©leuphana
©leuphana
©leuphana
Since 2000, the university has implemented many measures to save energy and use renewable energy.
Electricity 2023
The university was supplied with 100 % renewable energy.
The photovoltaic on the roofs on campus generated 472,967 kilowatt hours (kWh) in 2023 and feed the solar power directly into the campus grid.
Heat and cold 2023
Heating and cooling for the campus are provided by an external operator via a biogas-powered combined heat and power plant (CHP). Heat consumption depends on the outside temperature. Therefore, heat consumption is weather-adjusted.
Heat consumption has decreased again compared to previous years. This reflects the measures taken during the energy crisis in the first quarter of 2023.
Cooling has been used to cool rooms in the central building since 2018 and in the new server room since 2023. As a result, cooling consumption rose in 2023.
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
| Cold in MWh | 296 | 251 | 191 | 181 | 271 | 317 |
Efficiency
- complete shutdown of the local heating system in summer: No energy is needed for heating in summer and the hot water taps were shut off or decentralised
- indoor and outdoor lighting by LED
- CO2-Ampeln in all seminar rooms
- presence detectors in seminar rooms
- optimisation of ventilation systems
- free cooling of a server room
- many campaigns to change behaviour
Renewable energies
- 100 per cent renewable energies (green electricity)
- Photovoltaic (653 kWp) have been installed on the roofs of the campus. The solar power is used directly in the university buildings
- Renewable energies for heating and cooling on campus
- solar thermal system on the roof of the sports studio
Leuphana's mobility concept follows a ‘push and pull strategy’. On the one hand, there are restrictions on non-sustainable forms of mobility, including the designation of the campus as a low-traffic area and the internal climate protection fund for business trips. On the other hand, there are offers for cycling, public transport and electric mobility. In this way, the university promotes sustainable mobility for students and staff, including commuting to the university, business trips and company cars.
Examples:
- Semester ticket: With their semester fee, students can use the whole regional public transport in Germany
- Job ticket: A very affordable job ticket that can be used for regional public transport to get to the university.
- Four electric cargo bikes and two electric cars for employees of the maintenance, gardening and postal services
- E-charging stations: 7 public e-charging stations with green electricity
- StadtRAD: Bike and e-cargo bike rental on campus
- KonRad: The self-help bicycle repair shop enables students and staff to repair bicycles with expert help
- Publicly accessible bicycle repair stand and compressor pump for quick inflation.
- Bike racks and bike storage rooms for the safe parking of bicycles
- Showers for employees who travel long distances to the university by bicycle
- University bikes for commuting between university campus
- Students and employees can borrow a cargo bike for conferences, meetings and for private use.
- STADTRADELN: Annual participation in the campaign, in which as many everyday journeys as possible are made by bicycle in a climate-friendly way by as many people as possible over a period of 21 days.
Climate protection fund for business trips
CO2 emissions from business trips should be as low as possible and, if they are unavoidable, offset. Therefore, Leuphana has had a ‘Guideline on Climate Protection Measures’ for business trips since 2023. The following generally applies:
- Virtual formats as an alternative to business trips
- Priority use of public transport
- Mandatory offsetting of CO2 for plane and car travel
Climate protection measures are financed from the climate protection fund. Members of the university can submit proposals for measures.
Biodiversity
The campus has a total area of 143,702 m2, of which 40% is planted and unsealed, 25% is gross floor area and 35% is sealed. The sealed area is to be unsealed by 10% by 2026.
There are a number of developments and measures for increasing biodiversity: green roofs, 550 trees, two bee colonies, nesting and bat boxes, and a variety of different habitats, as the following three special areas show:
Habitat Garden
The Habitat Garden (5,000 m2) is an open green and recreational space and at the same time an open-air laboratory of the Faculty of Sustainability. Its cultivated elements include the farmer's garden with spices and medicinal herbs, the vegetable patches of the student initiative "Edible Campus" and the meadow orchard with ancient apple varieties. In addition, the Habitat Garden includes various natural landscape elements, such as calcareous grasslands, tall oat-grass meadows, hedges, shrubs, and open water and riparian habitats. More information on the natural habitats can be found directly on site in the garden.
The Habitat Garden is managed by the Institute of Ecology.
Leuphana Food Forest
The food forest is still in hibernation. But early warm rays of sunshine are slowly awakening the first guild of new plants: Sweet chestnut, elderberry and white, red and black currants will not only provide more biodiversity on campus. “A food forest is a structurally rich, near-natural place where edible plants are grown. Role models are near-natural forest fringes with different layers of vegetation such as trees, shrubs, climbing plants and herbs,” explains Stefanie Albrecht, doctoral student. The food forest can also be a meeting and recreation place, as well as a place for learning. Students of environmental sciences have already accompanied the development in a sustainability research project together with Stefanie Albrecht and the ecologist Dr Agnes Friedel at the School of Sustainability.
The Leuphana Food Forest is an integral part of the master plan for redesigning the campus. Together with Irmhild Brüggen, architect Oliver Günther supports integration into campus planning as well as structural implementation. “Food Forests represent sustainable and multifunctional use, among other things, in urban
space. We take another important step on the way to redesigning the campus with this installation,” explains the sustainability officer. Practical work on the food forest began in the summer of 2021 — again as part of a seminar. Students analysed the soil in the laboratory and found that it was sandy, partially compacted and had only small humus layer. Therefore, they spread a green manure with a high diversity of species. The chosen plant species can help to loosen the soil, increase water storage capacity and improve the supply of nutrients. “It is through living-labs like this one that theories taught in university are related to other areas of our world. I was able to help initiate a change and practise in a protected setting,” says Mercedes Schroeder, an environmental sciences student
Species-rich meadows
In 2023, further meadows from the seminar ‘Restoration of Biodiversity in Urban Settings - The Leuphana Campus’ were created. The students are successively establishing three types of experimental areas on campus: newly created species-rich meadows, areas with reduced mowing and control areas that are mowed very regularly. They compare these areas and examine various parameters. Since the summer semester of 2021, there have been four seminars that build on each other. This ensures that no knowledge is lost.
The university promotes the conscious use of resources.
Examples of sustainable procurement:
- 100 per cent recycled paper certified according to the Blue Angel standard
- Sustainable office supplies
- Ecological cleaning agents for maintenance cleaning
- Office swivel chairs certified according to the `BLUE ANGEL´, the german Eco-Label
- Sustainable merchandising articles
In 2023, paper consumption is at a similar level to 2020, at 2.3 million A4 sheets. This is due to digital administrative processes, increased work on digital documents and the sending of digital meeting documents.
The university gives old furniture, used office supplies and books a second life in the ZWISCHENRAUM. Students and employees can take these used items for free.
Collection for recycling:
- Paper and cardboard
- Green waste
- Plastic and Packaging
- Electrical and computer waste
- Printer and toner cartridges
- CDs and DVDs
- Mobile phones
- Corks
- Stamps
The university gives old furniture, used office supplies and books a second life in the ZWISCHENRAUM. Students and employees can take these used items for free.
Collection for recycling:
- Paper and cardboard
- Green waste
- Plastic and Packaging
- Electrical and computer waste
- Printer and toner cartridges
- CDs and DVDs
- Mobile phones
- Corks
- Stamps
