Environmental performance
As a large institution, our major environmental impacts are made by using great amounts of water and energy. However, we are working to reduce the environmental footprint of our operations and infrastructure. Our environmental management system supports environmental care. It lists the targets and measures used to assess our progress.
Environmental Sustainability and Management Plan 2011 – 2016 (PDF file, 92.65 KB)
Our consumption
We have achieved relative success in curtailing our use of water and energy as well as decreasing our carbon emissions.
Consumption Counter
QUT is implementing sustainability initiatives to minimise consumption and reduce carbon emissions within a growing university community.
The counter compares actual consumption data from 2009 (interim baseline year) with the forecast 2012 consumption of electricity, gas and water across all QUT campuses for the year to date.
| ElectricitykWhr | WaterKL | GasMJ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 16,102,753 |
63,074.016 |
219,151.708 |
| 2013 | 15,176,556 |
51,649.816 |
188,548.138 |
Contact us at sustainability@qut.edu.au with your questions, comments, or to learn more about sustainability at QUT.
Energy and carbon
Energy consumption accounts for most of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the university's operation. Consequently, we have been pursuing energy conservation since 2005, resulting in a reduction of 16% in the amount of energy used per square metre.We've made excellent progress towards achieving the Australian Technical Network (ATN) targets set in 2007 with other ATN universities. The graph shows we have reduced our energy consumption by 11% since 2007.This means we met 2012/2013 targets and are on track to reach the targeted reduction of 29% by 2020/21.
Energy consumption and generation of carbon emissions 2005 - 2012 (PDF file, 80.48 KB)
Water
Water, following energy, is the second major utility purchased by QUT each year.
Over the last five years we have reduced ourwater consumption by 56%. In 2004, when water restrictions in South East Queensland escalated to Level 6, later to be relaxed to Level 5, we aimed to reduce our water consumption across three campuses by 50% or 200,000 kL per annum. The university reached its target by 2007 and continues to minimise further consumption.
Our water consumption graph shows quarterly consumption from 2004 - 2012. Note that Carseldine campus was shut down in December 2010.
QUT's water consumption 2004 - 2012 (PDF file, 29.59 KB)
How we measure up
Benchmarking against other Australian universities is one way we compare our management of utilities (electricity, gas and water), maintenance of its buildings and services infrastructure.
In addition to our commitment to ATN standards, we participate in the National Greenhouse Energy Reporting and Smart Energy Savings Programs of the Commonwealth and Queensland Governments.
See our programs and initiatives to see how we achieved our results.
