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Green Institute
The idea for the project "Green Institute"
has an unusual history, considering that it is
an university or hospital "energy-saving-pro-
ject": the strong engagement of environ-
mentally-conscious staff at the University of
Heidelberg’s Institute of Public Health and
the active support of the Institute’s director,
Prof. Rainer Sauerborn, made it possible
for the "green seedling" to strike roots. By
now, it has already started to flourish and is
bearing first fruits.
First, the Institute introduced some small
measures, which led to the reduction of
paper usage and also to the switch from
white to recycled paper. Ways to reduce
the amount of overseas travel were also
initiated. Where possible, multimedia
conferences and other alternative me-
thods are used to save time, money and
of course reduce the carbon footprint of
the institute. Next the "Green Institute"
team looked into the possibilities of
saving energy at the Institute itself. It be-
came clear rather quickly that this project
had wide-reaching implications and that
certain technical knowledge was needed
in order to be able to measure as well as
to evaluate the energy consumption
before seeking to reduce it. To obtain
exact numbers and develop convertible
measures, the "Green Institute" team
sought new and supportive business
partners: the technical department of the
University Hospital, the Energy Commissi-
oner of the University and the consulting
and coordination team Hoinka and
Dr. Banedji-Schafii.
Material and methods
The project group had knowledge about
the independent survey of the BUND (Bund
für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland
– "Friends of the Earth Germany") which
revealed that in clinics and hospitals nati-
onwide energy costs of about 600 million
Euros per year could potentially be saved.
Everyone was aware that, for example,
through building measures on the facade,
or renegotiating the contract with the cur-
rent or a new energy supplier, the University
Hospital could save much energy, money
and CO2-Emissions.
As these decisions are not in the hands of
the Institute of Public Health, only those
measures for saving energy have been taken
into consideration which can be influenced
by staff members.
The idea was to calculate the Institute’s
real rate of electricity consumption per
employee. Until then there existed neither
numbers nor a feeling of how much energy
was consumed and at which costs - espe-
cially as the Institute does not have to pay
for electricity itself. Subsequently, measures
for saving energy would be carried out and
the use of electricity would be measured
to determinate the concrete potential for
saving.
At this point, it was very important for the
team to keep in mind every single of the
pillars of sustainability, that is next to
ecological and economical features also the
pillars of social sustainability and political
sustainability (see figure below).
Sustainability
ecology
economy
social
politics