Energy savings at Uppsala university
The government has tasked government agencies with ten or more employees to save electricity. Discussions are currently underway on how the university can save electricity on an overall level.
For a long time, Uppsala University has worked together with the property owners to save energy on campus. The campus should be bright, well ventilated and maintain a good temperature. But if any rooms are not in use, the lighting should be switched off and the ventilation reduced to a minimum (for example at night). Different types of systems handle this automatically. Thanks to this, energy use on campus has steadily declined in recent years.
In September, all government agencies, including Uppsala University, received a new assignment from the government to save energy this winter. The background to the assignment is the strained situation prevailing in Europe with energy supply, which could lead to serious energy shortages this winter.
How the University works with the assignment must be reported every month to the Energy Agency. The assignment ends on 31 March 2023.
With the mission to save energy, the University works with the property owners to map out what further measures can be taken to reduce our energy consumption. The goal is to save 10% of energy during the winter of 22/23. However, the focus is still on the working environment for employees and students, that our premises should not be significantly affected, and that the campus should be open as usual.
Energy saving measures discussed:
- Shortened lighting times and lights possibly switched off at night
- Change of lighting sources to LED
- Reduced operating times for ventilation
- Lower indoor temperature
- If possible, avoid electronics being on "standby" (for example, turning off computers in computer rooms)
- More solar cells on the University's roof
As an individual, you can:
- Turn off the lights when leaving rooms with a light switch.
- Close windows if you have ventilated a room.
- Turn off the computer and screen when leaving a computer room.
- Do not leave chargers plugged in when not in use.
Do you have suggestions and ideas for how the University can save even more electricity? Contact the superintendent on your campus! Find contact information in our catalogue or ask at the reception desk at your campus.