NUS is developing a new, European student energy-saving initiative, called Students Achieving Valuable Energy Savings 2.

A mouthful, we know it's SAVES2 for short (it builds on a previous project called SAVES).

So, what's it about? Well, the original SAVES expanded NUS' Student Switch Off campaign to four other European Union countries (Lithuania, Greece, Cyprus and Sweden) back in 2014-2017. SAVES2 will continue running Student Switch Off in the existing partner countries, and grows the campaign to a total of seven countries (with Bulgaria, Romania and Ireland joining the cohort), to help students get into good energy saving habits.

Funded by the EU's Horizon 2020 fund, SAVES2 launched in May 2017, with NUS leading a consortium of 11 partner organisations across Europe. In addition to the continuation of the Student Switch Off campaign, SAVES2 aims to highlight the potential benefits of smart meters, energy efficiency, and Energy Performance Certificates for students, as part of a campaign called Student Switch Off +, as a way to control energy usage and identify wastage in their privately rented properties.

In June 2017, the full project team met in Brussels the represented organisations, along with NUS, were: Union of Students in Ireland, University of Bucharest, University of Sofia, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, University of Cyprus, Technical University of Crete, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, De Montfort University, Ecovisum and UNICA.

And now, with the start of term upon us, SAVES2 is ready to start working with students across Europe to help them save energy and reduce their exposure to fuel poverty. Watch this space!