Today it is Warm Sweater Day. Buildings across the Netherlands are turning down their heating to save energy. At VU Amsterdam, it has been Warm Sweater Day every day since October 2022. From that time on, the heating has been switched on one to two hours later and switched off one to two hours ahead of closing time. In addition, the central heating thermostat has been set lower and as of this month the supply temperature has been lowered as well.
Offices achieve the highest savings
Each building on the VU Campus has its own unique character and the functions and activities also vary, which leads to major differences from one building to the next. The function of a room is key in determining whether heat consumption is easier or more difficult to influence. Book depots, server rooms and catering areas, for example, need to be kept at a fixed temperature and this makes savings impossible. Other factors include how old and well-isolated a building is. Furthermore, there are different types of entrances (e.g. revolving doors as opposed to regular doors).
Offices, corridors and lecture halls are the spaces where we can really make a difference. No surprise then that the biggest heat savings – a 35% reduction compared to the previous year – were achieved in Transitorium, a building that consists of the most offices over the total surface of the building.
In buildings with less offices over the total surface we see a smaller reduction. In these buildings, there are other factors as well, such as revolving doors and the fact that the buildings are older etc. Some examples include:
- the W&N building, where we still managed to save over 9 per cent;
- the Main Building, which delivered almost 9 per cent in savings last quarter compared to last year.
