Decarbonising our campuses

We continue to invest in sustainable initiatives to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and provide energy security for our campuses.  

In recent years we have installed solar panels on a number of building roofs and 1,800 panels on our land near Duryard Halls of Residence, creating a total two Mega Watts of energy for our Streatham Campus. We also switched the heating source in the Cornwall House building and swimming pool from gas to clean electricity air source heat pumps. The new solar panels will generate over 1,000 MWh of clean energy per year (equivalent to providing electricity to over 250 domestic households) and save 225 tonnes of CO2 per year. The air source heat pumps at Cornwall House will save over 160 tonnes of CO2 compared to heating the building and swimming pool with fossil fuels (that’s equivalent to heating 60 domestic households).  

More solar panel installations are planned for the next three to five years to further reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and we are proposing to use wind power to provide clean energy to the Penryn Campus supporting our target to be Carbon Net Zero by 2030 and our ambition in Strategy 2030 to lead meaningful action against the climate emergency.  

We are currently planning to install solar panels on three buildings by May 2025 – Physics Building, Richards Building (St Lukes) and Holland Hall, with more to follow later in the year. 

The installation of the solar panels on the Physics Building completed in March 2025 and is expected to generate 95000 KWH of clean energy per year (equivalent to providing energy to over 20 domestic households) and save 20 tonnes of CO2 per year. 

The installation of solar panels on Holland Hall is expected to start from Monday 17 March for six weeks. The solar panels will be transported to the roof using a hoist and via scaffolding in some areas. A number of car park spaces and footpaths will be closed in the area. Please follow diversions.

The installation on Richards Building at St Luke's Campus is expected to start from Monday 31 March for four weeks. The solar panels will be transported to the roof via a telehandler lifting machine and scaffolding by the building. Please take care in the area and follow parking restrictions and pedestrian diversions for your safety.