Carbon Management Strategy 2022 – 2027
Carbon Reduction Plan 2022-2027 including GHG Emissions and achieving Net Zero by 2050
Date: 18th July 2022

It is intended that this document covers the period 2022 to 2027, with annual reviews during that period in order to ensure it maintains relevance and suitability to the goals of The Edge Hub and its developing estate.

Executive Summary:

The planet is warming at an unprecedented rate and the Humber region is one of the coastal regions around the world officially listed as at high risk due to rising sea levels and increasing flood threat. The imperative for action has been recognised and The Edge Hub is committed to taking steps to reduce its Carbon Footprint.

Recognising that global and national improvement will only be made with local and individual commitment and action The Edge Hub is actively seeking to employ operating practices that integrate environmental integrity with a concern for the physical and social fabric of the site. Demonstrating its resolve to generate real change The Edge Hub has made an ambitious commitment to be Carbon Neutral Campus by 2030, setting The Edge Hub’s target date and reaffirming the desire to take tangible action to contribute towards the urgent need to reverse global heating and the climate crisis.

This Strategy outlines how The Edge Hub will manage and control the carbon emissions created by its activities across the estate it owns and occupies, and how the Carbon Neutral goal will be realized. By setting realistic targets and monitoring its progress towards their attainment, The Edge Hub strives for a continual improvement in its environmental performance and in the knowledge and awareness this engenders amongst visitors, students, members, and staff. This Carbon Management Strategy intends to bring structure, a systematic approach and manageability to the whole process of controlling and reducing carbon emissions from The Edge Hub.

The Edge Hub considers the environmental dimensions and carbon-neutral commitment as a priority when operating and planning activities. The carbon neutral plan promotes innovation, eco-efficiency, reduction in scopes one to three and a gradual reduction of environmental impacts in the activities of The Edge Hub. We aim to reduce the environmental impacts of our activities, facilities, products and services, as well as, to promote, offer and investigate eco-efficient solutions, thus harmonising the conduct of our activities with the Government’s carbon neutral plans.

The Edge Hub recognises that it can only undertake effective control of its carbon emissions if it knows what impacts are being created by its activities and operational practices and those that will be made by future projects. Accordingly creating accurate and accessible data sources will be central to the success if this strategy. Key areas for action are highlighted within this document to allow control over carbon emissions to be established and those emissions systematically reduced in a sustainable manner. Sustainable reductions in carbon emissions will not be achieved from a one-off process and The Edge Hub recognises it will not be instantaneous. The goals of The Edge Hub will be met by numerous actions and involve a great number of people. Progress will be incremental and require sustainability and carbon management to be integrated within the day-to-day activities of all aspects of The Edge Hub operations. Carbon management will develop and evolve as The Edge Hub and surrounding projects grow and evolve but through performance monitoring and proactive and collective action it will generate continuous and sustainable reductions in carbon emissions and become embedded as the normal operating practice of The Edge Hub.

The Carbon Management Plan (from here written as ‘CMP’) is reported on annually via the Project Coordinator to directors and board for approval prior to being published. Created and monitored the CMP is backed by a dedicated team, allocated funds and considered of great importance in the benefits to the environment when the plan is achieved and executed.

The CMP sets out a series of carbon reduction measures to meet this year’s contribution towards The Edge Hubs Scope one and two interim 2023 target of a reduction of 15% based upon the previous year’s estimated figures of the new building development from 9,373 tCO²/year to 7,967. This figure is estimated to change as the new building development is re evaluated with new energy-efficient equipment to reduce the scope figure by 50%. With the new evaluation will come to an updated CMP and action plan to evaluate how the following year will reduce carbon scopes. For future reporting, we intend to continue to report on baseline consumption in the same manner as previously but will be looking to include additional benchmarks of data and updates on new developments. The need to improve on our overall approach to sustainability in terms of Carbon Savings is essential to progress at The Edge Hub but also engagement with staff and members i.e. learners to address and make active changes. 

Scopes:

The Edge Hub will adopt the widely recognized standard of grouping Carbon emissions into three areas. Scope 1 & 2 emissions are those over which The Edge Hub has direct control with scope 3 emissions being those which exist because of The Edge Hub’s operation but over which it has only limited or indirect control.

Scope 1 Emissions
Direct emissions resulting from Edge Hub owned and controlled assets as a result of them consuming fossil fuels
• Stationary combustion – e.g., emissions from gas used in heating plant
• Mobile combustion – e.g., emissions from fuel used in Edge owned vehicles
• Fugitive emissions –e.g., release of greenhouse gases from leaks in refrigeration and air conditioning systems
• Process emissions – typically these are emissions released from on-site manufacturing or processes

Scope 2 Emissions
Indirect emissions resulting from The Edge Hub operations that occur off-site but over which The Edge Hub has direct control. For The Edge Hub these essentially will be those carbon emissions resulting from the use of purchased electricity (the emissions resulting from the energy used in the transmission and distribution of the electricity fall under scope 3).

Scope3 Emissions

These are the emissions generated as a result of The Edge Hub’s operations but over which The Edge Hub has only indirect control. The GHG protocol sub divides scope 3 emissions into 15 categories, however in terms of The Edge Hub it is more straight forward to see them as falling into four main groups.
• Travel – Business travel and staff and student commuting
• Water – Water consumption and wastewater treatment
• Waste – Re-use, re-cycling or disposal of waste from the site
• Procurement – Capital goods purchased, food and catering, Construction.

