To monitor progress towards these goals, the College has developed an Environmental Plan. The plan outlines College activities, projects, operations and change initiatives which will help promote environmental sustainability, aiming to highlight progress against the aspirations of our environmental policy and to encourage continual improvement in our environmental performance.
The main goals outlined in the plan are:
The Queens’ College Environmental Committee consists of Fellows, staff member and student representatives from the JCR and MCR and meets once a term. The committee will monitor progress made towards the aims of our environmental policy and continually review the measures of the plan, ensuring that our efforts are working and considering other actions that could be taken to accelerate progress.
There are a number of other initiatives in College towards the main aims of the policy, including:
One of the key goals within the Queens’ College Environmental Policy is ‘to reduce net overall carbon footprint by 50% from its 2020 level by 2030 and to net zero by 2045’.
To help us meet these targets, Max Fordham LLP was engaged to produce an energy assessment and decarbonisation strategy to capture our baseline position and identify a road map to delivering the carbon reduction aspirations.
The study and emerging strategy is based on scope 1 and 2 emissions linked directly to the College’s energy use and energy purchasing. Indirect scope 3 emissions linked to investments, goods purchasing and travel will be reviewed as a separate exercise.
See the full decarbonisation assessment and brief that was presented to the Fellows of the College.
In 2018 the total scope 1 and scope 2 carbon emissions were approximately 2,050 tonnes CO2e/annum. This sets the baseline starting point to define a decarbonisation strategy for Queens’ College.
Unsurprisingly for the type and age of buildings found at Queens’ College, provision of space heating is the dominant energy demand, comprising 46% of the total across both on and off site properties.
Scope 1 emissions due to combustion of natural gas for space and water heating accounts for 75% of the total emissions. Carbon emissions resulting from operating vehicles, equipment and refrigerants account for approximately 2%.
The carbon intensity of grid electricity is changing all the time as new renewable electricity generating capacity is brought on-line, new nuclear power stations are commissioned and older, coal fired power stations are decommissioned.
The focus of any robust decarbonisation strategy should be to move energy consumption from natural gas to electricity. Not only is the carbon content of National Grid electricity ever decreasing, but eliminating local combustion of fossil fuel completely is better for local air quality.
Our proposed decarbonisation strategy for Queens’ College is to replace the existing gas fired boilers with electrically powered heat pumps and to focus on clean electricity supply. This is a costly activity, which is why the decarbonisation plan is aligned with our rolling maintenance, refurbishment and replacement programme, meaning that we will only seek to replace existing gas equipment when it reaches end of life. By taking this approach, we can ensure buildings are ready for electrical heating systems through improving their fabric, analysis of their use through data capture, and invest in the latest technology.
We propose to carry out the following sequence of improvements to reduce energy demand within our existing buildings:
Fabric improvements: Upgrade windows. Insulate walls where practicable. Insulate roofs and ground floor slabs where possible.
Efficient Equipment: Replace life expired boiler equipment with heat pumps (both air and river source). Install mechanical ventilation with heat recovery where possible to recover up to 85% of extracted heat.
Active management and monitoring: Monitor and maintain buildings to ensure they are operating efficiently. Educate occupants on best practises to avoid wasting energy. Install low flow hot and cold water appliances, reduce heating set points, remove parasitic loads and invest in high efficiency white goods.
The combined effect of the proposed fabric improvements and de-gasification have been modelled to quantify the reductions in energy consumption and carbon emissions.
Figure 5: Combined effect of fabric improvements and degasification on energy consumption and carbon emissions
We have planned a timetable of refurbishments and upgrades over the next 23 years with a view to achieving as close to net zero as possible.
A 70% reduction in carbon emissions can be achieved by 2030 and a 95% reduction by 2045 with residual emissions of approximately 84 tonnes CO2e per annum by that date. By 2050 the residual carbon emissions should drop to just less than 20 tonnes due to the projected decarbonisation of the National electricity grid.
Figure 6: Cumulative reduction of carbon emissions
Work to decarbonise Blocks A and B at Owlstone Croft have begun, with the complete refurbishment of the existing buildings.
The current annual
energy demand for space heating in Blocks A and B is circa 365,000 kWh. This contributes to approximately 200,000 kg of carbon emissions per annum in relation to these buildings.
We will install triple glazed windows, improve roof insulation, and insulate external walls.
Once the fabric improvements have been made, we will replace gas boilers with air source heat pumps (ASHP). This has been supported by a Government Grant from Salix.
The cumulative effect of making the suggested fabric improvements and switching to ASHP for heat generation should result in a reduction in carbon emission of 160,000kg with residual emissions of 40,000kg. Installation of PVs and the decarbonisation of grid electricity should result in annual emissions of just 1,775kg by 2045.
The complete refurbishment of the Erasmus Building was completed in April 2025.
The current annual energy demand for space heating in the Erasmus building is 164,254kWh.
All windows were replaced with triple glazed units, with new roof and wall insulation.
Solar shading was installed to windows to reduce heat gain, and the system has been designed to work in reverse, supporting active cooling in the summer.
The gas boilers were successfully replaced by air source heat pumps (ASHP). This was supported by a Government Grant from Salix.
The cumulative effect of making the fabric improvements and switching to ASHP for heat generation has resulted in a reduction in energy consumption of 106,765kWh with a residual consumption of 57,489kWh. This equates to a reduction in carbon emissions of circa 50,000kg per annum.
We have big plans for biodiversity at Owlstone Croft, to be completed in July 2027. Our long-term goal for the site is to create a sustainable College community that will work in harmony with the neighbouring nature reserve.
Our landscaping plans include the creation of extensive and biodiverse green roofs, rain gardens and ornamental planting for new post graduate accommodation. In addition, the site will be re-profiled so that bee lawns established in communal garden areas can transition into meadow grassland and damp grassland towards the eastern boundary. The existing perimeter hedgerow will be retained and enhanced through planting of native scrub species with shade tolerant meadow grassland beneath. New native hedgerows will also be planted around the new residential buildings and to the other site boundaries. New native tree planting is also proposed across the site.
In addition to planting, we are proposing to improve lighting conditions at the site boundaries to enhance habitats for wildlife. The cumulative effect of these improvements would result in a significant net gain in biodiversity net gain of circa 51%.
Established and reviewed yearly by the Environmental Committee in Easter term.
The heating schedule for Queens’ College is designed to enhance environmental sustainability. In-line with the Environment Policy, it therefore seeks to reduce energy consumption, especially of energy derived from fossil fuels.
The College has installed a building management system (BMS) allowing us more flexibility in how we heat the larger buildings in terms of both temperature and timings.
The general principles for main sites are as follows:
In College homes and hostels away from the main sites. The College has installed independent domestic style heating systems, with thermostatic controls located in common spaces, and personal thermostatic radiator valves in bedrooms.
The assessment provided some examples of possible energy reductions that could be made following the implementation of this Heating Control Policy.
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