Since 2001 the University has been purchasing 100 percent of its power from renewable sources and was the first in the country to do so. Part of this initiative was an advanced energy centre incorporating 3 combined heat and power (CHP) units providing heating, cooling and electricity to numerous buildings on campus. 

 Following the success of the university business park installation across the road from the main campus, ENER-G was appointed to supply a 1.6 MWe CHP system for the main campus on a capital purchase basis. The installation is located in the centre of the university campus and operates during the day - supplying heat and electricity to the whole of the university site. Keeping an eye on costs and time, ENER-G supplied a containerised unit, rather than building an energy centre, with site installation completed in six weeks. To date the unit has saved 168 tonnes of carbon.

Vital Energi has worked with the University for over 15 years to install around 7km of district heating pipe to either replace existing pipework or extend the network. A few of the most recent works include:

• Design and installation of an additional 2400 metres of replacement district heating pipe to connect the main energy centre to 12 university buildings, including catering establishments, student accommodation and a new Design Centre. Connection to the design centre took place from March 2011 to April 2011. This phase also included future-proofing the district heating network so it could be extended to other parts of the campus when required.
• Alteration to existing mains at the Hazelrigg building during refurbishment works, and new chiller mains pipework, and alteration to existing mains at the Hazelgrave building.
• Design and installation of a further 230 metres of district heating pipe to connect the main energy centre to the Leisure Centre and main plant room for distribution to the student quarter. Connection to the Leisure Centre was carried out from November 2010 to March 2011. Vital Energi upgraded the existing pipework within the main energy centre and installed new pumps, and connections for a new CHP, in order to accommodate all the improvements to the network that have been made.