Climate-neutral campus

The University of Greifswald does not have just one central campus, but four: the historic campus in the town centre as well as the campuses at Lohmeyerplatz, in the Soldmannstraße and around the Berthold-Beitz-Platz. As a result, the buildings and areas used by the university are spread over the entire town area and, including the Biological Station, even to the island of Hiddensee.

The inventory includes 141 buildings with a floor space of 174,285 square metres and almost twice as much land area, and the demand for space is constantly increasing thanks to new degree courses and research projects.

Maintaining and supplying the large number of buildings dispersed throughout town and beyond poses challenges to the university, not only with regard to the sustainability goal of climate neutrality by 2030.

Numbers and facts

Symbolic image of Greifswald, © Till Junker, 2019

141

buildings are maintained by the University of Greifswald throughout the town and on the island of Hiddensee.

14,004,884 kWh

is how much district heating was consumed in 2021. That is equivalent to the heating demand of around 1500 detached family homes.

Symbolic image of wind turbines, © Jan Meßerschmidt, 2022

100 percent

of our electricity comes from renewable energy sources. The university consumed 10,230,179 kWh of electricity in 2021.

96 percent

of the heating is already provided by the district heating network of the municipally owned Stadtwerke Greifswald. The remaining four percent come from heating gas.

Loefflerstraße Departmental Library, © Jan Meßerschmidt, 2015

99 metres

is how deep the downhole heat exchangers for geothermal energy supply at the Loefflerstraße Campus were drilled. This provides all of the heat required by the Departmental Library and the lecture hall building.

2500 detached family homes

could be supplied with the university’s annual electricity consumption (excluding University Medicine Greifswald). It is therefore all the more important that electricity is used as efficiently as possible.

Sustainability in purchasing and contracting

The University of Greifswald committed itself to achieving climate neutrality by 2030 in a resolution passed by the Senate [de]. A significant part of the university's CO2 balance is caused by the purchasing of goods and services. Sustainable purchasing can therefore make an important contribution to climate protection and climate neutrality.

Purchasing through public institutions also offers the opportunity to place emphasis on fair and sustainable, as well as environmentally friendly products. The market power that the public sector achieves and the potential for change that it is able to trigger should not be underestimated. Here, too, the University can set a good example!

Sustainable purchasing protects not only the environment

In addition to achieving climate neutrality, orienting purchasing processes towards sustainability offers further advantages. The university's purchasing behaviour also serves as a role model in the region. Good products and services can be significantly more economical overall, taking into account all (less obvious) costs, if the focus is not only placed on the purchasing price, but also on follow-up costs (e.g. energy consumption during operation, life span of products). If, when purchasing goods, the University pays attention to compliance with social and environmental standards, it additionally supports better working conditions both in the surrounding region as well as worldwide and promotes sustainable economic structures for the future.

Shares of the sectors in the overall footprint - chart

The share of greenhouse gas equivalents caused by university purchasing in 2021 was approximately 38 % of the university's total balance. This amounts to around 2,347 t CO₂ equivalents. [de]