Over the last few years the department has increased its efforts to be greener in various ways, e.g. reducing the amount of energy it uses, wasting less, recycling more, donating old equipment to charities for reuse etc.
A Green IT system for desktop computers around the department was phased in at the beginning of 2010. The aim of the system design is to be as unobtrusive as possible whilst saving lots of energy. Based on feedback from users, monitoring user habits and other experience the system was thus designed to be fully automatic and hence does not rely on the user having to remember to turn off the PC (although they do need to logout). The system has been highly successful (the most successful within the university) and is the major contributor to a 23% reduction in the total electricity usage compared to 2009 figures available. The green IT system uses free tools and is well documented so others can make use of the work elsewhere.
Efforts have also been made to reduce the electricity consumed by air conditioning and heating around the department. With 3 old buildings all with different inefficiencies this is not always easy. However, the department has produced some common sense guidance for the use of air conditioning and heating, and where possible automatically manages the air conditioning systems.
The department is planning to move to a single new building on the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter site in Summer 2013. Green measures and energy efficiency have been at the heart of the design process from the beginning. Within the maths building space there will be a site wide energy centre utilising ground source heat pumps and a biomass boiler, and the majority of the building will be naturally ventilated. The building will also have facilities for secure bike parking and showering to further encourage cycling. The building is targeting BREEAM excellent standard.
On a related note the Oxfordshire Cycle Challenge is into its last week. So far not many people within the department have logged journeys but hopefully this will rise in the last few days to help both the departmental and overall university totals.