Universities present a complex energy picture, with multiple academic buildings, research laboratories, and sports and recreational amenities. Energy demand varies throughout the year with the influx of students and staff. By using less energy and incorporating renewable energy sources, universities can do their part to reduce emissions and manage costs — while educating and empowering students, faculty, and staff to do the same.
Like many other universities, PolyU is proud to have established a campus that embraces sustainable principles, promotes resource efficiency, and steadfastly adheres to practices that drive energy saving. We control electricity use on campus prudently by properly maintaining our facilities, implementing the latest environmental technologies, as well as monitoring and assessing campus operations and practices. We remind students and faculty to set computers to power-save mode, turn off unneeded lights, and unplug or shut down equipment before leaving campus for extended periods of time.
With our ongoing energy-saving efforts, we are happy to witness a promising trend in energy-efficiency on campus over recent years. Our outstanding performance in energy management is highly recognized, and we are delighted to be an award winner in the CLP Smart Energy Award 2019. Under the CLP Smart Energy Award programme, awards were given in four categories – Energy Saving Performance, Peak Demand Management, Renewable Energy, and Smart Technology. They were divided into two sectors, one for corporate and government bodies, and the other for small and medium-sized enterprises, non-governmental organizations, and education institutes.
On 4 December 2019, PolyU representatives joined other guests in CLP’s presentation ceremony and received the Peak Demand Management Excellence Award (SME / NGO / Education Institute). We are one of the 35 winners who are carefully selected from more than 350 entries for their outstanding energy-saving performance and innovative practices.
Our success does not come easy. We monitor our energy consumption very carefully, and we flexibly adjust or reschedule the operation of certain large equipment at times of peak demand. We also involve the entire campus community in the University's energy conservation efforts through various education channels and publicity programme. Moving ahead, we will continue to integrate energy saving concepts and advanced energy saving technologies into our campus and our operation.
