UC is on a journey to neutralise carbon emissions, in line with the aspirations of our students and staff, our partners and communities, and Aotearoa New Zealand's commitment to achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. We want to be part of the solution to the climate emergency that has been declared in Aotearoa New Zealand, Waitaha Canterbury and around the world.
Since the mid-1990s UC has had an energy efficiency programme, and between 2010 and 2019 UC achieved a 23% decrease in our carbon emissions. The energy efficiency programme includes:
- energy efficient design of new buildings and renovations
- energy audits and ongoing monitoring
- improving the efficiency of our buildings by upgrading heating, ventilation, cooling, lighting, glazing and insulation
UC has a strategic objective to become net carbon neutral by 2030. We are intending to do this by:
- Replacing coal as a heating fuel with wood (biomass), which will reduce our space-heating emissions by about 80% (equivalent to 9000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions)
- Heating a group of buildings with ground source heat pumps, which are powered by electricity (a mostly renewable resource in New Zealand). These pumps draw stable, latent heat from the ground through the building. Buildings using this system at UC include Haere-roa (the UC Students' Association building), the Health Centre, the student accomodation block Tupuānuku, and soon, the Science Precinct.
- Continuing to improve the energy efficiency of our buildings. Legacy buildings are being progressively upgraded with improvements to thermal efficiency so that less heating is needed.
2022
Electricity
Total energy consumption (GJ)
94,400
Low carbon energy consumption (GJ)
94,400
Coal
Total energy consumption (GJ)
112,613
Low carbon energy consumption (GJ)
n/a
Grand total
Total energy consumption (GJ)
207,013
Low carbon energy consumption (GJ)
94,400
2023
Electricity
Total energy consumption (GJ)
96,125
Low carbon energy consumption (GJ)
96,125
Coal
Total energy consumption (GJ)
97,720
Low carbon energy consumption (GJ)
n/a
Grand total
Total energy consumption (GJ)
193,845
Low carbon energy consumption (GJ)
96,125
Electricity
The University increased electricity usage by 0.5% over the previous year. During this period University EFTS had increased by 6.9%. All of the UC electricity usage is renewable and zero carbon, with Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) issued by our electricity provider, Meridian.
Coal
The University decreased coal usage by 11.5% over the previous year.
Climate Resilience
In 2021 UC adopted a Climate Change Risk Register, which sets out key risks our university faces from climate change. Following this, in 2022 UC embarked on a detailed Climate Change Infrastructure Review. This multi-year project will assess UC’s built and natural assets systematically to test their resilience in the face of modelled climate change scenarios for our region.
Climate Scenarios
Climate scenarios are tools for understanding how an entity will perform in a range of plausible futures. They are not predictive. The development of climate scenarios by organisations is becoming increasingly common, and in New Zealand is a requirement of Reporting Entities under the new Climate Standards. Currently, Reporting Entities are large corporations; universities are not required to undertake this work.
However, in 2023 all New Zealand universities, Te Pūkenga and the three wānanga collaborated to undertake a sector-level climate scenario project. In doing this they collaborated with the External Reporting Board (which issued the Climate Standards) and a range of others including iwi, local government, third sector organisations. The final report from the Tertiary Education Sector Climate Futures Group can be found here.
Green Buildings
Exemplifying UC’s commitment to green building practices, UC is a proud member of the New Zealand Green Building Council. The New Zealand Government aims to have zero-carbon buildings by 2050 and in this media release here our Beatrice Tinsley building, home of UC's College of Science, is shown as an example of how our architecture industry is making moves towards that goal.
Existing certified green buildings on campus include:
- School of Biological Sciences
- John Britten engineering facility
- Health Centre
See more information about green buildings at UC here
UC has employed an Energy Manager since 2009 to work with UC Staff, consultants, contractors, and Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA), to find ways to increase energy efficiency in the built-environment and reduce water consumption on campus.
EECA works with UC to identify and provide energy audits; feasibility studies and design/commissioning advice to deliver energy efficient projects.
Toitū carbonreduce certification
UC was the first university in the Southern Hemisphere to achieve CEMARS (now Toitū carbonreduce certification) in 2011. Toitū certification involves measurement and planned reduction of greenhouse gas emissions generated as a result of the university's business activities.
See UC's 2020 carbon disclosure statement here.
The UC Sustainability Policy seeks to embed sustainable practices into the University’s operations as we strive towards becoming a sustainable organisation.
