Nearly 1,500 tonnes CO2 saved in year three of SAVES 2
Article by Rachel Soper, dormitory coordinator at NUS-UK
Year three of SAVES 2 came to an end in Summer 2020, and we were able to reflect on the total impact that the project has had in 2019-20.
SAVES 2 consists of two core energy campaigns: Student Switch Off (SSO) for students living within dormitories, and Student Switch Off+ (SSO+) for students living in the private rented sector. In 2019-20, we saw impressive energy savings attributed to both campaigns, leading to reduced energy costs and reduced carbon emissions.
Across the 104 dormitories taking part in SSO in 7 countries, student residents reduced their overall energy use by 7.7%, which equates to 1.3 GWh of energy and a staggering 489 tonnes CO2. Not only were we able to identify these energy savings from the dormitories, but we were happy to see students really engaging with the project activities: more than 200 students volunteered their time with SSO as campaign Ambassadors, more than 7,300 took our online climate quizzes, and nearly 11,000 followed our social media channels.
For SSO+, more than 60,000 students living in the private rented sector received information on how to reduce their energy consumption, which in turn helps them reduce their expenditure on energy bills. In total, a 2.7 GWh can be attributed to the SSO+ campaign, which is equivalent to 961 tonnes CO2.
The total impact of SAVES 2 in 2019-20 is therefore a saving of 4 GWh and 1,450 tonnes CO2. We are incredibly proud of everything that the project has achieved, and we hope all students involved have found it interesting and informative to be a part of. You can read the full reports for SAVES 2 here (including impact from previous years of the project).
