Press release

Minister rolls up sleeves to plant campus at front of the 'green' league

Today, (7 March), Nicol Stephen MSP, Deputy First Minister and Minister for Enterprise & Lifelong Learning planted the first tree of new parkland being created at Craighall, Musselburgh, as part of Scotland's 'greenest' new university campus.

His spadework begins the transformation of 35 acres of low grade farmland into diverse wildlife habitats that will provide the parkland setting for Queen Margaret University ’s - highly sustainable and educationally innovative new campus.

The Queen Margaret project - groundbreaking in Scotland as a complete university campus designed around the new agendas and technologies of higher education - is designed to exceed current environmental standards and to set a new benchmark in sustainable design. It has already achieved - and is the first HE campus in the UK to have done so - a BREEAM 'excellent' rating for the campus design.

Professor Anthony Cohen, Queen Margaret’s Principal and Vice Patron, said: ''Today at Queen Margaret we are making a very public statement of our commitment to sustainability in every facet of the new campus and our activities. We know that the issues surrounding environmental sustainability are important to our stakeholders, and we believe that this project, designed to enable us to develop our distinctive and crucial mission as Scotland’s newest university, is also a vital contribution to the development of Scotland’s internationally-renowned and sustainable higher education system.

When it opens in autumn 2007, the striking new academic village is predicted to be the epitome of sustainable design and build, as well as incorporating leading green technologies, such as biomass heating and thin client computer networking, to ensure the campus' impact on the environment is minimised.

Nicol Stephen said:

“ Queen Margaret University should be congratulated not only for their ambitious plans to build this state-of-the-art campus but for incorporating sustainability in every aspect.  This will be a lifelong learning hub for its students and the local community.

“I’m also delighted to hear their plans to increase their participation in research and development.  With such a forward thinking approach to their students, building and the local community, I believe that this campus will be a huge success and will help attract new businesses it the area.”

Sustainability has been integrated into every aspect of the project, from construction to future operation and maintenance. Energy use will be minimised through intelligent design that incorporates air tightness, and maximises daylight and natural ventilation through the use of energy efficient technology. The campus' computer network will have no hard disk drives but will rely on 'thin client' technology and central servers which generate less heat, require less ventilation, and also less space.

Water conservation and management systems have been deftly integrated into the new campus, while biodiversity is being encouraged through plans that include the creation of wetland, woodland, hedgerow and meadow habitats, and the provision of roosting boxes for indigenous wildlife. Special wildlife corridors will reduce conflict between wildlife and human traffic, and provision has been made to continue to add ecological value as the site develops. A green travel plan is already being developed to encourage students, staff and visitors to make a smooth transition to a car free campus.

The campus is designed to be open to the public for leisure, education and recreation, while the landscape is planned to become an educational and community resource. Already, through its award-winning collaboration with Friends of the Earth, Queen Margaret offers a higher education certificate in Environmental Justice, drawing on the activities of social movements across the world to defend the health and livelihoods of groups most affected by environmental damage.

Queen Margaret is currently helping to shape the country's sustainability agenda through its representation on the Scottish Executive's Sustainable Estates Steering Group (SESGp) and membership of the Environmental Association of Universities and Colleges (EUAC).

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Notes for editors

• Queen Margaret University

Queen Margaret University concluded a back-to-back deal with Persimmon, the previous owner of Craighall, in October 2002, to buy the Craighall site in exchange for QMUC's existing site at Corstorphine. In addition QM’s Leith campus and the Gateway Studios are being sold to finance the new buildings.

QMUC leads the Scottish post-1992 higher education sector in research activity. It is internationally recognised for centres of excellence dedicated to nursing, the elderly, international healthcare and speech disability. Its School of Drama has an international reputation for combining the conservatoire and the university tradition.

By 2007, the Craighall campus will be home to nearly 4,500 students and staff with a combined spending power of nearly 11 million. Through employment and education opportunities and joint activities with businesses and healthcare providers, the institution has the potential - estimated by the Fraser of Allander Institute - to boost the local economy by £32 million, and the Scottish economy by some £90 million.

The £50 million contract to construct most of the new buildings at Craighall was won by international construction giants Mowlem, and the £30 million contract to build an 800-bed hall of residence by Sanctuary Housing, one of the UK's leading not-for-profit housing providers.

Sustainability facts

Biomass is generally considered to be any kind of plant material, vegetation, or agricultural waste used as a fuel or energy source. Queen Margaret will use a biomass heating system based on a woodchip boiler to generate heat for distribution around the campus.

Using the Building Research Establishment's Envest software to evaluate construction materials and specifications, independent assessor Faber Maunsell has shown Queen Margaret’s campus design to be capable of exemplary environmental performance.

The campus' carbon emission - its carbon 'footprint' - is expected to be the lowest of any HE organisation in the UK because of the projected 75% reduction in carbon dioxide emission from using biomass heating rather than a traditional gas fired heating system.

QMUC's targets for air tightness and u-values are a 25% and a 5% improvement respectively over minimum Building Regulation requirements.

BREAAM

For over a decade, the Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) has been used to assess the environmental performance of both new and existing buildings. It is regarded by the UK's construction and property sectors as the measure of best practice in environmental design and management.