We can all play our part, for example, by only switching on lab equipment, office equipment, and lights when we really need them – and by not forgetting to turn them off, either. With lighting, this is relatively easy to remember. After all, this is a very visible form of energy consumption. However, we often forget about devices or ventilation systems that we leave running continuously in the background. This is because we usually have other things on our minds than energy conservation. We can raise awareness by regularly discussing issues such as this in meetings.

When looking into how to address heating, we must remember that everyone perceives heat or cold differently. For this reason, while saving energy is important, it is also important to respect one another's comfort levels. In this regard, the following recommendations should be seen as a guide; they may not always be appropriate or necessary in each individual situation. Generally, well-insulated buildings can be heated better and more effectively than buildings that are poorly insulated or have drafty windows.

You can help in the following ways:

• As laboratories use a lot of power, we need to explore as many opportunities for saving energy as possible. This means reducing the running time of air conditioning, ventilation systems, and other laboratory devices to a minimum. Ventilation not only consumes a great deal of heat energy, it also tends to go hand in hand with high electricity consumption due to the use of electric pumps to circulate the warm air.
• To ensure that freezers and refrigerators are used efficiently, on-site visits by professionals can be a source of additional suggestions for optimization.
• Thermostats should be turned down during the evening and on the weekend, but not all the way to zero. Once the room reaches a certain temperature, the heat water supply to the radiator is switched off automatically. Turning the heat down means that things may be a bit colder at the beginning of the day. However, the rooms usually heat up again fairly quickly.
  Placing radiators on the setting “3” usually means that a temperature of around 20°C should be achieved. On the “2.5” setting, the target temperature is around 18°C, and on the “2” setting, the target temperature is around 16°C. Depending on the model of radiator, the actual temperature achieved may vary somewhat. You should also pay attention to the exact position of the thermostat, as this is very important.
  Please note: the thermostat can only be used to set the desired temperature in a specific room. Once this temperature is achieved, the thermostatic valve automatically shuts off the heat supply to the radiator. For this reason, setting all thermostats in one room to a similar temperature is an effective way to save energy when heating.
• Turning the thermostats down is a particularly effective energy-saving measure in seminar rooms. While this may mean that the room is colder at the beginning of the next day, it will soon heat up when many people are in attendance. In practice, it might help to create a rotating schedule to ensure that responsibility for turning down the thermostats or switching off the lights at the end of the seminar is shared among participants. This is something that could be organized at the beginning of each seminar.
• This winter, we are also relying on you to communicate any suggestions you may have for improving energy efficiency at Freie Universität. Any weak spots in the energy consumption of specific buildings or technology should be reported to the corresponding administrative unit as soon as possible so that the Engineering and Utilities Division can get involved.
• The most effective way to air rooms is to open the window completely for a couple of minutes. During this time, thermostats should be turned to the snowflake symbol.

No. Electric heaters use an excessive amount of electricity and if many people were to use them at the same time, this could lead to a power outage. This is something that must be avoided absolutely. For this reason, electric heaters may only be used in exceptional cases and must be officially approved by the Engineering and Utilities Division.

The most important information and latest news will be published on this website. If you have any questions, please send them to the Unit for Sustainability and Energy at: sustainability@fu-berlin.de