Heating and Energy FAQs

We have Photovoltaic (PV) panels installed at a number of our buildings including MSRH, Woodward Hall, Clayworks and Wilson House.

However, roof space for the installation of solar photovoltaics on the existing Campus space is limited by other roof mounted plant and equipment. Further roof may need to accommodate new plant in future, for example air-source heat pumps when we start our retrofit programme. Our ability to build any solar schemes at scale and therefore achieve suitable payback is constrained.

We are looking at potential sites for installing solar panels at our campuses and considering whether we can make appropriate use of this power. ARUP are undertaking a review of the entire Imperial Estate (as part of the Net Zero strategy) and as part of this activity are looking for areas where solar photovoltaics may be viable.

The energy intensive nature of the university’s activities mean that solar photovoltaics would only ever form a small part of the energy mix but there may still be a case for investment in them.

Prioritising university spend is also key with regards to our “Net Zero” journey, and other decarbonisation options have greater payback, therefore PV may be a little further down the line.

At the design stage for the White City North campus, this was requirement to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating. There was also a planning requirement to have on-site generation of a low carbon source of heat and power and that requirement was framed in terms of CHP leaving us no room for alternatives. In contrast, the White City South Campus will not have a gas connection and will use other forms of heating and cooling.

The gas-fired CHP at South Kensington has for many years provided a source of relatively low carbon heat and power at a price that provides financial benefit to the university. As the grid electricity in the UK has decarbonised, the carbon advantage of CHP has been eroded. In line with our strategy and our stated aim for net zero carbon in Scopes 1 and 2 by 2040, the source of fuel and how we supply heat to our heat network will no doubt change in the future and the planning for that is beginning. It will, however, take several years to make the necessary changes across our many buildings.

The district heating system is currently being upgraded so that parts that currently work on high temperature steam will in future work on hot water. This will significantly improve the efficiency of the energy centre and reduce the volume of gas used.

The Estates Operations team are working on a range of projects focused on demand reduction across all utilities – this includes working with building users to reduce the number of areas where heating, cooling and ventilation are provided 24/7 and year- round. Such use has significant carbon impacts and we believe more tightly tailored provision of these services will reduce those impacts. If you are able to reduce the number of areas in your building that are on 24/7, Estates would love to hear from you.

Building services plant is continually being upgraded as part of our Capital Plant Replacement strategy and plant is also upgraded when undertaking refurbishment projects. Each upgrade is taken as an opportunity to improve energy efficiency.

ARUP have been engaged by the university to develop our Net Zero plans for all campuses to achieve this target by 2040. Read our decarbonisation report here.

Alongside that, the Estates and Sustainability teams will be working with colleagues across Imperial to encourage everyone to take up the LEAF or Green Impact schemes to reduce energy demand and environmental impact in all we do. Read the 9 things you can do to be more sustainable at Imperial.

Where we are importing electricity onto the Campus (we generate a large proportion of power ourselves at South Kensington through the CHP), we are buying electricity backed by Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO). This OFGEM run scheme provides certificates called REGOs which demonstrate electricity has been generated from renewable sources.

Imperial has an agreed Sustainability Strategy which targets 2040 for Net Zero for our scopes 1 and 2 emissions, and we are developing a plan to do this as quickly as we feasibly can. We are working with ARUP on plans to decarbonise and retrofit our estate to cease use of fossil gas for heating, but this will need to be a multi-year programme of investment, not least because of the logistical challenge of retrofitting many buildings in dense urban campuses.

You can read our decarbonisation plan here.

Academic buildings are currently metered at a building / service level for heating and cooling, rather than at a room / space level. We are developing a way to create and share data on a building by building and Faculty by Faculty basis, which will be coming soon and shared with Faculty sustainability leads to support local sustainability action.

We are also developing an energy efficiency pathfinder programme which will make available simple meters that can go between your equipment and the wall socket, to identify which are the most energy intensive pieces of equipment. Join LEAF or Green Impact to find out what changes can be made to make your spaces and working practices more energy efficient – these schemes have simple user guides and good practice available to support you. When buying end user appliances or other products seek guidance on procuring the most efficient environmentally friendly model.

We know that joining schemes like LEAF can make a significant difference: in 2021, we saved £4,607 & 19 tCO2e from implementing LEAF in 65 labs. With all 1,685 labs participating, we could save £5.8m and 490 tCO2e.

The university undertook a study of voltage levels at the transformers it owns within its sub-stations at Weeks Hall in 2006-2007 and adjusted the voltage down to 230V which reduced energy use by 2 – 4.5%.

Voltage at all other university-owned transformers within substations at South Kensington were then reduce to 230V in line voltage levels on mainland Europe.

We have presented on sustainability at the all-staff "In Conversation With" in July 2023 and February 2024 with updates on our Sustainability Strategy, decarbonisation plan, education initiatives and sustainability initiatives in the research sphere where relevant.

Ongoing engagement is picking up through our Sustainability Committees, Sustainability Champions Network, with latest information shared on the sustainability areas of the website.