Working from home means that there’s no commute so the only time we use transport is to get to meetings where we absolutely have to do have the meeting IRL.

When we do have to travel, our preferred methods of transport are train or bike! Being based in or around London makes this relatively easy but of course it isn’t always possible and so we try to keep the use of more heavily emitting transport to a minimum.

The Small99 Hero platform allows users to create a quick-fire Carbon Reduction Plan and automatically track your progress through a simple to follow process with concrete actions and outcomes.

We are working our way through this process and will be posting updates in due course - but we’re delighted to report that we have taken our first steps.

Energy is supplied through 100% renewable electricity from a variety of sources and our web-hosting is through Squarespace which also uses fully renewable energy.

Banking is with Starling which performs well in recent sustainability rankings and we are currently in the process of replacing bulbs with LEDs and installing smart plugs to monitor and control usage. Recycling is a given - although, as it’s the last resort of the 5 R’s, we also endeavour to adhere to: Refuse; Reduce; Repair; Reuse.

We acknowledge that there are environmental concerns regarding the rapid increase in the use of AI. Context is everything however and we believe that the enormous benefits of using AI in terms of supporting staff and prospective students justifies its use.

Recent research, for example, has shown that a typical query on an LLM uses 0.3 Wh which equates to “…less energy than watching 9 seconds of television”. (1) In terms of carbon emissions, this equates to 2-3g eCO2 (2) whereas sending one email can produce anything from 0.3g - 26g depending on the size, number of attachments, number of recipients. (3)

So the question is really more about what the call on AI is being used for - something frivolous? - or something really meaningful and beneficial? 

1) Cornell University: arXiv:2508.15734; 2) Josh You (2025), "How much energy does ChatGPT use?" EpochAI; 3) ‘How Bad are Bananas?: The Carbon Footprint of Everything’ (2020), Mike Berners-Lee