Across Europe, Students Achieving Valuable Energy Savings (SAVES 2) supports students in minimising their carbon footprint in their university and private accommodation, raising awareness about energy efficiency and smart metering, and installing good sustainability habits which last beyond their time in education. SAVES 2 builds on the success of our EU Intelligent Energy Europe-funded SAVES project (2014-2017), that expanded the Student Switch Off campaign to Cyprus, Sweden, Lithuania and Greece.  

Thanks to an EU Horizon 2020 grant, we have been able to expand our work to make an even greater impact, through SAVES 2.  Through the Horizon 2020 grant we will continue to expand UK’s Student Switch Off campaign to Cyprus, Greece, Lithuania, Ireland, Romania, and Bulgaria.  Lasting 42 months from May 2017, in addition to running Student Switch Off in all the participating countries, the project will highlight the significant benefits of smart meters for students (in monitoring and minimising their energy usage in private rented accommodation), raise awareness around energy efficient appliances and Energy Performance Certificates, through a campaign known as Student Switch Off +. We aim to reduce students' energy usage as well as their exposure to fuel poverty, benefitting both the planet and their pockets.  

Erasmus Students’ Network, European Students’ Union, and the Student Hotel/Class of 2020, form part of the project's Communications and Networking Advisory board, in addition to smart meter roll out organisations in the respective countries - Smart Energy GB (UK), Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (Ireland), ESO (Lithuania), Hedno (Greece) and Energy Policy Group (Romania)

Here are some of SAVES' initial achievements (2014-2017), that we will build on this time around:  

• 18% of students in dormitories across the participating countries signed up 

• 4 GWh of energy saved – which is 1,727 tonnes of CO2 

• 99% of participating students said they would keep up the energy saving habits they'd developed 

Through SAVES 2 we hope to:

• Reach 38,000 students living in dormitories each academic year (114,000 students over 42 months) with the SSO campaign that inspires them to adopt sustainable energy behaviours at a key stage of their lives

• Save quantifiable amounts of energy in student dormitories (9GWhs)

• Reach over 100,000 students when they are looking at moving into the private rented sector to encourage them to make housing choices that minimise their exposure to fuel poverty - e.g. by demanding to see EPCs of the property, not delecting poor-rated properties and creating more demand for efficient rental properties

• Reach over 100,000 students when they move into, and live in, the private-rented sector to improe understanding of their energy bills, to provide general advice on the efficient management of equipment and heating controls, to encourage the uptake of smart meters to to raise awareness of how to use in-home displays to reduce household energy consumption.