Energy and Water Recommendations
With summer approaching C-SUM wishes to propose simple actions for reducing energy and water consumption on campus and beyond.
- Turn off air conditioners and lighting when a room is vacant unless it will be reoccupied within the next few minutes.
- Block direct sunlight on hot days and keep windows and doors closed, otherwise air conditioners need to consume much more energy to maintain a comfortable temperature.
- Keep the AC to an appropriate temperature setting, typically not below 23 degrees C for cooling. Set the fan to automatic and the flaps directed towards you. Consider that every additional degree of cooling requires some 6% higher energy consumption.
- When there are multiple AC units in the same space avoid setting the AC mode of any of the units to Auto and ensure that all ACs within the same room are set to the same mode (cooling or heating).
- Close water taps completely after use.
- Use the appropriate half or full flush buttons in the toilets.
- Set the power options of the PCs to save energy. For example set turn off monitor after 20 minutes, sleep after 1 hour, hibernate after 2 hours. Note that as most PCs on Campus are powered through the University UPSs, the resultant power consumption is even higher due to losses within the UPS systems.
- Minimise the use of printers by using soft copies of documents when possible. This conserves energy, saves paper, reduces ink/toner consumption and any associated ultrafine particle emissions.
Malta has limited rainfall, with rapidly rising greenhouse gas emissions. The University of Malta has continually invested over the years in energy and water saving initiatives. We now have efficient AC systems, LED lighting with presence sensors, PV systems, self-closing water taps and dual flush toilet systems. Even so, the sustained contribution of students and staff is important in helping to reduce energy and water consumption further.
C-SUM thanks you for your response and wishes you a happy summer.
c-sum@um.edu.mt
The Sustainable Development Goals