Energy savings at the RUG

Besides energy-intensive parties, such as large industrial companies, swimming pools and greenhouse horticulture companies, educational institutions are also working to save energy. This includes the University of Groningen (RUG) for which Summit Engineering is going through an extensive energy-saving process in relation to the energy-saving obligation renewed in 2023.

The RUG is a large university, primarily located in and around the city of Groningen, spread over dozens of buildings. Due to the large number of English-language programmes, many international students come to study there; as many as 27% of the more than 34,000 students come from abroad. With such large numbers of students and many buildings come considerable energy consumption figures. At a university, the consumption of energy-intensive research is also added. The high energy consumption in combination with increased energy costs and the tightening of legal obligations provide extra necessity and motivation to become sustainable at a high pace. Summit Engineering is of course happy to help the RUG with this.

For the renewed energy saving obligation, it is important to comply with the so-called information and research obligation. In this case, this entails making an inventory of a whole series of buildings to determine which energy-saving measures have and have not been implemented and when the measures that have not yet been implemented will be taken, based on a list provided by the RFO. In addition, the exact energy consumption of a number of buildings needs to be worked out in more detail and what measures can be taken to reduce that consumption. These range from replacing lamps and installing insulation to sharing and disposing of low-temperature freezers. Summit Engineering uses a methodology for this that can also serve as a basis for ISO 50001 certification for energy management and is simple in design, but very effective. This allows the RUG to systematically and permanently save energy and make it more sustainable.