This month, Unite Students' in-house sustainability engagement programme won the Behavioural Change & Employee Engagement Award at The Energy Awards.

Unite Students won due to their ongoing programme of changes under the umbrella of their 'Up to uS' responsible business initiative, of which Green Impact has formed a core strand over the past four years. As a nationwide organisation, they make use of a range of activities on a national, local and individual level to embed behavioural change among staff and students.

Staff and students from Unite locations across the UK take part in Green Impact with criteria ranging from holding a sustainability engagement event each year, to educating students on water waste by encouraging shorter showers. Running online Green Impact auditing training each year, approximately 100 passionate students join the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment -approved training in order to undertake the annual sustainability review of their Unite accommodation. Over the years, Unite have found that 75% of students have then been able to use their volunteer positions in job applications.

James Tiernan, group energy and environment manager of Unite Students, said: 

'We've been building this programme for several years, and it's one of the key elements of our 'Up to uS' responsible business plan. It's great to have the hard work and dedication of everyone involved recognised with this award; not just the energy & environment team, who have put so much work into developing and delivering the programme, but also our 'sustainability champions', colleagues and student volunteers across the country who get involved each year.'

By running calculations based on the actions completed, teams are estimated to have saved 1,402,230 kg CO2, and £219,300. This has contributed to an absolute reduction in Unite's combined scope one and two emissions of 4.86% per bed compared to 2015. This equates to a 10.51% reduction per bed.

Robbiie Young, vice-president for society and citizenship at NUS, said:

'Congratulations to Unite Students for winning the Behavioural Change & Employee Engagement Award at the 2017 Energy Awards. We're delighted to have worked with Unite Students on the Green Impact programme for four years. Through Green Impact, we train 100 students on average annually as volunteer Green Impact consultants and Green Impact auditors across Unite, equipping them with meaningful sustainability skills and attributes. It's through this collaborative working of staff and students across Unite that they've managed to improve their sustainability practices, engage staff, and reduce their negative environmental impacts. We're glad to work with Unite Students on such an important programme and are delighted they've received this recognition for their work.'