The University of Reading has been awarded a £2.2million grant from the Government to reduce their carbon footprint by 10%.

The funding from the Green Heat Network fund is set to provide heating and hot water to 15 buildings on their Whiteknights campus from a large water source heat pump in the University Energy Centre.

This reduce in carbon emission aligns with the University’s mission  to continue leadership in sustainability.

Dan Fernbank, Energy & Sustainability Director at the University of Reading, said: “This project will have significant impact for the University and for the local area. The reduction in nitrous oxide emissions will be the equivalent to those of around 394 diesel cars per year, so this is good news from a local air quality perspective.

“Once the heat pump is fully operational, we expect to see savings of £150,000 per year. This could be significantly more if energy prices remain high, so from a financial point of view this also makes a lot of sense.”