Sustainability

At-Bristol Science Centre
Sustainabilityƒ
Visitor attraction
Educational charity
Community engagement
Science teacher CPD
Venue hire
Exhibition design and manufacture
246,000 visitors & 57,000 school children
annually
11 acre city centre location – 2 buildings,
2 public squares, 1 car park, 1 Big Screen

Sustainabilityƒ
Working to be an exemplar sustainable organisation
Environmental
Energy
Water
Waste
Travel
Procurement
Nature
Social
Access, Inclusion & Diversity
Community Engagement
Fair Trade
Culture change across the whole organisation led by
the Sustainability Action Group

Sustainabilityƒ
Awards and accreditations
Gold Green Tourism Business Scheme Award
South West Tourism Excellence Awards 2011-2012: Silver – Sustainable Tourism
Bristol Tourism and Hospitality Awards 2012: Winner – Sustainable Tourism
VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2013: Highly Commended – Sustainable Tourism
West of England Carbon Challenge Carbon Champion Award Winners 2011, 2012 and 2013
Catering accreditations in partnership with Elior: Gold Soil Association Food for Life Award,
Silver Fairtrade Business Award, Compassion in World Farming Good Egg & Chicken Awards,
One Star Sustainable Restaurant Association

Sustainabilityƒ
How to turn a derelict listed building into a
test bed for sustainable technologies
(when you have lots of money)

Sustainabilityƒ
A millennium project regeneration of the
historic harbourside

Sustainabilityƒ
Renovation of a Grade II Listed Building

Sustainabilityƒ
1903 French Hennebique style railway goods shed

Sustainabilityƒ
2000 science centre with the latest technologies

Sustainabilityƒ
Innovative sustainable building systems

Sustainabilityƒ
14 years on, how to continue reducing
energy usage
(when you have less money)
Monthly Electricity Consumption
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
January
February
M
arch
April
M
ay
June
July
August
Septem
ber
O
ctober
Novem
ber
Decem
ber
kWhpermonth
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013

Sustainabilityƒ
21% energy reduction
(and three carbon champion awards)
over three years

Sustainabilityƒ
Energy types
Electricity
97%
Diesel & Petrol
1% Flights
2%
Gas
0%
Electricity grid
supply is green
contract with Eon

Sustainabilityƒ
Energy Reduction Group
Chris Dunford Chair
Annette Hawker Venue Hire
Ed Williams IT
Ellie Savage / Simon Ridge Estates
John Whittaker Security
Joie Ledger SLC
Kevin Collett Elior
Mari Knapp Exhibitions & Workshop
Tim Robertson Almeda

Sustainabilityƒ
Sustainability Action Group
Chris Dunford Chair
Annette Hawker Venue Hire
Ed Williams IT
Ellie Savage / Simon Ridge Estates
John Whittaker Security
Joie Ledger SLC
Kevin Collett Elior
Mari Knapp Exhibitions & Workshop
Heather Smith Marketing
Kat Adams HR & Volunteers
Lucy Pope Fundraising / SMT
Lucy Whigham VS / Bookings / Retail
Mike Peacock Learning incl. LST
Sheila Kearns Finance
Simon Cooper Board of Trustees
Tim Robertson Almeda

Behaviour
Vs
Technology
Sustainabilityƒ

• Security trained to turn off as much of the building as possible as
early in the evening as possible
• Cleaning team trained to turn off lights as they move about the
building out of hours
• For out of hours events building systems only operate during the
live event, not during the set-up or break-down times
• Signage to encourage staff to turn off lights and devices and to use
stairs instead of lifts
• Staff trained how to use office heating, cooling and ventilation more
effectively and conservatively
Five examples of culture change
Sustainabilityƒ

• Modernisation of IT server equipment and virtualisation
• High-tech lighting solutions: motion sensors, automated timed
control, LED’s
Low-tech lighting solutions: pull-cords, lag switches, re-positioning
switches to increase usage by staff
• Bin store extractor fan changed to run only during opening hours
• Ensuring that all exhibits are controlled by a single ‘exhibit switch’ and
allowing different floors to be turned on and off separately
• Fine-tuning and introducing new programming into the control
software of our building’s advanced environmental systems……
Five examples of ‘small’ technology projects
Sustainabilityƒ

3 large technology
projects........
Sustainabilityƒ

Energy Monitoring System
138 sensors throughout the building
Constantly recording energy usage of every
electrical appliance 24 hours a day
All data processing done in-house
An invaluable tool for reducing consumption
Sustainabilityƒ

