Congratulations to UWS Lanarkshire – a sustainable campus for sustainable minds
The campus at UWS Lanarkshire is carbon neutral and powered by 100% renewable energy. Photograph: University of the West of Scotland
The campus is designed to revolutionise students’ higher education experience through recognising that physical and digital spaces both shape learning.
Traditional lecture halls and enclosed classrooms have been put to one side in favour of an open, technology-rich, immersive and interactive environment which allows for both online and face-to-face collaboration and is open 24/7.
The new campus covers 26,000 square metres of flexible space, serving more than 4,100 students and 200 staff in five academic schools. It houses simulated nursing and midwifery wards, an extreme environments laboratory, state-of-the-art biomechanics and specialist sports labs, auditorium, a gym, health and fitness centre, a conference space and areas for individual and collaborative working.
The three campus buildings are linked by The Street, a work and social space for students, staff and the local community with access to businesses including the bank HSBC, retailer John Lewis and engineering company Babcock, providing collaboration opportunities for students, graduates and academics.
Shout out to sustainability!
While the campus it replaced contributed 22% of the university’s overall carbon footprint, Lanarkshire is carbon neutral, powered by 100% renewable energy from the nearby Blantyre Muir wind farm and solar panels. Rainwater harvesting collects, filters and pumps water around the campus and the building incorporates LED lighting linked to daylight and occupancy. The campus ventilation system is able to monitor CO2 concentration and vary airflow rates accordingly, saving electricity.
New bus routes from nearby areas serve the site and electric vehicle charging points have been introduced. Cycle storage and maintenance are provided thanks to a partnership with Cycle Scotland.
UWS and KEY FM Partnership
We are working with UWS drawing on their wealth of knowledge and experience such as is evidenced by their success in winning this prestigious award. Together we aim to create the world’s first framework for autonomous buildings. This project will encompass all traditional application environments available in the built environment and will evolve to integrate such technology as digital twins, virtual reality, augmented reality, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence, autonomous smart building functions, predictive and conditional–based monitoring and so much more.
Key FM, University of Western Scotland and Innovate UK
Oh and we’ve also heard on the grapevine that the Lanarkshire has pioneered in-house roasting of Fairtrade coffee beans at the university – so we’re keen to give the certainly excellent coffee a try on our next visit!
If you want to evolve your own Smart Estate or find out more about autonomous buildings, please contact us for more information or follow us on our journey with UWS for more inspiration!
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