,000 individual panels now installed across campus

The EMA judges said: “The winning candidate has overseen an impressive reduction in the organisation’s carbon footprint which has put the organisation as a leader in their sector. The candidate has developed a number of tools which are used to monitor planned operational changes and identify the potential of energy and carbon savings in buildings. His drive is encouraging others to learn from the experiences and promoting the industry to future energy and sustainability professionals.”

Commenting on the award win, Dan said: “As a university with extensive expertise on climate change it is only natural that sustainability is at the heart of everything we do.

“Support and investment from the senior leadership of the University has enabled us to put many of these initiatives and practices into place, but it is participation of our staff and students that have helped us to achieve the fantastic results we have.

“It is very encouraging to receive this recognition from the Energy Managers Association. The University will continue in its efforts to make Reading a greener, more sustainable place to study.”

The award was presented at the EMA’s annual Energy Management Exhibition at Excel, London on 27 November.

Read more about sustainability at the University here – www.reading.ac.uk/sustainability

 

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Dan Fernbank winning Energy Managers Association 2019 Award
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Got a few moments to spare these strange days?

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Reading Rowing Club with River Thames in flood

Then help climate scientists understand past rainfall variations and improve models for future flooding events?

The UK has an amazing repository of rainfall records from the last 200 years, but most of this is handwritten  and not that easy to use in the current era. The Rainfall Rescue Project is seeking volunteers to transfer all these old handwritten pages of rainfall data into online spreadsheets.

It’s easy to do a few tens of records a day without getting bored to tears, but I  recommend that you choose the option to transcribe local records because it is easier to read the handwritten locations if you recognise the place names!

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How do we finance the changes to net zero?

John Christensen, who chairs the Tax Justice Network,  gave a great talk on equitable options to finance the necessary changes to hit carbon net zero. You can read it on  https://www.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Just-Transition-RICS-11-MAR-2020.pdf

there is a two part newsletter giving more details about these ideas , including methods of sustainable cost reporting (SCORE) of greenhouse gas  emissions.  https://www.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/TJF_2020_11-2_V3.pdf

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Chair on public consultation launch of our new Climate Emergency Strategy

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It is of course a challenging time to be launching this consultation. With the concern about the spread of the coronavirus, many people will not be focused on the Climate Emergency. I certainly share those worries, and desperately hope we are lucky, and that the forecasts don’t come close to those ‘reasonable worst case scenarios’. Climate change probably has little to do with COVID-19, however it is interesting to note the similarity between responding to a viral epidemic, and adapting to climate change. When we have brought the virus under control, I hope we will be able to reflect on: our attitude to risk; and the resilience of our communities and infrastructure, that make our complex lives possible.

The risk of coronavirus will fade over the coming months. The Climate Emergency however, is a much bigger problem for us to deal with. Happily, there has been some really good work going on in Reading to get the town prepared for the challenges ahead.

 

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Public consultation on Reading’s Climate Emergency Strategy 2020-25

 

On 13th March I will be at the public consultation launch of our new Reading Climate Emergency Strategy. This is a proud moment for me as Chair of the Reading Climate Change Partnership. Around this time last year, the Partnership was in the process of kick-starting a busy year of work on the Strategy. We had just agreed as well, to promote the creation of a new ‘Reading Climate Action Network’ (ReadingCAN) – something for everyone to be part of, and a growing group of experts, businesses and members of the Reading community to write and deliver the Strategy with us.

I am hugely grateful to everyone who put their time, ideas, passion and commitment into this work. There are six themes at the heart of the Strategy, all of which have detailed Action Plans of what we are going to do over the next 5 years. And the Visions behind each theme are strong and inspiring…driving us towards a town that is zero carbon by 2030, and a Reading that is getting ready to adapt and deal with what we can expect from the changing climate.

I hope you find it inspiring. Please do share with you family, friends and colleagues, and please do join us. There is a lot to do to deliver this Climate Emergency Strategy…and of course the work doesn’t stop there.

Please do give us your thoughts and feedback by taking part in our consultation. We are grateful to our Partners at Reading Borough Council for hosting and promoting the consultation, which is available here www.reading.gov.uk/climateconsultation and will be open until 24th April.

 

With my best wishes,

 

Chris Beales
Chair RCCP

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Find out about the proposed Reading and Caversham Flood Alleviation Scheme

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The Environment Agency is hosting 7 public drop-in events from 26 February to 20 March. Come along to find out more about flood risk in Reading and Caversham, what residents can do to prepare and our updated plans for a possible flood scheme. There will also be information on how climate change may increase flood risk in the future.

Over 700 properties are at risk from a major flood in Reading and Caversham. The latest design to reduce flood risk includes a combination of flood walls and embankments, temporary flood barriers and a channel.

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Reading and Caversham FAS drop in dates Feb-Mar 2020

 

After listening to feedback from the public, we have made changes to the proposed design and have new information to share. At the drop-ins, there will be landscape plans and photos showing what the scheme could look like if it is built. There will also be photos of historical flooding and information about local flood risk and how you can sign up for warnings.

It is important to note that the project is still at an early stage, so it does not yet have the relevant permissions and may not go ahead.

photoIf you would like to find out more about the project please visit the website https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/north-reading-and-lower-caversham-flood-alleviation-scheme/north-reading-and-lower-caversham-flood-alleviation-scheme

If you have any questions please speak to a project member At the drop ins or email the team at readingandcavershamscheme@environment-agency.gov.uk

 

 

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Grants of up to £5,000 now available to SMEs for energy efficiency projects

Low Carbon Workspaces is a grant scheme in Berkshire helping small and medium sized enterprises to make energy efficiency improvements  or reduce their carbon emissions. Maximum grants of up to £5,000 are available to cover up to a third of the cost of energy efficiency projects.

The programme is operated by a specialist agency which will help appraise the project quoted cost and offer a green diagnostic to help identify other energy efficiency upgrades that could be made and how the scheme may be able to offer partial funding, subject to a successful application. Applications go to a Grant Panel who usually provide their decision within 3 or 4 days, although the operators stress that grants cannot be paid out retrospectively so it’s essential to follow the application process before undertaking any work or appointing suppliers.

You can find full details at: https://www.lowcarbonworkspaces.co.uk/

 

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Climate Change and Children – Interview with Chris Beales (RCCP Chair)

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This is the forth in the series of interviews that I had with the wonderful Ayo Sokale. In this, Ayo asks me about  ‘Climate Change and Children’.  My son was born close to time I started my role as Chair of the RCCP so this is very real for me. It is so important that we create a good future for him, and all of our children. We need to push hard, believe and make it happen…and there is no more time to wait.

  • Please do check out our new Adaptation Plan. Reading this, you’ll understand a lot about where I am coming from in the interview. It is important to appreciate the risks that we face…and to pick up on the some of the things we can do to get prepared for climate change.

All the best,

 

Chris