Good variety of ideas and questions about energy saving from the Aalto community

Questions and ideas were collected from the Aalto community regarding the university's energy saving actions during the coming year. The goal is to find the campus energy guzzlers and to help achieve the common goal of reducing energy consumption by 15 percent during the year.

'Thank you for all the questions and new energy saving ideas! The basis of everything is good and functioning learning and working facilities on the campus, and wise energy use, which is why energy savings come primarily from activities that campus users don't even notice', says Director of Facilities at Aalto University Campus & Real Estate Kari Haapamäki.

Down a Degree and ventilation

Aalto University takes part in the national Down a Degree campaign. Some felt the temperatures in parts of the campus buildings were too warm. Survey to check the temperature in every space is still ongoing, but the temperature of the supply air in a few buildings has been lowered by a degree. In the majority of the buildings, the user of the space can also lower the temperature of the working space. The workshop masters are contacted about the temperatures in the workshops.

A few questions were related to IT Services and waste heat. One of the big cooperation projects currently underway is the utilisation of waste heat from the Undergraduate Centre (Otakaari 1) data centre for heating the Aalto Works block, currently under construction. Next to the current cooling system of the Otakaari 1 data centre, the district cooling of the Aalto Works block will be installed as the primary cooling production system.

Optimising the operating hours of the ventilation machines has been done during the autumn, and almost every campus building has now been reviewed. If you notice bad indoor conditions, report the issue in the Granlund Manager system.

Together we can make a difference

Some of the energy saving suggestions were related to moving around the campus, such as showering and drying clothes after cycling to work, and on the other hand driving on campus. We encourage you to use public transport or cycle to campus instead of driving a private car. Parking spaces on campus are very limited, but the number required by the City of Espoo building control department. Regarding clothes drying cabinets and water use, we hope that everyone will use their own judgment. Actions have also been made for lowering the pressure level of the water used for each house.

The lighting on campus raised several topics of discussion. We are currently going through the interior and exterior lighting of the entire campus. The advertising lighting in A Bloc and A Blanc has been changed to match the opening hours of the stores. As for indoor lighting, changes are underway in Väre and Ekonominaukio 1, and are under investigation in Undergraduate Centre and Dipoli (Otakaari 24). Anyone can switch off unnecessary lighting in, for example, rooms no one currently is in, where possible. We encourage you to turn off all electrical devices when not in use.

Participate in the conversation, ask a question or report an energy guzzler

Is there still something about campus energy consumption that worries you? All new energy saving tips, big and small, are also welcome! You can leave your message anonymously using the Webropol form or logged into the online chat.