Success for Soton Blackout

Last Friday over 250 students and staff took part in the largest energy audit conducted by any University. The event was organised by several groups in the University including Environment […]


Last Friday over 250 students and staff took part in the largest energy audit conducted by any University.

The event was organised by several groups in the University including Environment and Engineering, the sustainability and energy departments as well as SUSU in an effort to view how much energy is potentially being wasted. Student and staff volunteers were required to switch off all unnecessary electrical equipment in most buildings in Highfield, this included computers, printers, chargers and heaters.

The weekend of 28-29th April, where electrical items were switched off, was compared to several other weekends and the data suggests the University wastes £84,000 a year. For the science buffs amongst you that particular weekend saved 7 tonnes of carbon and 16,000kWh of energy. In just that weekend alone that’s enough energy to power 5 family homes for an entire year.

The event was conducted to assess how much energy the University is potentially wasting and to raise awareness of switching off unnecessary electrical items when not in use. Students who took part in the event were rewarded with a hoody, SUSU food vouchers, Domino’s pizza, VIP entry to the Cube and the chance to win an iPad.

See our Flickr photos of the event HERE