Freie Universität Reduced Energy Consumption for 9th Time in a Row
Use of Electricity and Heating Reduced by Nearly 24 Percent within Decade
№ 374/2010 from Dec 03, 2010
Last year Freie Universität reduced its energy consumption for the ninth time in a row. For an equivalent utilized area, roughly 35 million kilowatt hours or nearly 24 percent less electricity and energy for heating were consumed in 2009 than at the beginning of the decade, said Peter Lange, the director of administration and finance at Freie Universität Berlin. This corresponds to an annual cost relief of some 2.6 million euros and a reduction of harmful carbon dioxide emissions of about 9,900 tons.
Lange emphasized that Freie Universität sees itself as a model for environmental protection. The university makes an important contribution toward achieving the climate protection goals of the State of Berlin. Realizing these savings was not easy because they occurred during a period of financial upheaval and organizational challenges. Much of the success can be attributed to the structural and technical modernization that the university has implemented in many of its buildings since 2003. An additional factor contributing to the positive balance is the financial reward system the schools and departments have been involved in since 2007 to save energy.
Freie Universität’s coordinator for energy and environmental management, Andreas Wanke, stressed that in the future efforts will continue to be undertaken to achieve greater energy efficiency, sustainability, and environmental protection. The aim is to achieve additional savings in the order of about ten percent by 2015. If all the employees of Freie Universität are committed to this goal, the university can reduce its consumption to about 100 million kilowatt hours as opposed to the 150 million kilowatt hours used at the beginning of the last decade. Wanke said there is still more efficiency potential, for example, in information technology.
For further information, please contact:
Andreas Wanke, Coordinator for Energy and Environmental Management, Freie Universität Berlin, Tel.: +49 (0)30 / 838-52254, Email: Andreas.Wanke@fu-berlin.de