Save energy

Each organisation, head of department/equivalent, can nominate an employee to work on energy saving: an “energy coordinator”.

When several organisations are located in the same building, the heads of department/equivalents can nominate a suitable group of people who can work on energy saving measures relating to the building, an “energy group”. One suggestion is that building supervisors/managers or equivalents and the “energy coordinator” for each organisation are included in the “energy group”.

The work can be divided into identifying measures that can be taken to reduce energy usage that the organisation itself can decide upon, and those measures that affect the condition of the building itself and require collaboration with the landlord.

Collaborate with your landlord to identify possible measures that are connected to the building itself. Raise your questions and ideas at building meetings, or, to give the issue more time, book a special meeting with the landlord’s contact persons for the building (i.e. the ones you usually meet at the building meetings) to discuss possible measures. The facilities planning group within LU Estates, fg [at] bygg [dot] lu [dot] se, needs to be involved if these measures necessitate changes to buildings, contracts or similar.

Produce a simple risk assessment and measures/action plan, which you work on continuously.

If problems with the work environment arise as a result of the measures, revert to the arrangements prior to the change, document this and preferably write an incident report.

Get advice from work environment engineers and security coordinators in order to maintain a safe and secure workplace and to minimise the risk of detrimental effects on the work environment.

If you need support and guidance, contact LU Estates via sparaenergi [at] bygg [dot] lu [dot] se. We can also answer your questions and participate in meetings.

Please refer to the Swedish Energy Agency's guidance on energy efficiency and strategic energy efficiency work, available in Swedish only: 
Working strategically on energy efficiency (in Swedish) | energimyndigheten.se

The best measures are of course the ones that endure, i.e. where we remove unnecessary electricity usage, while other measures are more temporary during critical periods of electricity shortage or high electricity prices. Possible energy-saving measures that you can take, without the need for the landlord’s involvement:

• Switch off and shut down. Start with the simple things. Encourage energy-efficient habits and check to see whether procedures need to be changed.
• For those who work in lab environments – remember to close the fume hood!
• Service equipment so that it is working optimally. Defrost freezers, for example.
• Review your shared use of equipment in your building or organisation. Could you better coordinate the use of fridges and freezers, for example? Perhaps you can remove older and less energy-efficient equipment?
• What equipment needs to be on, and when? Weigh up how and when experiments are conducted, in order to optimise operations. The more energy-intensive the organisation, the greater difference even small adjustments make.
• Lighting used should be LED lighting.
• Do not place furniture in front of radiators.
• Shift the use of electricity to times when society’s need for electricity is at its lowest. Can we somehow reduce our electricity consumption in the morning and evening? Is there equipment that we can choose not to start at the same time as the rest of the country?

Depending on the requirements and limitations of the building and the organisation, it may be appropriate to discuss the following measures with the landlord:

Reducing the operating hours of ventilation systems, and lowering flows:

• Review operating hours for ventilation systems. Is it possible to shut down the ventilation system earlier in the evening, and start it later? Is it possible to have less air circulation during the first hour in the morning and the last hour in the evening, when there are normally fewer people in the building? Cooperate with the landlord’s maintenance staff. Revert to the previous settings if the work environment suffers.
• The dimensions of safety ventilation will continue to be determined according to need and risk.

Lower indoor temperature during the winter:

• This applies primarily to those buildings that are heated by heat pump (electricity), but all energy saving is desirable.
• A reduction of one degree can result in a reduction in energy use of five percent. Give it a try and see how your work environment is affected. Try lowering by another degree if it works well. Revert to the previous settings if the work environment suffers. If you find it cold, try working standing up to keep warm. Varying your working positions is always desirable. It is also important to wear warm clothes indoors during winter.
• Can the temperature be lowered more in, for example, a foyer or atrium?
• Mainly affects district heating use, but also electricity use in buildings heated by heat pumps.

Higher indoor temperature during the summer:

• Applies to buildings with air conditioning.
• Try to allow a (one degree) higher temperature in summer. Revert to the previous settings if the work environment suffers.
• Is it possible to reduce cooling or switch it off in premises that are not used during summer?
• Use free cooling/night cooling.

Reducing the hours when buildings are lit:

• Can lighting be controlled in sections? Can you turn off some lighting for some parts of the day? Can the lighting be dimmed?
• Is it possible to change the timing controls? Controls that respond to the presence of people? Controls that respond to daylight?
• Make sure that all lighting is switched off when premises are empty.
• Remember that you and your colleagues need good lighting for good ocular ergonomics, use lighting when you need it.

Energy-saving tips from Akademiska Hus for e.g. laboratories and workshops

A more comprehensive list of energy-saving measures has been produced by Akademiska Hus, including measures that can be applied to equipped premises such as laboratories, workshops and so on. The list includes key metrics for energy use by common research equipment.