As part of the active change, we are: 
-Addressing our Scope three impacts by using local suppliers who also have carbon neutral policies in place to reduce the overall travel and carbon footprint of equipment, staff and external factors that impact our scope three figures. We have also introduced more incentives such as bike schemes alongside reducing our water and waste through staff and members guides on wasting water and how to reduce waste all together. We commit to educating, training and motivating staff to conduct their activities in an environmentally responsible manner. 

-100% led lights on lighting control. 
-High efficiency condensing boiler

- The Edge Hub waste is primarily recyclable due to the content and equipment used and the focus upon technology reducing physical waste. Local other waste disposal. 
-The building is a re-developed site promoting use of disused space with sustainable design.
- Roof garden area enhancing biodiversity. We will follow local authorities’ actions to adapt to the impacts of climate change, following the plan laid out and adapting the process to align with The Edge Hub’s policies to ensure legal requirements are met but also encouraging staff and consumers to engage as much as possible with environment policies. 

The project will follow a field assessment criterion to ensure the project maintains a clear environmental sustainability policy reducing negative effects and helping to conserve energy and natural resources to conserve the local environment. This will particularly take into consideration the carbon impact looking at the carbon footprint of the business and the maintenance of the project.

Reducing scope one, two and three throughout the maintenance and development of the project and the development of the site. The carbon plan looks to ensure suppliers and equipment is all locally sourced to ensure less travel and scope three impact is had on the sourced products. The equipment used is of an environmentally friendly nature with the new boiler and LED lighting fitted to reduce the carbon output by over 200kw annually.

Steps taken to reduce the carbon footprint of the project will aid in the overall development of the build to be carbon neutral by 2030 including allowing for improvements after the initial developments such as solar panels. Allowing for these alterations early on in the maintenance and management plan will allow for the installation to run smoothly when the
project is ready for this step.

The Journey to a Carbon Neutral Edge Hub

The Edge Hub has set itself the target of having a carbon neutral site by 2030, with regards to its scope 1 & 2 emissions. In order to achieve this aim, this carbon management strategy and the activities it suggests will augment, inform and run in tandem with The Edge Hub’s strategic development plan. Measures already being undertaken and planned are expected to have a major impact on the scope 1 & 2 emissions from the site and begin the drive towards carbon neutrality.

Measures already being undertaken and planned are expected to have a major impact on the scope 1 & 2 emissions from the site and begin the drive towards carbon neutrality. Due to The Edge Hub qualifying as a start-up, there is a lack of data on the current scope levels; however, with predictions and estimations we are able to consider the differences that can be made to reduce initial scope and carbon footprint of the site.

There are a number of carbon efficiencies that will be made because of the implementation of the development plan. For example, building modifications and space utilisation measures are thought to have the potential to reduce carbon emissions at The Edge Hub by approximately 34%.

These are likely to take a number of years to come to fruition as the building changes finalise. Any new modifications or changes will be designed with the aim of them being at
least carbon neutral.

The updates and changes to the building within the timescales required will be a key challenge in achieving the 2027 goal. Where the building cannot be refurbished, the intention would be that they should be adjusted as required to reduce carbon impacts. As indicated above the drive towards the carbon neutral site has already begun with projects already started and in planning stages to; reduce the overall carbon impact of the site but also the scope 2 and 3 impacts. We aim to:

-Install 100% led lights on lighting control throughout the site. There are planned lighting surveys to identify where efficiencies can be made both in the type of lighting installed and the controls of its operation.
-Introduce high efficiency condensing boiler alongside heating system and air conditioning. The replacement strategy to introduce a more environmentally efficient boiler system, will dovetail with the sites development strategy and programme. Opportunities to upgrade heating systems to use heat pumps already identified would create around a 9,000MWh reduction in gas consumption and generate carbon emission savings of over 1,000 tonnes CO2e.

• The Edge Hub waste is primarily recyclable due to the content and equipment used and the focus upon technology reducing physical waste. Local other waste disposal. 
  -The building is a re-developed site promoting use of disused space with sustainable design.
  -Install a roof garden area enhancing biodiversity.
  -Reduction of energy consumption within IT data centres and tech in the hub as a whole are under review with early indications of up to 20% savings in emissions from consumption in these areas being possible.

  
  Current projections would have these projects complete and contributing power to the building by early 2023. These actions are an indication of the actions being taken in the short term with the expectation that the reviews and audits planned will generate still more opportunities to reduce the emissions loading. There is a recognition that the logistics and practical constraints of implementing the volume of work planned may mean that there is a residual level of carbon emissions that will remain at the end target date. The Edge Hub plans to offset those emissions and will comply with the widely agreed principles the carbon offsetting;
  -That the carbon reduction project would not have occurred without financing from offsets
  -Emissions reductions must be permanent or for a minimum time (e.g., 100 years)
  -The carbon reduction should be measurable, and it must be possible to quantify the carbon savings accurately
  -The project should be independently auditable and verifiable to provide transparency and to ensure the offset is traceable and cannot be double counted
  
  The Edge Hub will also explore the advantages offered by entering into power purchase agreements to ensure any residual energy it does need to consume from the national
  distribution grids comes from identified renewable sources.