Carbon projects updates from NUS Services

Following the successful Carbon Academy project, NUS Services is running two new carbon projects this year.

Ventilation Project

Over recent months a project to deliver energy cost savings through efficient ventilation has been running with NUS member unions. In collaboration with the Carbon Trust, it is a project aimed at benefitting UK students’ unions and the wider late-night entertainment sector.


Data obtained during the Carbon Academy project suggests bar and nightclub areas use up to 50% of the total electricity consumed by the students’ union, with the ventilation and air-conditioning systems in these areas consuming up to 60% of this energy (or up to 30% of the SUs total electricity use).

This project has three simple objectives; to show that venues can significantly reduce their energy consumption by improving ventilation management; to deliver resources which will encourage a reduction in energy consumption; and finally to ensure that these resources reduce energy use.

The project aims to reduce an estimated 4,005 tonnes of CO2 across 345 venues in year one and to deliver a further 8,494 tonnes of CO2 over years two to five.

The pilot phase is now complete and the toolkit is in development. The project is currently recruiting bars and nightclub venues that are willing to work through the toolkit and monitor energy savings - registration is available until 31 January 2009. To find out more, or to register a venue, please contact Simon Alsbury at s.alsbury@ae-consulting.co.uk.

Equipment Project

Equipment such as vending machines, bottle fridges, soft drink post mix machines, games machines and advertising TV screens are very common throughout all parts of the sector, and account for a significant proportion of its energy consumption.

The NUS Services Carbon Academy project that helped 70 students’ unions to reduce their carbon footprint identified that this type of equipment can be responsible for around 10% of students’ unions’ consumption. In other hospitality venues the impact is likely to be similarly significant.

This innovative project, which is funded by the main supplier of free equipment, Coca-Cola Great Britain, aims to provide much needed guidance on the efficient management of equipment common to the hospitality sector.

Guidance will be published in January 2009 that will assist both unions and institutions in the management of this equipment so that the carbon footprint from these appliances can be reduced. The guidance will include information on how energy can be saved as well as much energy each type of equipment uses.

The project aims to reduce the carbon footprint of the equipment within the NUS membership by around 1,000 tonnes CO2.


The guidance and toolkits from both projects will be freely available to EAUC members via this website shortly.