Environmental Sustainability

Godalming College is committed to playing our part in contributing towards environmental sustainability. As a result, sustainability is currently one of Godalming College’s key strategic priorities and we have a team of staff and students working towards helping the College becoming more sustainable.

We have a Sustainability Strategy and a detailed implementation plan covering actions that we aim to achieve over the next few years.

Key achievements to date include:

Converted all buildings to LED lighting – with the exception of the stage lighting in the drama studio, the whole campus has now been converted to LED lighting.

Solar panels have been on sections of our 900s Goodridge Building and the 800s Performing Arts Centre for many years. In Summer 2023 we installed 306 panels on the roof of our Independent Learning Centre and in October 2023 further panels were installed to fill the roof space on the 800s Performing Arts Centre. We now have the maximum footprint of solar panels that the National Grid will allow for our site currently.

Focusing on energy optimisation and utilisation – Over the past few years we have reduced our consumption of gas and electricity considerably. This can be seen in our published Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions in our Annual Report, a summary can be found here.

Received a grant in 22/23 to work in partnership with energy specialists to prepare a bespoke Heat Decarbonisation Plan for our College campus - this maps out the measures that need to be taken for each of our buildings to become carbon neutral.

Installed 4 Electric Vehicle charging points in our car park - these are available to staff during the College day, and the local community outside of these times.

All students provided with a reusable travel coffee cup at the start of the year. Remember to bring your cup with you each day!

Launched and expanding our ‘Recycling @ Godalming’ stations positioned around the campus for clear and easy recycling.

We have planted wild flower meadows on the campus, adopted No Mow May, and installed donated bug hotels.

Environmental Sustainability Strategy