USC CAMPUS TOURS

USC’s Sunshine Coast campus is a flora and fauna reserve, spread over 100 hectares adjoining the Mooloolah River National Park. Since its inception over 25 years ago, there has been strong emphasis on environmental sustainability and responsible custodianship of natural assets. Management of campus grounds is delivered under a contract model, with USC recently entering into a new 3 year performance-based contract for delivery of grounds maintenance services across multiple sites. As part of USC’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint, USC has adopted measures to manage and minimise its waste – in 2013, it became the first university in Australia to adopt a total waste streaming system that includes onsite processing of green/organic waste through OSCA. Since then, it has developed the ‘Green Place’ to showcase OSCA and other related initiatives.

USC has achieved significant environmental and financial savings through implementation of measures such as an integrated Building Management System, smart metering, chilled water loop, CO2 monitoring, LED lighting, virtual metering, HVAC optimisation, and entering the contestable market for the purchase of energy. In 2018, following an intensive Market Led Proposal process, USC and Veolia signed a 10 year agreement which will see the installation of 6000 solar panels and 4.5ML thermal energy storage tank, cutting energy use on campus by 40% and at no upfront capital cost to USC. This project will generate significant financial savings and reduce USC’s carbon emissions, in line with its Carbon Management Plan.

In March 2019, USC officially launched a new integrated safety and security system, SafeUSC, to boost wellbeing and safety across its growing campuses. A collaborative partnership between USC’s Security and Emergency Management and Student Wellbeing teams, SafeUSC is based on the Safer Community model used by many universities in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia – USC has been the first University in Queensland to implement it. SafeUSC’s services include providing first aid, safety escorts, consultation relating to safety or concerning behaviours, closer-circuit TV, emergency response, crime prevention advice, connection to other support services, and 24-hour assistance to the USC community through the SafeZone app.