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Energy

Infographic about energy consumption in 2018 at the University of Basel
Energy mix of the University of Basel in 2018. Image: University of Basel, suan.ch

Last year, the University of Basel used 54.5 gigawatt hours (GWh) of energy[1], which is roughly equivalent to the consumption of approximately 3,100 Swiss households[2]. Electricity accounted for over half of the energy consumption, totaling 29 gigawatt hours.

Diagram showing the energy consumption for the University of Basel for the years 2016-2018.
2016-2018 energy consumption in kilowatt hours (kWh). These figures are not adjusted on a weather or like-for-like basis. Image: University of Basel, Sustainability Office

Despite an increase in power use, total energy consumption dropped by 2.5% over the previous year, which can be attributed to a reduction in district heating use (-10%) and district cooling use (-12.4%). Compared to 2016, however, total consumption increased by 3.6%. Even if the reasons for the increase cannot be shown in detail, the longer opening hours in the central buildings (including libraries and study rooms) as well as the overall increase in IT use have probably contributed to this.

Diagram showing energy consumption per capita at the University of Basel for the years 2016-2018.
Energy consumption in kilowatt-hours (kWh) per full-time equivalent (staff and students). Each student is counted as 0.68 full time equivalent. Image: University of Basel, Sustainability Office

   

Divided by the number of employees and students, energy consumption in 2018 totaled around 4,700 kWh per capita (full-time equivalent, FTE[3]). Consumption per capita is thus 4.5% higher than in 2016, but 1.2% less than in 2017.

In 2018, a comprehensive energy measuring concept was developed to record consumption figures more precisely in the future and feed them to the energy monitoring system that is currently in development. This will make it possible to close data gaps, analyze consumption more precisely and take more targeted action in the future. At the same time, a feasibility study is being undertaken to assess the photovoltaic potential of the rooftops of university buildings.

Targets and specific measures for reducing energy consumption are currently being developed and will be published here in fall 2019.

Footnotes
Footnotes

[1] Buildings belonging to associated institutes, such as the Swiss TPH or the university hospital, were not included, nor was any energy consumption data available for the smallest building units.

Footnotes

[2] In 2017, average energy consumption per Swiss household was approx. 17,600 kWh (statistics from the Federal Statistical Office (2017): «Private household by commune and household size» and the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (2017): «Der Energieverbrauch der Privaten Haushalte 2000 – 2017».

Footnotes

[3] Each student is counted as 0.68 full time equivalent. A total of 11,581 full-time equivalents were counted in 2018.

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