Energy Management

Solar panels

We have solar panels situated in the following buildings:

Kedleston Road - West Wing Building
Kedleston Road - Sports Centre
Markeaton Street STEM building - 50 panels (81m², 14.2 kWp)
One Friar Gate Square - 200 panels
Leek Engineering Building - 30 panels (42m², 7.5 kWp)
Leek William Morris Building - 87 panels (118m², 21.7 kWp)

We are continually reviewing the feasibility of installing additional solar arrays.

Combined Heat and Power (CHP)

A CHP unit was installed when the boilers were last replaced at Kedleston Road. The CHP unit generates electricity and any heat produced as a by-product of the electricity generation is used for space and water heating. The electricity generated cuts down the amount of electricity we need to take from the grid, saving costs and carbon emissions.

Between its installation and commissioning in April 2016 and June 2017, our CHP unit has produced a total of 775,886 kWhs of electricity at Kedleston Road. This is 14.43% of the electricity used and has saved over £100,000 in electricity costs during this period.

Passive Sustainability

Sedum roof

In addition to this, we also have a sedum (green) roof with our solar panels on our sports centre. These offer a significant amount of environmental benefits, such as:

Air quality – Sedum (green) roofs help to actively combat climate change by extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and producing oxygen
Biodiversity and wildlife – Green roofs can be seen as stepping stones for wildlife and attract a variety of flora and fauna
Energy conservation – The green roof will enhance thermal performance and roof insulation, keeping the heat in during the winter months and the heat from the sun out during the summer. This will reduce the need for air conditioning
Noise and sound insulation – The combination of soil, plants and trapped layers of air within green roofs act as an effective sound insulation with the potential to reduce sound levels by about 8dB. This would significantly reduce noise levels