College Record 2013

Environment
The College has tried to improve lighting in communal areas with motion sensors
installed as standard in new and refurbished accommodation blocks, and trials for
motion sensors in older blocks such as Robin Gandy. The College has also improved
the insulation in several accommodation blocks as part of ongoing renovations, and
has tried to introduce a more efficient heating regime within its buildings.
The new Leonard Wolfson Auditorium is a
great boost for the College academically and
environmentally, combining the College’s
distinctive architecture with state-of-the-art
environmental design. Most notably the heating
and cooling system for the lecture theatre uses
an environmentally sensitive and highly efficient
heat-exchange system. The building also features
a mini green roof, enhancing the view from the
first floor up Linton Road.
Despite a late spring the College grounds have
been home to migrant warblers such as blackcaps,
chiffchaffs and garden warblers, in addition to
healthy populations of resident woodland species
such as green woodpeckers, goldcrests and blue
tits. In 2013, for the first time in eight years, a
Green Roof on the Leonard Wolfson Auditorium
pair of mute swans successfully raised a brood of
cygnets on the Punt Harbour island; much to the relief of studying students, the
nesting swans also ensured that the College grounds were kept free of Canada
geese for a good month.
After the drought of 2010-12, the surprising deluge of the past year resulted in the
Cherwell bursting its banks six times in less than twelve months. In consequence
the display of snake’s head fritillary on the island was submerged under floodwaters
in 2012, but the 2013 display was much appreciated by visitors in April.
Attempts to view the celestial delights of the various meteor showers, passing
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