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Energy and Emissions

The Office of Facilities Management (OFM) is responsible for implementing all actions which improve energy efficiency within the Sustainability@MQ programme.  OFM’s knowledge and technical expertise advise the energy and emissions initiatives. The Energy and Emissions Action Group is also responsible for proposing the next steps and agreeing on actions for implementation.

Energy Savings Action Plan

The NSW Government introduced new legislation in May 2005 to encourage a better understanding of energy use by business, government agencies and local councils and establish detailed plans of action for savings. As a result, high energy users in NSW are required to prepare Energy Savings Action Plans. MQ is listed amongst the top 200 energy users in NSW and is therefore required to submit an Action Plan, which is available to download (PDF 3.62MB).
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Legislative Requirements

Australia’s unconditional greenhouse gas emission reduction target is 5% by 2020. This equates to a 27% reduction in emissions per capita. Additionally, for the first time, industries will be forced to pay for the carbon pollution they generate under the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS). The scheme will be introduced on 1 July 2010, and will cap Australia’s contribution to global climate change by enabling the achievement of our national emission reduction target for 2020, and beyond.
In the interim, and to help prepare Macquarie University for the CPRS economy, we are required to report under the National Greenhouse and Emission Reporting Scheme (NGERS). NGERS is an Act to provide for the reporting and dissemination of information related to greenhouse gas emissions, greenhouse gas projects, energy production and energy consumption, and for other purposes. Facilities emitting over 25 kt of carbon dioxide equivalent in a financial year are required to register and report. Since Macquarie University sits in this category, we are required by law to respond appropriately and proportionately. Failure to comply will have dire implications for the financial and environmental performance of the University.
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energy saving campaign - turn off turn green

You may have seen these stickers and posters around campus. They have been applied to all light switches and also to office areas, tutorial rooms and lecture halls.

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This campaign was designed by Macquarie University student Jenny Tan. Jenny entered the campus wide Power Saving Campaign competition in 2008. Her design received the highest number of votes and has since been rolled out campus wide.
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green power

The University has recently entered into a one year contract with the state government for electricity supply, with an initial purchase of 5% green power (which is 100% accredited) to be reviewed prior to the 12 month mark. The aim is to increase our purchase of green power in 1% increments each year. The initial 5% figure was decided on for several reasons:

1. Macquarie University currently utilises co-generation and geo-thermal technology to supply energy to various areas. This innovative and forward thinking should be considered as an investment in green energy, hence making our actual percentage of green power much higher.
   
2. Half way through 2008, the University’s 10 year energy contract expired. As one can appreciate, the cost of electricity has risen drastically since 1998! The increased financial pressures on our energy budget meant that a higher percentage of renewable energy was not feasible.
   
3. In the interest of increasing efficiency, we felt that money would be better spent on education, awareness and efficiency measures rather than simply purchasing green power.
   
4. The University is seriously considering alternative electricity supply options (for example, through increased co-generation). We will be conducting a distributed network assessment that will allow us to understand the feasibility of producing our own energy on campus.

The current contract is only for one year, and we are currently assessing the viability of a state government contract for energy supply.
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co-generation

The co-generation plant next to the library uses gas to fuel two generators that produce electrical energy to power the surrounding buildings. The heat recovered from the generators is used to run an absorption chiller.

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You can find out more about how it works by reading its FAQ (PDF 0.34MB) It produces chilled water for consumption in surrounding buildings, as well as providing heating to various buildings including the pools in the Aquatic Centre. The system reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 44% compared to a traditional system. The co-gen system received the NSW state government Green Globe Award for Sustainability in 2001. Further co-generation is something Macquarie University is currently assessing as a means of further reducing our carbon footprint.

see more photos...
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Air-conditioning set points

One of the major energy users and greenhouse gas emitters on campus is air-conditioning. By increasing or decreasing the temperature to better suit the outside environment enormous savings can be made. Campus building energy trials (PDF 0.82MB)were undertaken to assess the impact of changing temperature set points to a sustainable level and measure the potential resulting energy advantage and consequent CO2 emission reduction.
Initial trial findings indicate the following energy savings:

• Results in E11A over 5 day test week: 1,183 kilowatt hour (kWh) reduction, or a 20% decrease in energy consumption. This equates to a CO2 reduction of 1,278kg over a 5 day period.
• Results in E3B over 5 day test week: 408.725 kWh reduction, or a 7.3% decrease in energy consumption. This equates to a CO2 reduction of 441.5kg over a 5 day period.

We have started changing the set points for air conditioning to have a "dead zone" between 20 and 25 degrees. That is no heating will occur till the temperature goes below 20 and no cooling until it goes above 25.
This has been implemented in E4A, E4B, X5B, E3B and soon in E6A and E6B. Changes to the set temperature point will also occur in E11A in the near future. Adjusting the temperature ranges to more appropriate outside conditions will enable us to make substantial energy and carbon emission savings. You can find out more about why these changes have been made in a paper by Richard de Dear (PDF 1.80MB)
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did you know?

Did you know that increasing the air conditioning temperature setting in summer by just 1 degree saves 10% energy and emissions?

 

350 animation

350 is the red line for human beings, the most important number on the planet. The most recent science tells us that unless we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, we will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth.
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What else?

For more information on what Macquarie is doing and what you can do, view our article on energy education (PDF 0.33MB). We are currently developing an air conditioning campaign that will target education and efficiency. Between now and 2010, the focus for Sustainability@MQ will be on strengthening relationships, governance structures and working towards achieving targets and goals. In particular we will:

• Endeavour to reduce our carbon footprint by improving resource efficiency through technology and individual accountability.
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GET INVOLVED

If energy and emissions are of interest to you then pleasecontact us or send us an email: sustainability@mq.edu.au and get involved with the Energy and Emissions Action Group. Upon receiving your email we will let you know when the next Energy and Emissions Action Group meeting is on.
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