Unite Students drives building transformation in 50,000 UK student accommodations
(PRWEB UK) 2 February 2017 -- The Innovation Gateway alliance enables its Partners to work in partnership to reduce the costs and environmental impacts of their buildings, and allow them to benefit from the exchange of learning and experience across sectors.
James Tiernan, Group Energy and Environment Manager for Unite Students (uS), explained, “Our new ‘Up to uS’ responsible business plan is intended to build on the work we have already done with a commitment to deliver Science Based carbon reduction via our ambitious energy efficiency programme. We anticipate that joining forces with other leading companies in the Innovation Gateway will provide a unique opportunity to help ensure we have the energy, water, waste and productivity & wellbeing measures we need.”
He continued, “We see the Innovation Gateway as being a true force-multiplier for our energy and environment team, helping uS to maximise impact by accelerating the identification and validation of new initiatives, and making sure we adopt the best solutions for our properties across the UK.”
Allan Wickham, Head of Workplace Specialist Services at RBS, said: “Unite Students joining the Innovation Gateway will increase the opportunities for innovators and small businesses to test their ideas in the marketplace and with new industries. I am really pleased to see the Innovation Gateway grow. Increasing collaboration across organisations creates an environment where we can share ideas and work together to drive more resource efficient businesses.”
So far, the alliance has sourced over 640 buildings related innovations, with half now coming from outside the UK. Around 40 of these are currently under trial in the Partners’ buildings, and these will lead to very significant reductions in cost and environmental impact. RBS alone have estimated annual operational savings of £7.5 million, 200,000 m3 of water and 40,000 tonnes of CO2.
Tim Trace, Utilities Performance Manager at Heathrow, said: “Unite Students’ involvement will bolster the Innovation Gateway and accelerate its ambition to diversify, creating new opportunities for innovators and taking a lead towards more efficient and sustainable utilities’ management.”
Euan Burns, Chief Engineer at Carillion, said: “Unite Students has a diverse property portfolio and will significantly enhance the impact the Innovation Gateway can have on the built environment. SMEs will benefit through an ever increasing group of partners and the interesting challenges we will set for them.”
In 2017, the Innovation Gateway alliance will grow by joining forces with more partners from different industries, and its next call for innovation starts at the end of February 2017.
ENDS
About Unite Students (http://www.unite-group.co.uk)
Unite Students provides a ‘Home for Success’ to around 50,000 students across 28 university cities in England and Scotland. Committed to act responsibly and sustainably, uS has already successfully deployed a number of key energy efficiency initiatives, including a group-wide £21 million LED lighting and controls upgrade, piloting solar PV panel schemes, installing energy efficient air-source heat pumps and retrofitting networked energy management systems. The company also actively encourages responsible living and working habits by its employees and student customers, and is determined to go further.
About The Innovation Gateway (http://innovationgateway.com/)
The Innovation Gateway, founded by RBS, is an alliance of organisations working in partnership to reduce the risk and cost of adopting high-impact solutions to energy, waste, water and productivity & wellbeing challenges. By attracting the best innovation through the collective power of the partners’ brands, innovators and SMEs get once-in-a-life-time chance of piloting their solutions on the property portfolios of Britain’s biggest companies.
Maggie Wong, 2degrees, http://innovationgateway.com/, +44 1865597640, [email protected]
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