Dear colleagues,
The days are getting shorter again and hint that autumn and winter are on the way. Unlike last year, this winter we are facing dramatically higher energy costs, especially for electricity and heating. Instead of 15.9 million euros, costs will probably total 35.6 million euros! As yet, we do not know to what extent energy prices will be capped or if the planned state relief for higher education institutions will be sufficient. In any case, energy costs will pose a significant problem.
Thanks to all of your efforts, we achieved considerable success with saving energy at LUH last winter. We were able to save more than 20 percent of electricity and almost 18 percent of heating energy (not adjusted for weather variations) in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to the same period in the previous year. We must continue to build on this. Unfortunately, we are currently seeing a significant increase in energy consumption at the university and a noticeable decrease in awareness concerning the use of energy resources. Therefore, my appeal to all of you: Every single individual – be it student or member of staff – can make a difference! Please continue to consider for which activities, when and to what extent you need to use energy and where you could – at least temporarily – do without it. This specifically includes research infrastructures, since experience has shown that they have comparably high energy requirements. However, this also means using lights, computers, dishwasher, etc. sensibly.
Further information on saving energy can be found in our FAQ: www.uni-hannover.de/energiesparen.
In response to challenging situation, as university management we have decided to once again implement a temporary suspension of on-campus activities over Christmas and New Year. However, this year it will coincide with the semester break from 23 December 2023 to 07 January 2024. This applies for all members of the university. More specifically, this means that wherever possible, all members of staff should work from home.
This period will not count towards the individual telecommuting quota. On-campus activities will be resumed on 8 January 2024. Members of staff can still access offices, but the heating will be turned down.
If individual members of staff in administrative departments or faculties are unable to work from home due to specific duties, they should approach their supervisor to discuss an appropriate course of action. If no solution can be found and an exception is necessary, please contact Buildings Management via their hotline. Requests should be submitted collectively for the department in question to energiesparen@uni-hannover.de and received no later than 30 November 2023. Requests received after this date or those submitted by individuals for their respective workspaces cannot be processed.
I am confident that we will once again find a solution to tackling this energy crisis. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you for your contributions.
Yours sincerely,
Prof. Dr. Volker Epping
President
