A university will cut energy use at its Whitechapel campus by 25 per cent through a significant carbon emissions reduction project.

Queen Mary University of London is investing in the project to reduce its carbon footprint and enhance the work and study environment for staff and students.

The changes are expected to lower energy bills by £500,000 per year as the university moves towards smart campuses with greater energy efficiency.

This is expected reduce energy use overall by eight per cent across the entire university.

The Whitechapel campus is the home of Queen Mary’s School of Medicine and Dentistry, where state-of-the-art laboratories and teaching facilities enable academics to train new generations of medical professionals and carry out world-leading research into cancer, air pollution and Covid-19.

Queen Mary University of London facilities operations director Garry Pritchard said: “This work reflects Queen Mary’s continual investment and drive to create smart campuses and lower our carbon footprint.

“Creating a more sustainable university is hugely important to us and through this project we will make tangible savings and better environments for everyone who works and studies across our Whitechapel campus.”

Around the clock smart monitoring will be installed to allow energy use across the campus to be remotely monitored and assessed.

This will provide live energy reporting and alerts - enabling the university to manage a situation and diagnose issues instantly, which will reduce maintenance spends.

New integrated LED lighting systems will be put in place as part of the project, which will dramatically improve energy efficiency and ensure lighting levels are more natural.

The project is funded by Salix Finance, which provides government funding to the public sector to improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions and lower energy bills.

The work will be completed over 10 months and carried out by energy performance specialists Carbon Numbers.

It will be the third phase of works delivered with Carbon Numbers to create smart campuses at Queen Mary University of London.