Speaker
Description
Universities are among the largest public sectors and energy consumers in many countries around the world. They are considered crucial places to learn about opportunities to adopt sustainable and renewable energy to meet global greenhouse gas emission targets and incentive economic growth. In this study, different energy efficiency strategies on university campuses were analyzed to investigate the level of engagement in practical actions at universities and the reduction of the environmental impacts of this sector. The results show that energy actions on university campuses are still specific and focused on plans for renewing energy systems and reducing energy consumption in buildings. Only a small portion of universities' energy consumption comes from renewable sources. There is a need for more empirical studies on the description of actions and their impacts on the sustainability of campuses, in addition to the need to better understand and study the connections between energy use and energy efficiency in universities campuses. An integrated approach to different energy strategies, in parallel with the knowledge of available technologies and the commitment of different university stakeholders, in partnership with government support and energy concessionaires, is essential to improve the energy performance and reduce the energetic footprint of the universities.
| Keywords | Energy efficiency; Universities; Sustainability; energy performance |
|---|---|
| Topics | ntegration of renewable energy at building and small urban area scales; Sustainable resilience of systems in the built environment; Smart cities; Green buildings |
