Media release

ACU named the most energy efficient Australian university

ACU has been named the most energy efficient Australian university according to the annual Benchmark Survey of the Tertiary Education Facilities Management Association (TEFMA).

ACU’s energy efficiency outperformed that of more than 35 other universities across the country in the report released by TEFMA this past week.

The report outlined the overall facilities-management performance of ACU against other Australian tertiary providers, including a number of categories that directly measure sustainability, such as greenhouse gas emissions, waste management, water conservation and energy use.

ACU’s National Sustainability Manager Mark Doggett said the results relate directly to the mission of ACU as a Catholic University as it draws from the Church’s long history of social justice teaching, including Pope Francis’s Encyclical Laudato Si (Our Common Home), which identifies how “inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society and interior peace” (Laudato Si; No.10).

“ACU strives to be a role model for responsible environmental corporate citizenship within Australia and abroad,” Mr Doggett said.

"In line with its Mission, the University also recognises its responsibility to conserve our natural environment, not least because it is the poor and vulnerable who suffer the most from environmental degradation."

The TEFMA report showed:

• two key measures of energy efficiency – energy use per floor space and energy use per full time staff and student – ACU led the University sector, with energy efficiency about double the sector’s average;
• ACU has the lowest greenhouse gas emissions per full-time student of any Australian university, with 60 per cent lower greenhouse emissions per full-time student;
• ACU has the third lowest water consumption per full-time student, recording consumption rates less than half the sector’s average.

ACU uses the report to assess how it performs on key sustainability measures, such as energy efficiency, water conservation, waste management, compared to other universities. The majority of Australian universities and TAFEs are members of TEFMA and participate in the benchmark report.