Skip to main content
About us

Breadcrumb

  1. Queen Mary University of London
  2. About us
  3. Sustainability
  4. Sustainable development goals
  5. Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
  6. Operations

Operations

Energy-efficient buildings and refurbishment

Queen Mary has standards in place to improve the energy performance of new buildings and refurbishment projects. Under its approach to construction and refurbishment, major new-build projects aim for BREEAM Excellent, while refurbishment projects aim for BREEAM Very Good and can also be assessed using SKA standards. Queen Mary also monitors how refurbishment projects contribute to carbon reduction and aims to improve the energy performance of existing buildings when work is carried out. Energy-efficiency measures vary by project and include LED lighting, daylight and occupancy controls, insulation, higher-performance glazing, heat recovery, heat pumps and photovoltaic panels. Recent projects at the John Vane Science Centre, Green Energy Hub, Queens’ Building and Mile End Library have included combinations of these measures. 

Queen Mary is also upgrading existing buildings through its energy-management programme. Work at the Graduate Centre to improve heating, cooling and ventilation controls is expected to save 100,000 kWh each year. Changes to air-handling controls at Qmotion and the Peter Landin Building are expected to save a further 11,255 kWh annually. 

Recovering waste heat for campus heating

In 2024, Queen Mary completed a major energy-efficiency upgrade at the Joseph Priestley Building, where the University’s Tier 2 computing facility is based. The new heat-recovery system captures heat produced by the data centre and converts it into hot water at around 65-75°C. The recovered heat is used in the Joseph Priestley Building and fed into the Mile End district-heating network, reducing the need for gas-fired heating. The system has a capacity of 390 kW and is expected to recover around 3.4 GWh of heat each year. Queen Mary estimates that it will reduce Scope 1 emissions by around 625 tonnes of CO₂e annually, with a net annual reduction of around 553 tonnes of CO₂e once the additional electricity needed to run the system is included 

Cutting carbon emissions

Queen Mary monitors energy use and carbon emissions across its managed estate as part of its carbon-management programme and ISO 14001-certified Environmental Management System. In 2024/25, combined Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions were 24% below the University’s 2018/19 baseline. Scope 2 emissions were 31% lower, and Scope 1 emissions were 11% lower. Queen Mary has set a further target to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 18% by the end of 2027/28 against 2023/24 levels. Energy use and carbon performance are monitored through University sustainability and environmental-management processes, allowing progress to be reviewed and further areas for action to be identified. 

Planning further reductions in energy consumption

During 2025, Queen Mary developed a three-year Energy and Carbon Reduction Plan with Engineering & Estates, the Sustainability Team and the University’s Building Management System contractor, Carbon Numbers. The plan brings together projects to reduce energy consumption across the estate, including Building Management System upgrades, new BMS connections, better control of heating and ventilation schedules, optimisation of existing systems and LED-lighting upgrades. The programme has an Invest to Save budget of around £5 million. Once all planned projects are completed, Queen Mary aims to reduce annual energy use by 12,755,493 kWh, with potential annual financial savings of around £2.2 million depending on future energy prices. 

Identifying and reducing energy waste

Queen Mary reviews energy use to identify buildings and activities where consumption can be reduced. The University uses Building Management Systems, energy monitoring and formal energy reviews, and complies with Phase 3 of the UK Government’s Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS). More information on this work is available through Queen Mary’s energy-management programme. This monitoring has led to practical changes. During 2024/25, a six-week campaign in the G.O. Jones Building looked at energy used by laboratory fume cupboards. Average sash opening fell by 41 cm during the campaign, saving more than £11,000 in energy costs and reducing carbon emissions by more than 10 tonnes of CO₂e. Queen Mary also uses energy data to improve the way buildings operate. This includes adjusting heating, cooling and ventilation schedules, improving BMS controls and identifying equipment that can be switched off when buildings are not in use. 

Responsible investment

Queen Mary’s Investment Policy, updated in June 2025, includes a specific commitment to minimise investment in fossil-fuel companies where this can be achieved without a significant effect on financial risk and return. The policy uses MSCI criteria to define fossil-fuel companies, including companies with proven or probable coal reserves and oil or natural-gas reserves used for energy purposes. Investment managers are also required to consider environmental, social and governance factors when managing Queen Mary’s funds. 

Back to top