Five ways Runway’s End has gone green

If reducing emissions, becoming more environmentally friendly and tackling climate change is your aim, you’re in good company. Runway’s End is Hampshire County Council’s first site to be officially awarded a carbon neutral certificate by Carbon Neutral Britain. Our centre is able to offset emissions equivalent to 3,410,991 smartphone charges through the use of carbon neutral initiatives.

Alongside running a range of activities and programmes dedicated to educating students on how we affect the natural world, we’re dedicated to making Runway’s End as environmentally friendly as possible, so read on to find out five ways we’re reducing our carbon footprint.

1. Biomass heating

Our biomass boiler heats water using locally sourced wood chips, providing hot water to the whole site and heating radiators to keep the rooms comfortable. All of our wood chips come from within a 40-mile radius of our suppliers in Guildford, and this renewable fuel has a far smaller carbon footprint than gas or oil. The insulated pipes also ensure we can use as much of the energy we produce as possible.

2. Rainwater harvesting

The rainwater harvesting system across our buildings fills water tanks that feed into the water sprinkler system and refill our toilet cisterns after every flush. By reducing the amount of drinkable water we use, we help water companies to save energy.

3. Renewable energy

Last year we installed 27 solar panels to power all of our electrical appliances. All together our panels will generate about 10,009 kWh of electricity in a single year – saving 2.6 tonnes of CO2.

We have also replaced all of our incandescent lightbulbs with LEDs (which stands for Light Emitting Diodes) that use less energy without reducing brightness. Most lightbulbs work by heating a metal filament and surrounding gasses to such a high temperature that it produces light, that means 90% of the electricity used by the bulb is wasted on heat. However, LEDs produce bright beams of light with very little heat thanks to a property of semi-conductors called ‘electroluminescence’. By using LEDs, our energy consumption can become far smaller than the amount of electricity solar panels generate. With clean energy to spare, we can feed electricity back into the National Grid to help you to be greener too!

4. Planting trees

We’re not just reducing our impact on the climate; we’re giving back to nature too. We recently planted 400 native tree saplings to create a striking natural environment for future generations. As well as providing natural shelter from storms and cover for local wildlife, the root systems will improve soil drainage so burrowing animals can thrive.