Weston Library. Photo © John Cairns
KeepCup.
we were able to go a lot further with energy saving – the space is generally quite dark and we only light the rows where the books are being collected from. We are also able to keep the tem- perature at a lower level, which is ideal for book preservation, but not condu- cive to desk working.”
The results since 2011 are impressive:
l Electricity usage down by 68 per cent l Gas usage down by 36 per cent
l An overall reduction of 1.4 million kWhs in energy usage
l Utilities savings of £113,000 over two years (2019 vs 2011)
l Annual carbon usage reduced by 591 tonnes of carbon over eight years (2019 vs 2011), supporting the University’s objec- tive of reducing carbon usage
Many of the changes implemented have been made incrementally. For example changes to the environmental control sys- tem involved capping the speed of the air handling system fans, broadening some parameters to allow minor environmental drift, and programming the two chillers to run alternatively rather than simultane- ously. All the changes were implemented
March 2020
Osney Building’s bug hotel.
one at a time and initially as a trial. Together this work achieved a 36 per cent reduction in energy usage.
Old buildings
The Bodleian Libraries estate includes buildings of all ages. Sarah says new buildings are easier overall – they are usually designed to be more sustainable from the start and can be adapted more
Radcliffe Camera (interior). Photo © John Cairns Radcliffe Camera. Photo © University of Oxford
easily. Sarah said: “For instance, in a new building you can reduce the water used in a toilet flush since most new toilets now have two options when flushing. However, for older buildings this often isn’t an easy solu- tion as the building is linked to much older waste pipework which is much smaller. In such buildings we need more water to stop blockages and waste backing up.” With many Grade I or Grade II listed buildings in the estate, Sarah has a responsibility to protect and be sympathetic to their original designs. A recent project looked to install removable secondary glazing panel that keeps heritage features visible and accessible, whilst also intro- ducing the carbon benefits of not having to heat a space as much during the colder months. But old building do have benefits: “We have some very thick walls around our buildings, which help in maintaining temperature all year round.” Trials are now running on their air handling units and Sarah says: “We are confident that the payback will significantly reduce utility bills, but we are having to do this roll-out slowly to ensure the right conditions for our book collections are maintained. The Bodleian Facilities team are wonderfully supported in this project by the University Sustainability Engineers and the Libraries Collections Care team.” IP
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