University continues to reduce the environmental impact of its property with a grant from the Ministry of Education and Research

This year’s grant will be used to introduce various energy-saving solutions, such as renovating the heating, ventilation and cooling systems, developing automation control systems and replacing costly lighting with LED lights. Also, solar parks and storage systems will be designed and built. 

Kstina Noormets, the Director of Administration at the University of Tartu, considers it a priority to increase energy efficiency, including making buildings more cost-effective and improving their indoor climate. Last year, the €3 million spent on energy efficiency accounted for more than a quarter of the university’s total investments in buildings. “This year, we plan to invest at least the same amount in energy efficiency. There are plans to do such works for about €5.5 million, some of which will be completed in 2025,” Noormets said. 

In the last two years, the MoER grant helped equip the solar parks of the university library and the Delta buildings with energy storage systems. Today, the solar energy produced accounts for 11–13% of the building’s electricity consumption. In addition, several buildings have been connected with the district cooling network (most recently, Uppsala 10 and Lossi 36) and converted from gas to district heating (recently, Uppsala 4, 6, 8 and 10). 

The MoER grant aims to improve the energy efficiency and sustainable energy use of educational institutions through smart solutions (e.g., construction of solar parks, improved management of utility systems, energy-saving lighting solutions, etc.) and thereby enhance the visibility and raise awareness of the impact of the buildings’ energy efficiency improvements in society. In total, €9.8 million is allocated to research and development institutions and institutions supporting their work.