Innovative building up for green award for slashing energy use

A flagship Edge Hill University building has been shortlisted in this year's prestigious Green Gown Awards.

Now in their 7th year, the awards recognise exceptional initiatives from universities and colleges across the UK to become more sustainable.

The University's new Durning Centre, has been nominated in the Sustainable Construction and Refurbishment category. 

At the forefront of innovative thinking and sustainable development, it has been built with a difference. It is totally heated by recovered waste energy and provides heating to two other University buildings.  This has removed the need for a gas fired boiler plant at the building and made improvements in energy use at two other adjacent buildings.

In the year since it opened, the Durning Centre has achieved a 33% reduction in CO₂ emissions and 46% reduction in energy use for the same services in the previous building from July 2010.

Dave Oldham, Director of Capital Developments, said: "We're delighted to have been shortlisted for this prestigious award which recognises sustainable development, something that is very much at the heart of what we do at Edge Hill University.

"Over the last 126 years the University has challenged its business and culture to emerge today as one of the top universities in the UK.  Applying this culture of excellence to transform its campus to approach a zero carbon and pedestrian campus is a triumph.  The concept of actively searching for where energy is wasted and looking for ways to recover and use this energy is sector leading.  The innovation achieved by Edge Hill University can be applied to other universities because they too have IT servers that consume high grade energy that may be wasted to atmosphere.  Also the concept of reducing the need of internal traffic movement by co-locating key services provides sustainability benefits as well as increasing productivity."

Edge Hill University is competing for this year's title against the following:

• Fraser Brown MacKenna Architects
• Liverpool John Moores University
• University of Hertfordshire
• University of the West of England, Bristol
• University of Ulster

The awards ceremony will take place on 3rd November 2011 at the Grand Connaught Rooms in London.