University St Andrews is Scotland’s first university and the third oldest in the English speaking world. Over six centuries it has established a reputation as one of Europe’s leading and most distinctive centres for teaching. University St Andrews is a leading Scottish University with a student population of seven thousand. Together with a staff of two thousand and a built estate of 238,000 square meters.

The University’s Sustainable Development vision is “to be recognised locally and internationally as a world-class institution. In conclusion to fully integrating sustainable development into all that that they do.

Savawatt controls part of the university energy efficiency projects

Nearly all the refrigeration equipment in the University had the potential to reduce running costs. A installation program of SavaWatt Controls was started. This resulted with the residences kitchen and student fridges, giving a 15% energy saving. This was successful, so all scientific fridges (including the –80C freezers) were targeted.

No changes to operation were encountered, and now every suitable fridge or freezer in the University has been modified. Finally all air conditioning units which do not have R22 or inverter control have been modified.

St Andrews has an annual energy bill of £3.1 million and carbon footprint of over 16,000 tonnes of CO2.  They were eager to benefit from the Salix scheme, which it joined in December 2006. The Salix fund enables the University to more easily fund energy reduction projects. Setting up a ring-fenced carbon reduction fund, and the requirement to spend a proportion every six months. In conclusion is has revolutionised the amount of energy efficiency projects undertaken