“We really did expect the worst,” remembers Prof. Dr. Waldemar Kolanus, Director of the LIMES Institute. He and his colleagues conduct interdisciplinary basic research in biology and biomedicine. When discussions began, he said, they were worried about what would happen to the institute’s mice if there was a genuine energy shortage and the animals’ air conditioning and ventilation systems shut down. “So we made initial arrangements with our colleagues at the University Hospital Bonn to set up a kind of ‘Noah’s Ark’ project and keep at least some animal lines inside it.”
Although this plan fortunately never had to be put into action, saving energy has been an important duty for the whole University ever since. It has set itself the ambitious goal of reducing its consumption by at least 20 percent without affecting research or teaching. The main focus is on 40 University buildings, because they account for almost 80 percent of the energy consumed. They include the University Main Building and the Bonn University and State Library (USL) as well as research buildings with extensive ventilation and air conditioning systems, high-tech equipment and cryogenic freezers.
Significant success two months in
Anika Veith is Head of the Energy Management Unit at the University and has spent the past few months touring a lot of buildings. She is heading up one of seven energy teams made up of heating, air conditioning, electrical and energy management experts that are supporting the departments and institutes with their efforts to make savings. “Of course, we had no idea at the start how well the measures we were suggesting would work,” she says, looking back.
Reducing energy consumption by 20 percent means a not insignificant 17 or so megawatt-hours of energy to be saved between December 2022 and November 2023. “If you were to use this energy to power an electric vehicle, you’d get about 2,200 times round the Earth,” Veith explains, putting the figure into perspective. She is therefore all the more delighted that the measures have already proved highly successful. “In the first two months since we began measuring, we’ve already saved around 6.7 megawatt-hours by all pulling together,” which is a very good result in her view.
Turning down the heat at LIMES
At the LIMES Institute, it was mainly the sterilization machines—known as autoclaves—that consumed massive amounts of gas. This is because a lot of gas is needed to make steam and apply constant pressure, and the institute cannot achieve any reproducible results from its research without sterilizing cages and fluids.
“Personally, I was amazed by how much we can save and what actually consumes the most energy,” Kolanus reports. Together with the energy team, a solution was found for this problem that was both surprising and very straightforward in principle. “Working closely with colleagues from Technical Services, who carried out a systematic inspection of the equipment, it turned out that we’d been heating the boilers much more than we actually needed to,” he says. This was something that had not occurred to them in the past, he admits, because their energy footprint had not been so important in the days of low gas prices. It was therefore possible to eliminate this excess consumption by optimizing the regulation of steam pressure. This enabled the institute’s gas consumption alone to be cut by some 20 percent in December and January compared to the previous five years, all without affecting productivity.
Six degrees cooler in the rainforest
Cornelia Löhne, the curator of the Botanic Gardens, is also astonished by the massive reductions that have been achieved over the past few months. Together with teams of gardeners and technicians, they started with taking a closer look at the valuable and rare plants in the greenhouses, and determined their precise origin. “We realized that most of the plants in the rainforest greenhouse should be able to withstand a temperature that was six degrees cooler,” Löhne explains. The once hot and humid greenhouse is now a cool 19 degrees Celsius, the same as the University’s offices. “Although it doesn’t feel as tropical any more, the plants have been handling the change in temperature well so far, and we’re confident they’ll make it through the winter,” Löhne says.
She reveals that this and other measures combined helped to save an impressive 22 percent in heating energy in the garden in December and January. “Needless to say, we’ll keep things as they are if the plants continue to thrive well in the medium term,” the expert adds. She says that the results are encouraging her and her team to find more areas where savings could be made. These include the old greenhouses, some of which are only single-glazed, although this will take somewhat longer to do.
“A fantastic success”
For University Provost Holger Gottschalk, it is precisely this focus on additional potential energy savings that is particularly important during this phase. “The savings made so far represent a fantastic success and couldn’t have been possible without everyone doing their bit.” The amount of energy saved on heating has been especially impressive in his view: some buildings, such as the USL, have reduced their energy consumption by roughly 50 percent in this way. “Now, however, it’s important not to ease off and to try some new approaches in the warmer months, particularly on the electricity front—by fitting solar panels, for instance,” Gottschalk says. “We’re keen to get the most out of other options here.” This is important not only during the major crisis, he says, but also for the sustainable development of the University.
As far as Anika Veith is concerned, the results achieved so far are the product of real teamwork. “We were only able to be this successful because our priorities were focused clearly on this issue.” According to Veith, not only the 20 colleagues in the energy teams but also their contacts in the departments and institutes had been extremely dedicated and had suggested some very creative and effective measures. “So I’m optimistic that we’ll meet our energy saving target this year.”
