Environmental sustainability

We care about the environment

We are very keen to be as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible. Our environmentally friendly building is made from local sustainable materials including timber from renewable resources.

We use a Sedum ‘grass’ roof over our conference room building keeping the building cool in the summer and warm in the winter, encouraging wildlife and filtering pollutants from the air. Inside our conference room building special blinds are used to reduce glare and allow in the natural daylight, thereby reducing demand on air-conditioning and lighting.

We have water butts positioned around the grounds for watering the flower tubs and hanging baskets. On our grounds, we have also created a meadow from grassland establishing an abundance of wildflowers to increase the diversity of birds, butterflies and bees. We have also maintained our natural pond and taken steps to encourage the natural wildlife to return throughout the year. Roffey Park Institute has also achieved an ISO14001 certification for Environmental Management System.

We care about our energy use

We are very keen to minimise our energy use and have introduced LED lighting throughout the site. We also have an Environmental Action Plan in which we monitor all energy use and target reductions where possible. This includes practical light sensors in all appropriate areas and upgraded timers on external lights and other equipment.

We care about our carbon footprint

Roffey Park Institute’s GHG emissions (carbon footprint) for the financial year 2021-22 amounted to 278 tCO2e, with 60% arising from electricity and we are continually looking at ways of reducing this.

We care about our waste

When dealing with waste we only use licensed waste collection companies. None of our waste goes into landfill and we also recycle all our paper products, electrical equipment and batteries. We also follow and adhere to the Environmental Protection Act 1990, including relevant Regulations under the Act, relating to licensing and registration requirements. We also promote recycling and the use of recycled materials, whilst reducing consumption of materials wherever possible. Paper handouts no longer exist for our participants and all our course workbooks are now digital.

We care about plastic

We have reduced our use of single-use plastic throughout the site. The main issue for plastic was the provision of small plastic water bottles for clients. This has now been stopped and clients are encouraged to drink fresh tap water. Hydration stations are available in refreshment areas and water coolers are now in every meeting room. Bathroom disposables are recyclable and there is now very little single-use plastic purchased.

We care about heating

In 2014 we installed a ground source heat pump system to replace our reliance on fossil fuels to heat our old building and Swimming Pool area with great success.  We have also reduced our consumption of LPG gas through energy-saving initiatives. Our BMS manages the consumption of the main source of LPG, the hot water boilers supplying the bedroom area for maximum efficiency.

We care about food and drink

The kitchen garden provides seasonal fresh produce which is used in our restaurant and we source and provide a range of local (low food miles) and fair-trade products. In our onsite bar, we also stock as many local suppliers of wines and spirits.

We care about sustainable buying

Roffey Park Institute, in its role as a consumer, seeks to use the least environmentally damaging products and materials and we work with our suppliers to minimise the impact of their operations on the environment.

We care about travel

All staff consider transportation options when attending meetings or delivering a programme at an external venue and we have a car-share opportunity for office-based staff. We have also installed four cost-effective electric charging points in our car park for visitors and staff.

If you have any further questions please get in touch.