University of Dundee

High-quality teaching, world-leading research, and a £200 million investment in a compact, friendly campus with an unrivalled position in the heart of the city centre - it's no wonder Dundee has been rated number one in Scotland and in the UK Top 10 for the past 5 years in the Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey.

The University of Dundee has been an EAUC Member since 2006!

Energy

The University was the first in Scotland to have a Combined Heat and Power plant installed in 1996. It works so well the University is exempt from paying Climate Change Levy. We have recently added a 1MW thermal store to improve our efficiency even more. Our Dalhousie Building won the 2008 Green Gown Award for Energy and Water Efficiency. This £15 million building was designed so that we could utilise the low grade heat from our Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant. It also uses solar shading, heat recovery systems, intelligent lighting and water controls. We have many ongoing energy saving projects—currently we are about to invest > £300,000 in LED lighting and sensors across our main campus. We also have a policy to only fit ‘A’ rated energy goods into buildings.

Transport

Being a city centre campus, walking and cycling are the most convenient and accessible ways for students to travel within Dundee. All of our city campus residences have secure bike parking and bike racks are provided across all campuses. We were the 1st employer in Tayside to achieve Cycling Scotland’s ‘Cycle Friendly Employer Award’ in 2010.  ‘Recycled’ bike sales and free bike maintenance are organised throughout the year on our city campus and cycle maps of Dundee are widely available on campus. In a recent survey Dundee University had the most electric vehicles in their fleet in Scotland. We have also installed 6 fast 32A electric vehicle chargers and one rapid charger 120A (the 1st University to have a rapid charger) on campus which are freely available for public use.

Biodiversity

Our Botanic Garden is set in 9.5 hectares, just over a mile from the city campus near the banks of the River Tay. It features many species of indigenous British plants as well as representative collections of important plants from all the continents of the world. To help increase biodiversity on campus we sowed a woodland shade mix of British native plants under trees near the Main Library in 2009 and in another wildflower area we have also planted a small orchard. Our University allotment is thriving and won a Bronze award in this year’s local authority competition. Our students grow a variety of fruit and vegetables and every year we take a selection of vegetables to make into vegetable soup and give it away during freshers’ week.

Recycling

All our IT Suites print double-sided and use recycled paper. You will find recycling points in the courtyards of our residences and all around the campus. There are over 1,500 paper recycling bins across the city campus and recycling figures have risen to over 65%. We have installed 7 ‘recycle and reward’ machines –where students put in an empty can or plastic bottle and receive a voucher (3p for plastic bottles, 5p for cans) to spend in our campus shop. Initiatives introduced by the University include installing 10 ‘Big Belly’ bins, which prevent overflowing by holding seven times as much as conventional bins resulting in a reduction of the number of collections, their design also makes them seagull proof. A student freeshop and staff re-use portal encourages staff & students not to throw items away and save money on goods that others give away, while the removal of individual desk bins and introduction of recycling points in offices and corridors across campus has drastically cut waste and increased our recycling figures.

Fairtrade

In 2008, the University of Dundee was granted Fairtrade status by the Fairtrade Foundation. The University and the Students’ Union work hard to supply and stock Fairtrade-approved goods wherever possible and also run events to support Fairtrade Fortnight annually. The City of Dundee was the first Scottish city to be named a Fairtrade city in 2004, to reflect the high number of retail and catering outlets supplying fairly traded goods.

Main Contact Name: Trudy Cunningham, Environment & Sustainability Officer
Main Contact Email & Telephone: t.z.cunningham@dundee.ac.uk and 01382 386996
Further information/website: www.dundee.ac.uk/estates/energy-environment
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