3 minute read
Top 5 achievements
1Committing to net zero emissions
Since 2010, BU has implemented Carbon Management Plans and successfully reduced out emissions by 45% since 2015, but as a university we have a responsibility to ensure that we as a community contribute to preventing environmental collapse, both directly in managing our own emissions and environmental impact as well as through education, research and engagement with practice and industry. Therefore, in February 2021 we released our Climate & Ecological Crisis Action Plan (CECAP). The CECAP not only sets out our aim to achieve net zero emissions across all three emissions scopes by 2030/31 also to embed climate action into our teaching, research and everyday practice at BU. As part of this, we have joined the UN Race to Zero campaign: a commitment to pledge, plan, proceed and publish our journey to net zero emissions. Our environmental action until 2030 will increase in both pace and reach, and we are proud of our BU community for joining us on this ambitious journey.
22nd in the UK for climate action
The Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings is the only global benchmarking scheme that assesses universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and across three broad areas: research, outreach and operations. 1,115 universities took part in its 2021 edition, and we were proud to rank 74th globally for our action on the SDGs. In recognition of our efforts on climate change and the environment, BU were awarded the THE DataPoints Merit Award. For this award, judges assessed which UK universities were scoring highest, using data from the THE Impact Rankings, for their actions against four SDGs most linked to institutional efforts on the environment.
BU ranked particularly highly on the environmental metrics including: 8th in the world for SDG12: Responsible Production
And Consumption. This metric assessed our waste reduction achievements as well as our overall waste and pollution management.
15th in the world and 2nd in the UK for SDG13:
Climate Action. This metric reflects BU’s environmental achievements including our low-carbon energy use, commitment to include climate education in all our programmes and ambitious net zero target.
3BREEAM ‘Excellent’ for Bournemouth Gateway Building
Bournemouth Gateway Building (BGB) is the new home for our Faculty of Health & Social Sciences. We are proud that upon completion BGB achieved a rating of A for its Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and BREEAM certificate of “Excellent” with a score of 74.1% in April 2021 for its sustainability features. Read more about how BGB scored so highly on page 23.
4Cycle Friendly Employer accreditation
Bournemouth University was awarded a Gold certificate, the highest accreditation level, as part of the Cycle Friendly Employer scheme. The scheme is the only internationally recognised standard for workplace cycling and awards organisations who make their workplace awe-inspiring through cycling by providing exemplary cycling facilities as well as supporting, encouraging and promoting cycling to its employees. This is an excellent achievement and provides BU with a credible platform in which to promote cycling further.
In November 2020, we became one of only a handful of universities to achieve a double certification for our Environmental and Energy Management System (EEMS). After external audits, our integrated EEMS was re-certified to the International Standard ISO14001:2015 and Eco Campus Platinum and, for the first time, we achieved the energy management standard, ISO50001:2018 certification with no nonconformities identified against either standard.
Gaining this double certification is a great achievement and demonstrates yet again how committed we are to minimising our environmental footprint.
Bournemouth University deployed a knowledgeable team, implements and maintains their management system to address continual energy performance improvement from head office and local levels.
Jim Andrews
Chief Operating Officer
The NQA auditor highlighted three areas of best practice: 1.Overall flow of managing risks and opportunities:
linking BU2025 strategy commitments to measurable action on the ground. 2.Communication and engagement: The auditor said, “The variety of means and initiatives utilised and displayed by the university in this regard is exemplary.” 3.Sustainable Construction: The auditor said, “The manner in which the Poole Gateway Building was designed, developed and delivered, to ensure the building is as sustainable as possible, was very impressive”.
