MidKent College is a further education college operating across campuses in Maidstone and Medway, serving approximately 8,500 students.
Four years ago, sustainability became a strategic priority for the college when its Chair of Governors challenged the organisation to take meaningful action on its environmental impact. This led to the creation of MKC ZERO – MidKent College’s ambition to achieve net zero carbon by 2030.
To support that ambition, the college partnered with HI Group to deliver a large-scale decarbonisation programme focused on replacing ageing gas infrastructure, reducing carbon emissions and improving long-term energy resilience across the estate.
Like many large educational estates, MidKent College faced the challenge of reducing operational carbon emissions while maintaining reliable day-to-day environments for students and staff.
Initial carbon analysis identified gas-fired heating systems as a significant contributor to emissions across both campuses.
The college faced several key challenges:
HI Group supported MidKent College from early-stage carbon assessment through to the design and delivery of an estate-wide decarbonisation strategy across both campuses.
At the Maidstone campus, HI Group designed and delivered a hybrid low-carbon heating system combining:
These systems now provide low-carbon heat to five plant rooms across the campus, fully replacing gas boiler heating.
At the Medway campus, HI Group installed:
The project fully replaced gas heating across connected buildings while improving on-site renewable energy generation and long-term energy resilience across the estate.
As a result of the project, MidKent College is now on track to achieve a projected 70% reduction in carbon emissions as part of its wider net zero 2030 strategy.
Key outcomes include:
The project has also created a real-world example of large-scale decarbonisation in practice, supporting sustainability awareness across the college community.
“HI Group have been really instrumental in helping us. We’ve worked together hand in hand to make sure this project came to fruition. It’s been phenomenal for me personally to lead the project and work with some very exciting people that have taught me an awful lot.”
“The projects we’ve completed at MidKent are absolutely repeatable at many other sites across the UK. This is about showcasing what’s possible for decarbonising campuses and complex estates of all sizes.”
Discover how HI Group helped MidKent College replace gas heating, install renewable energy systems and deliver large-scale estate decarbonisation across two campuses.
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