Typical daily usage
Sustainabilityƒ

The effect of cold weather
Sustainabilityƒ

The impact of an out of hours event
Sustainabilityƒ

Focusing in on exhibition consumption
Sustainabilityƒ

Base load when closed
Sustainabilityƒ

Sustainabilityƒ
Photovoltaic array

50 kilowatt peak system
208 panels
Large enough to power 11 UK
households
Providing 3.2% of our annual
electricity use
Meeting 20% of the building’s needs
at peak performance
Saving 25 tonnes of CO2 per year
Currently performing 7.5% above
predictions
Funding grant from EDF
Links to our educational programme Sustainabilityƒ

Sustainabilityƒ
LED car park lighting

Sustainabilityƒ
Stairwells:
Compact fluorescents replaced with
LED’s on lux level and motion control
Decks:
CDMTs replaced with bespoke LED’s
designed to fit into existing fittings
More consistent, brighter and cleaner
lighting throughout (intensity = 196
lux, colour temperature = 4000K)
Energy reduction of approximately 65%
across the whole car park
Saving 330 tonnes for carbon dioxide
per year

Behaviour
&
Technology
Sustainabilityƒ

Energy reduction plans for the future
Lighting improvements in event spaces
LED lighting roll out
BMS optimisation
Water reduction drive
Replacing air source heat pumps, and whole
system analysis
Sustainabilityƒ

Business benefits...
Sustainabilityƒ

Sustainabilityƒ
Attracting more business and funding
For example, green venue hire.........

Mission benefits...
Sustainabilityƒ

Sustainabilityƒ
Sustainability Engagement
Incorporating sustainability into our mission to,
‘Make science accessible to all’
Using ƒ’s own sustainability journey as a case
study to explore the larger issues
Developing innovative ways to engage traditional and
new audiences with sustainability science

Sustainabilityƒ
Formal Learning
Workshops for school groups covering all stages of the curriculum
Key Stage 2 'Green Schools Revolution LIVE' funded by The Co-operative
Key Stage 2 'The Water Cycle' funded by Allianz Insurance PLC
Key Stage 3 'Climate Science Outreach Project' funded by Shell and Siemens
Key Stage 3 'Understanding Our World' funded by The Science & Technology Facilities Council
Key Stage 3 ‘Create Sport’ funded by The Institution of Civil Engineers
Key Stage 4 ‘Engineering Solutions for Sustainability' funded by Institution of Engineering & Technology

Sustainabilityƒ
Engineering Solutions for Sustainability
The Earth as a
closed system,
limited resource
Thinking about
international
energy demand

Sustainabilityƒ
Engineering Solutions for Sustainability
Options for energy on
a national scale
Engineering solutions
for wind power
- Experimental design
- Social and financial
dimensions

Sustainabilityƒ
Engineering Solutions for Sustainability
At-Bristol as a case
study of a sustainable
organisation
Tours of our building
technologies

Higher Education
Sustainability Internship Programme
MSc Science Communication Sustainability Placement
MSc Environmental Engineering Projects
Building used as a resource for trainee teachers and
environmental chemistry postgraduates
Science teacher CPD
(local, national and international with British Council)
Sustainabilityƒ

Informal Learning
Events, activities and outreach for the public
Sustainability experiments at Festival of Nature & Electric Sunday
Sciencewise adult event debating renewable energy and the feed-in
tariff and informing government policy
Tours and talks (Schumacher Institute, University of Bristol,
Government Chief Scientific Advisor, Forum for the Future)
Sustainabilityƒ

Informal Learning
Green After Hours event – Bristopia!
(part of Bristol’s Big Green Week 2013)
Sustainabilityƒ

Behind-the-scenes sustainable building tours
Staff and volunteers – as training
School groups
ƒ members
General public
Bristol’s Big Green Week
Bristol Doors Open Day
University students
British Interactive Group
Trainee teachers
Industry professionals
Local sustainability groups
Science Communication Master Class
Journalists & media
Venue Hire clients
Film crew for primary school sustainability club
Visiting delegation of Indian science teachers
Film crew from Czech television science show Sustainabilityƒ

Promoting our sustainability
Sustainabilityƒ

Bristol Green Capital
“A low carbon city with a high quality
of life for all”
Sustainabilityƒ

European Green Capital 2015
Sustainabilityƒ

Chris Dunford
Sustainability Engagement Manager
01179157184 / 07967334184
chris.dunford@at-bristol.org.uk
Questions or comments?
Sustainabilityƒ