Preston Montford's Energy

As part of the Field Studies Council, we here at FSC Preston Montford make a concerted effort to reduce our carbon emissions – with the charity as a whole aiming to reduce its carbon footprint by 40% per learner between 2011 and 2020. 

Over the past year we’ve made a number of changes to further reduce our emissions. Our Wenlock accommodation building was refurbished in the summer of 2016 - what better time to connect this and the Darwin building to our Biomass Boiler?! We now have 95% of our estate heated by the boiler, which burns carbon neutral wood chips and has eliminated our need for LPG (Liquid Propane Gas), as the remaining 5% is heated by electric heating. 

Our Biomass Boiler House

We’ve continued to replace lightbulbs with LED and energy saving bulbs, and our kitchen now uses a low energy electric oven and stove, contributing to a 25.3% reduction in annual electricity use since 2012.

New LED Lighting in our Dining Room

Most taps and showers on site are now water saving ‘push’ operated varieties, this stops taps being left running longer than necessary and has also aided a dramatic reduction in water usage over the past 12 months. 

In order to perform our fieldwork with groups we have a small fleet of 3 minibuses, which during 2016 travelled slightly more (2.7%) miles than the previous year, however this is outbalanced by a large decrease in the number of coaches the centre hired for use by larger groups – so overall our carbon emissions from transport will have reduced. More groups are choosing to stay on site, making the most of our fantastic estate, so we hope to see this trend continue. 

FSC Preston Montford

Along with other FSC centres we don’t just take steps to reduce our impact on the environment but we also share what we do with everyone who visits Preston Montford with the hope that they will do their bit when they return home.

Many small changes can go a long way, with our small changes meaning we use 29% less carbon per year than in 2012. To see how much carbon you use at home, you can fill out this easy questionnaire online: http://www.carbonindependent.org/

Written by Ruaridh Maxwell, Education Assistant at FSC Preston Montford.

FSC achieved the Carbon Trust standard in 2015 which not only recognises the work that has been done to reduce carbon emissions but is also a commitment to making future reductions.  You can read more about our commitment to the environment including the FSC Carbon Management plan at http://www.field-studies-council.org/about/environment.aspx