Sustainable academic and research buildings

The advantages of district heating are environmental friendliness, convenience, high security of supply and competitive price. Local wood chips and waste heat are used for district heating in Tartu, which are reliable energy sources. As a result, fossil fuel consumption will decrease and security of supply will increase. Since 2022, the following buildings have switched from gas to district heating:

• Näituse 2, Institute of Psychology
• Näituse 20 ja 13a, School of Law
• Lossi 25, UT Museum
• Ravila 19, Biomedicum
• Ülikooli 20, University Café
• Uppsala 4, 6, 8, and 10 which house the Old Anatomical Theatre and the observatory complex

The district cooling system uses chilled water from the Emajõgi River to lower temperature in buildings during the hot season. This will reduce energy consumption, noise from conventional cooling equipment and the use of fossil fuels. District cooling systems in Tartu have been recognised with the efficient district cooling label. Since 2019, the following buildings have been connected to the district heating system:

• Lossi 3, Institute of Foreign Languages and Cultures
• Jakobi 2, Philosophicum
• Ravila 19, Biomedicum
• Uppsala 10, Old Anatomical Theatre
• Delta buildings
• W. Struve 1, UT Library 
• Ujula 4, sports centre
• Liivi 2, Oecologicum
• Ülikooli 18a and Lossi 36, for which a district cooling network has been built.

In recent years, the indoor climate of the following buildings has been significantly improved by replacing their ventilation and heating systems:                          

• Näituse 2, Institute of Psychology
• Ülikooli 16
• Näituse 20, School of Law
• Ülikooli 18, main building
• Observatooriumi 1, laboratory
• Uppsala 10, Old Anatomical Theatre
• Ravila 14a, Chemicum
• Pärnu College

Modern LED lighting helps save electricity and improve lighting conditions in working and learning environments. For example, in the offices of the Natural History Museum, electricity consumption is more than twice as low after the switch to LED lighting, but light output is much better. Lighting fixtures have been replaced in the following buildings since 2022:

• Vanemuise 46, Natural History Museum
• Lossi 25, UT Museum
• Ujula 4, athletics hall in the sports centre
• Ülikooli 18, main building
• Ülikooli 18a

Setting up automatic control of technical systems provides the ability to monitor and control room air quality, temperature and humidity in real time. The data collected will also be used to set heating intervals in winter and cooling intervals in summer to reduce energy use. For example, the electricity consumption of the building of Viljandi Culture Academy at Posti 1 has been reduced by 40%. Since 2022, automatic control of the technical system has been operating in the following buildings:

• Posti 1, UT Viljandi Culture Academy
• Nooruse 1, Institute of Technology
• Ülikooli 18, main building
• Näituse 2, Institute of Psychology
• Näituse 20, School of Law
• Uppsala 10, Old Anatomical Theatre

For Ülikooli 18a, the system has been designed and construction will start in 2024.

In 2024 and 2025, thermal insulation of windows will be ensured in the following buildings:

• Vanemuise 46, one end wall (heritage windows)
• Ülikooli 18a

In 2024, the central router of the University of Tartu's computer network will be replaced, which interconnects the server networks and firewall equipment of the university buildings in Tartu. The central router consists of two physical devices in a highly manageable configuration. This ensures better resilience and allows software upgrades with shorter interruptions. The new central router would consume more than 1700 W less power per month.