Turn lights and devices off when not in use
In the office
Turn down the heat
Use less hot water
Your pc/tablet/smartphone
Think before you print
It can be necessary to print documents, and many people find printing out materials helpful. But printing uses a lot of energy, and it’s important to minimise printing as much as possible.
In the kitchen
Getting around campus
There are a number of steps AU labs can take to reduce their electricity consumption. A broadly representative working group of staff, including lab technicians, facilities staff and OSHA reps, is working on a comprehensive guide to CO2 emission reduction for AU labs that includes good advice on reducing electricity consumption.
You’ll find some of their central recommendations and advice below. Read the full guide here.
Fume hoods/point extraction
Fume hood are a safety essential with hazardous or toxic substances. But they also consume a lot of energy. It’s possible to reduce fume hood energy consumption without compromising the air quality in our labs.
If you have any questions about energy-efficient usage of fume hoods, you can ask your lab manager or building services division.
If your fume hood has no automatic sash closer attached, you can also contact your lab manager/building services division to discuss the possibilities. Note that it isn’t possible to install automatic sash lowering on all fume hoods.
Turn off equipment
Standby electricity consumption accounts for quite a lot of AU’s total electricity consumption, so don’t leave equipment running on standby unless it’s really necessary.
Freezers
Coolant
New equipment
Make energy efficiency a priority when purchasing new equipment, and include quick start-up and automatic sleep/power save move in your specifications.
There are a lot of kWH at stake and you are making a difference. Every 4500 kWh saved by AU is the equivalent of the average yearly electricity consumption of an average Danish household.
In labs
Your daily habits