Green Campus > Energy and Climate

Energy and Climate

In the following years, the University of Copenhagen will maintain a strong focus on reducing energy consumption and CO2  emissions from its own activities. 

The University of Copenhagen’s Commitments

Regardless of expected growth, the University of Copenhagen will lower energy consumption, and reduce the emission of CO2.  The goals for 2013 are:

• The energy consumption of the University of Copenhagen must be reduced to a level 20 % below that of 2006, measured as energy consumption per work year of employees and students.

• The University of Copenhagen’s CO2 emission from energy consumption must be reduced to a level 20 % below that of 2006, measured as CO2 emission per work year of employees and students.

Find the University of Copenhagen's just released green accounts on CO2-emissions here.

 In 2008 the University of Copenhagen has initiated projects for approx. 10 million DKK in its energy and climate efforts. These investments will grow substantially during the following years. Read more about the Energy and Climate action plan here.

The effort will focus on saving energy by:

• Improving of the climate screen

This effort consist mainly of improving the existing buildings through better insulation, replacement of windows, securing windows that tightly close etc. There is a lot to achieve in this area since many of the University of Copenhagen’s buildings are quite old.This improvement will be made with the co-operation of The Danish University and Property Agency, as they own approximately 80 % of the University of Copenhagen’s buildings.

• Energy smart installations

This effort aims to make energy smart improvements in buildings’ installations and facilities. Common installations such as ventilation, lighting-systems, heat-supply etc., will be a main focus; furthermore, the University will also concentrate on improving the energy efficiency of special facilities such as -80 degree Celsius freezers, fume cupboards, and other equipment used for  experiments. “Wet” laboratories (for fluid and drug work) demand fume cupboards with increased ventilation and often use a number of energy demanding instruments and machines. Substantial savings will be made in this area.

• Energy efficient operation

This effort involves the adaptation of facilities and installations to the needs of faculty and students.Ventilation and lighting must be efficient when in use, and they should reduce their capacity or turn off completely when no longer in use.

• Energy smart conduct

This effort will facilitate increasingly energy smart conduct by employees and students. It will encourage  simple procedures such as closing all windows and turning off lights, equipment, and facilities when leaving a room. More communication between the facilities’ users and its managers will be very important in this effort.

• Energy smart projects

We will work to insure that significant energy issues are seriously considered in any new construction, renovation or maintenance of the University of Copenhagen’s buildings. This includes consideration of insulation and installations, as well as organizing facilities and operations in a way that allow the best possible energy efficient operation.

• Energy smart purchasing

This effort will maintain focus on energy efficient purchases. Read more under Green Purchasing. The climate and energy efforts will focus on the long-term with general improvements of the buildings and their installations, in addition to creating pilot and demonstration projects. Green Light House, due in 2009, is a demonstration project promoting CO2-neutral construction. Likewise, the University of Copenhagen is working on a demonstration project concerning energy renovation of an existing building. This project is made in co-operation with Rockwool. 

Many factors influence the energy consumption of the University of Copenhagen

The University of Copenhagen expects growth in commissions and activities. Research and teaching are expected to become increasingly experimental and take place in “wet” laboratories, which often requires fume cupboards and other energy consuming facilities. This makes it harder to reach our energy consumption reduction goals. On the other hand, a realization of the goals set out in the Campus Plan to reduce the number of the campus’s total area, will ultimately contribute to a reduction of the energy consumption. Read more about the Campus Plan here. Analyses of the opportunities for conserving energy propose that the goal to reduce by 20 % can be met by distributing efforts in the following way:

Transportation contributes with a substantial part of CO2 impact

Another focus-area in terms of energy is transportation. Travelling by airplane is one of the largest CO2 emissions made by the University of Copenhagen, contributing over 13 % of the total.