Energy-saving tips from Akademiska Hus (PDF, 1 MB, new tab, in Swedish)

Even if your operations are in a newly built building, there may be opportunities to save energy. Here are a few suggestions:

• You can raise the issue of energy saving at a regular division or departmental meeting, to remind colleagues of energy-saving habits and gather good ideas.
• You can inform/remind colleagues of how the building and its controls work, so that they know how they can be energy efficient.
• Ask colleagues to make suggestions for improvements.
• For example, you can investigate whether all computers, desk lamps and the like are shut down and switched off when not in use.
• You could carry out a little “energy inspection” looking for possible energy thieves on the premises.
• Book  a meeting or call with your landlord’s contact person and your maintenance staff to discuss what can be done about lighting controls and perhaps also trialling lower indoor temperatures and reduced ventilation.
• When it comes to temperature and ventilation, you should conduct a simple risk assessment and be aware of whether the work environment is negatively affected. Often, reducing the temperature by one degree is acceptable if the reasons for doing so are understood. Revert to the previous settings if the work environment suffers.

Take inspiration from each other and keep trying to find ways to save energy. Here we have collected extracts from the reports containing energy saving measures that were produced in winter 2022/2023. Measures may apply to one or several organisations, and were put in place both before and after the Government’s instructions to save energy were sent out in autumn 2022:

• Changed to LED lights and installed motion sensors.
• Reduced lighting hours, lights switched off in certain areas.
• Exterior façade lighting phased out.
• General ventilation reduced at night.
• Computers and screens on automatic power-saving mode.
• Instruments, lab equipment and workshop machinery switched off after use. 
• App-controlled timers installed on certain equipment.
• The temperature in “auxiliary buildings” reduced to 10 degrees Celsius.
• The electricity in workshops shut down completely between 17:00 and 06:00.
• Curtains pulled across greenhouse glazing at night.
• Energy-efficient equipment, machines, appliances, etc. chosen when purchasing.
• Electrical equipment checked regularly.
• Power rating subscription lowered.
• Measures taken in the design of the MicroMAX beamline regarding the dynamic control of ventilation and the use of LED lighting.
• Redundant refrigerating machines scrapped.
• Books printed only on certain days (the printer switched off other days).
• Clearer procedures around switching off lights and equipment.
• The use of standby reviewed across the organisation.
• The importance of saving energy raised at every staff meeting.
• Staff informed about how lighting, ventilation and heating systems work.
• Continued dialogue with the property owner about possible energy-saving measures and efficiency improvements.
• Airflow reduced in general ventilation systems.
• General ventilation systems shut down overnight.
• Ventilation in cleanrooms reduced overnight and at weekends.
• Procedures for pulling down fume hoods, placing draw benches into standby and switching off local exhaust ventilation all strengthened.
• Freezers defrosted.
• Use of information screens reduced and brightness lowered. 
• Portable radiators removed from offices.
• Older low-temperature freezers scrapped and material moved to freezer room.
• Local exhaust ventilation fitted with closable valves.
• Reduced temperature or heating switched off overnight in certain premises.
• Workshop machines programmed during peak electricity use and run during off-peak times.
• Experiments examined for the potential to move the time they run to avoid early morning or at the end of the working day.
• Use of boilers synchronised in order to enable them to be shut down for longer periods.
• Possibilities examined: 1. Warehouse chillers to be switched off for the winter or put in standby mode. 2. Warehouse ventilation to be turned down over the weekend without overly affecting the climactic conditions required to maintain material safety.
• Possibility of shutting down experimental equipment overnight/at the weekend examined. As some equipment needs more electricity when it is started up than when it is kept in low-power mode, a more detailed analysis is needed.
   

In autumn 2022, the government instructed all public authorities, including Lund University, to save energy as much as possible and appropriate in the short term. The aim was to try and restrict electricity price rises ahead of the coming winter. Lund University reduced its electricity consumption the most of all Swedish higher education institutions during the winter 2022/2023 energy crisis. From October 2022 to March 2023, consumption decreased by more than eight per cent compared to the same period a year earlier. The average for higher education institutions was a 4.7 per cent reduction in electricity consumption. In total, Akademiska Hus reduced its electricity consumption at Swedish higher education institutions by 10 million kWh from October to March. Of this, Lund University accounted for 1.9 million kWh.

Between October 2022 and April 2023, the University reported each month on the amount of electricity used, in kWh, over the preceding month and the measures taken to save electricity.
The final report on the energy efficiency assignment in government agencies, available in Swedish only, can be found here:
The Swedish Energy Agency's website for publications (in Swedish)