Saving energy on campus

LJMU is introducing a series of energy-saving measures across our estate.

As with all organisations and households, the university is facing significant increases in our energy bills and we are looking to reduce our usage and costs wherever we can.

This also reflects our commitment to sustainability and reaching net carbon zero by 2035, as you will have seen set out comprehensively in our Climate Action Plan.

A wide range of energy-saving measures have been considered by our Executive Leadership Team and the following are being introduced:

Building opening hours

We are consolidating our building opening hours to make the use of our estate as energy efficient as possible. That means earlier closing times for those buildings with little footfall later in the day.

Certain areas of our campus will remain open in the evening where necessary for teaching and research.

You can submit requests for out of hours building openings via the helpdesk.

Please note, there are separate processes for using laboratory spaces and designated specialised spaces out of hours, which include rigorous risk assessment and faculty-level approval. If your request is relating to any specialised spaces, then please refer to your Head of Operations first.

There will be no changes to the opening hours of the Student Life Building or our libraries.

These new closing times are now in effect and you can find them all here.

PCs

In order to save energy, IT Services will reduce the number of PCs switched on centrally each week.

To avoid disruption to teaching and learning, ITS will continue to power on PCs in:

• Class sets/teaching rooms
• Front of class PCs
• 24-hour access student PCs
• Staff PCs we know are being used remotely (please note there should be no need to remote control a PC if you have an LJMU-provided laptop)

Apart from these exceptions, staff and students will be asked to switch on PCs as they are required from Monday 16 January.

Electric heaters

Please note that the use of electric heaters in our buildings is not permitted without permission from our Estates and Facilities Management team.

Energy waste reporting

We welcome suggestions from staff on other energy saving measures you may have. You are also encouraged to report any instances of energy waste on campus – such as building lights being left on or excessively warm spaces – via the helpdesk.

By introducing these simple measures and by us all taking responsibility, we can reduce our energy costs and help support LJMU’s Climate Action Plan.