The results of the Big Christmas Switch Off are in!
Over the Christmas break, we asked Green Impact teams and staff at the University to Switch Off and unplug any unnecessary items before they left for the holidays.
A big thank you to everyone who took part and spread the word throughout their departments.
The results show that switching off can make a big difference!
Take a look at the results below:
Electricity consumption in the week before Christmas compared to the Christmas break 2014/15. Christmas break 2014/15 has been calculated from 25th December 2014 to 1st January 2015.
| WEEK BEFORE Daily average | CHRISTMAS BREAK Daily average | Percentage CHANGE | |
| ENGINEERING – ST GEORGES | 15,303 kWh | 9,375 kWh | Down 39% |
| ENGINEERING – NORTH CAMPUS | 15,318 kWh | 14,785 kWh | Down 3% |
| BARTOLOME HOUSE | 652 kWh | 351 kWh | Down 46% |
| STUDENTS UNION – GRAVES & LINK | 3,099 kWh | 1,736 kWh | Down 44% |
| STUDENTS UNION – UNIVERSITY HOUSE | 2,055 kWh | 995 kWh | Down 52% |
| ELMFIELD/GOODWIN SPORT CENTRE | 2,856 kWh | 1,787 kWh | Down 37% |
| ARTS TOWER | 2,760 kWh | 1,704 kWh | Down 38% |
| CHEMISTRY –WEST WING & NORTH WING | 4,387 kWh | 3,150 kWh | Down 28% |
Notes:
- ENGINEERING – ST GEORGES: Broad Lane Block, Pam Liversidge Building, Mappin, Central Wing, Mining Block, New Caledonia Workshop, Amy Johnson Building, Sir Robert Hadfield Building, Chemical Engineering
- ENGINEERING – NORTH CAMPUS : North Campus HV electricity supply – Nanoscience, George Porter, Kroto
That’s not all! When we compare electricity consumption from the 2014/15 Christmas break to the same period in 2013/14, the Student’s Union, University House dropped a huge 16%! The Student’s Union Graves & Link were down 15% from last year too!
So, what exactly do all these numbers mean?
In total, electricity consumption dropped by 12,547 kWh over the Christmas break. That’s the equivalent of 6.8 tonnes of CO2.
One tonne of CO2 is as heavy as 10 baby elephants and would fill a 10m wide, 25m long and 2m deep swimming pool. So, in just one week, we have saved the equivalent of 68 little elephants or 6.8 swimming pools!
To look at that figure a different way, 6.8 tonnes of CO2 is equivalent to the emissions from burning 7304 pounds of coal or the CO2 from 4478 litres of petrol. It’s enough to provide the average UK home with electricity for almost an entire year and it would take 5.6 acres of US forest a year to sequester it.
It also saved the University a total of £1354!
So, what exactly does all this carbon look like?
Switching off makes a big difference!
Photo: bit.ly/1v9xZZN
Sources:
Rate of conversion calculated at 0.54
http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html
http://www.rutland.gov.uk/climate_change/act_on_co2_and_your_footprint/whats_a_tonne_of_co2.aspx