UK universities released 1.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide last year, and the sector faces an estimated £37 billion bill to reach net zero—a bill that lands on institutions already stretched by tight budgets and rising costs. For most, decarbonizing isn’t a resourcing problem so much as a sequencing one: where do you find the money, and what do you fix first?
Swansea University, in Wales, offers a clear example of how to answer that question. By putting building data to work, its facilities team could see exactly where to act first and let that insight guide capital investment—from retrofits to EV infrastructure—toward where it would count the most.
A connected campus, built on data
Founded in 1920, Swansea University today manages more than 50 buildings across two campuses—from historic halls to state-of-the-art facilities. Its goal is net-zero carbon across Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2035, with Scope 3 emissions cut by half.
How do you keep dozens of buildings comfortable with a lean facilities team? Working with Schneider Electric, Swansea built a connected ecosystem with Planon IWMS, monitoring more than 1,700 connected assets in real time. The team now works proactively rather than reactively, resolving issues before they reach staff and students.
Three data-driven wins
The results speak for themselves:
- 44.4% energy reduction after room-by-room occupancy data revealed a building was a strong candidate for a change of use
- 19.6% energy reduction at the James Callaghan Building through smarter, data-informed operations
- £156,000 in operational savings identified by EcoStruxure Building Advisor in just 12 months; money that once went to running the estate now goes back into teaching and research
“Our goal is to pull occupancy data from the Planon platform into the building management system. When a space isn’t booked or occupied, we can automatically reduce energy use. Then, as soon as the space becomes occupied again, the system brings everything back up.”
– Chris Lewis, Building Management Systems Manager at Swansea University.
Powering the transition to net zero
Swansea’s ambitions extend beyond buildings. The university has deployed EV charging infrastructure for staff, students, and visitors, using EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert to analyze historical load data and available electrical capacity. This way, chargers could be sited strategically, without costly infrastructure upgrades.
At the Bay Campus, a microgrid connecting solar PV, battery storage, and bidirectional EV chargers is turning part of the estate into an active energy hub—one that generates, stores, and releases its own power to cut costs during peak-tariff periods. At Singleton Park, 27 EV chargers run on a load management system that keeps demand within the campus’s electrical capacity. It’s a data-driven approach to low-carbon mobility that mirrors how Swansea manages the rest of its estate.
A partnership built over decades
None of this happened overnight. Swansea’s transformation reflects years of collaboration with Schneider Electric and is proof that sustained partnership, not just technology, is what turns ambitious targets into measurable progress, helping set the benchmark for modern educational facilities.
“We’ve been working with Schneider Electric for years, and what sets them apart is their ability to bridge our long-term goals with the practical realities of running a university estate.”
– Kevin McKeown, Head of Technical Services at Swansea University.
Universities everywhere face similar pressures: tightening budgets, rising expectations, and ambitious sustainability targets. Swansea shows that with the right intelligence applied, a complex, aging estate can become one of the most efficient university campuses in the UK.
Watch the 90-second Swansea University customer success story video, then read the full success story for the details behind the numbers.
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