Bau, Arbeitssicherheit und Umwelt

17.10.2022

University must urgently save energy

Dear students, dear colleagues,

I' m sure that you – like myself – have been following the news about the energy  situation in Germany intensively over the past few months. Due to the extensive  outage of Russian natural gas supplies and the shutdown of more than half of  France's nuclear power plants, electricity and gas are currently scarce and  expensive throughout Europe. Similar to you as individual energy consumers, the  University is currently facing sharply increasing prices.

Unlike all other types of higher education institutions in Baden-Württemberg,  universities must generally bear their own energy costs. According to  preliminary estimates, the University of Tübingen will therefore be faced with  additional costs of around eight million euros in 2023. In the current year, it  is likely to be an additional two to three million euros. Meanwhile, the state  government has promised partial support. We will, however, still be faced with  additional costs in the millions. Moreover, the government expects us to reduce  energy consumption by 20 percent.
 
The German federal government has already stipulated by ordinance that the  temperature in normal office, laboratory, teaching, learning and workshop areas  be lowered to 19 degrees Celsius. However, this alone will not be enough to  achieve the 20 percent target. The President's Office is committed to making the  winter semester a semester of face-to-face teaching on campus. Nevertheless, the  University of Tübingen’s premises give little opportunity for saving energy  other than to exclude certain buildings for study and teaching from use for a  period of time. Against this background, the President's Office is planning the  following energy-saving measures for the 2022/23 turn of the year as a first
 step:
 

  • During the week of December 19 to 23, courses are to be offered online only. This does not include laboratory practicals and similar courses, which must be  held on campus. The existing regulations on the obligatory attendance of  employees remain in place.
  • From December 19 to January 8, the Kupferbau building and the event rooms in  the Morgenstelle 3 building will be closed. Examinations scheduled in either  building during this time will have to be moved to the Morgenstelle Lecture  Center or the Neue Aula building. This is due to the better energy balance of  the lecture center and the Neue Aula.
  • In order to provide a sufficient number of workplaces for students, the opening  hours of the libraries planned for the period in question remain unchanged.

 
 In the coming weeks, the help of all members of the university will be crucial.
Only if you as students or employees actively contribute to our aim, we will  have a chance of effectively saving energy. I therefore ask you all: When you  are the last to leave a room, turn off the lights. If the room will not be used  for a longer period of time, please turn any radiators to position 1 and, if  possible, turn off electrical equipment completely. Wherever possible, refrain  from using standby mode. This applies especially between December 19 and January 8 as well as on weekends and holidays.
 
The University will be launching a campaign in the coming weeks in which we  would like to work with you to identify additional opportunities to save energy  quickly and efficiently. More information on this will be sent to you soon.
Already today, I would like to ask all building supervisors: Talk to your  colleagues and find out what options there are on your premises to reduce  consumption. This is not just about saving costs. Reducing our energy  consumption is also necessary to prevent the utility systems from collapsing  this coming winter. And let's not forget: by doing so, we are doing something to  protect the climate.
 
 I think you understand that, at the beginning of my term as president, I would  rather announce good news to you all than new burdens. As I see it, one thing is important: We can achieve a lot if we tackle the challenges ahead of us with  determination and distribute the resulting burdens fairly and with a sense of  proportion. In this, both your constructive feedback and your responsible  cooperation are crucial. My overriding objective here is to keep the university  a place of cutting-edge research, a home of excellent teaching, and a good place  to work. Together, we can overcome this crisis as well.
 
 I wish you all the best for the start of the new semester.
 Kind regards,
 Professor Dr. Karla Pollmann
 (President)

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