Each year we ask everyone to turn off all non-essential equipment before leaving for Christmas. Help us to save energy during the Christmas break by thinking carefully about which equipment has to stay on, and switching off everything else.

We’re facing a climate emergency and we want to slash the university’s carbon emissions by 63% by 2030.​ We’re already doing a lot but we need the help of everyone to meet our ambition.

Over a typical Christmas holiday period the university spends £180k on electricity despite being closed. On Christmas Day itself, we still manage to use 70% of our average annual daily energy consumption!

We are using the Building Management System (BMS) that controls many of our buildings systems to reduce heating etc wherever possible.  But 75% of all the electricity used on campus is controlled by individuals.

Even the smallest actions add up to big impacts. Let’s see if we can make significant reductions to our electricity consumption, reduce our carbon emissions and save money. Power is in your hands so, go! Switch Off!

• Switch off all electronics and lights when you leave.
• Layer up instead of turning the heating up.
• Don’t waste it – only use what you need. Whether that’s unplugging your devices when they’ve finished charging or only boiling the water you need.

Christmas Switch Off Checklist

Together with your colleagues, use our checklists to switch off your office, department or lab before leaving for Christmas.

• Christmas Switch Off checklist
• Lab walkaround checklist

Green Rewards

You can get rewarded for lots of the energy and carbon saving activities you complete. Sign up to Green Rewards, start earning points and you could earn prizes every month for yourself, and charity donations for your team.

Find out more about saving energy at the university and at home.