The University of Strasbourg (Unistra), which has seen its gas and electricity bill rise from 10 to 35 million euros per year between this year and next, voted for the first time a deficit budget for 2023, of 24 million euros, against a surplus of 4 to 5 million euros in previous years. Faced with the explosion of energy prices, it has therefore just adopted an ecological transition plan which should enable it to reduce its energy bill in the years to come.
Unistra has been singled out recently for its desire to close its premises for two additional weeks this winter, in order to reduce its heating bill, but “it was only the tree that hid the forest, it was a harbinger of something much stronger”, underlines its president, Michel Deneken.
Unistra “served as a punching bag”
“With the Ukrainian crisis, markets [de l’énergie] increased by 500% and this only precipitates the need for long-term measures”, adds the president, for whom the new plan adopted by the board of directors of the university aims to “do well by doing less “. “The budget for 2023 would be roughly in line with recent years if it weren’t for the energy crisis,” notes Frédérique Berrod, vice-president in charge of finance. In the coming weeks, the faculty will begin by realizing its carbon footprint and implementing numerous saving measures, in terms of heating and lighting in its 153 buildings spread over six campuses and 600,000 m2, which accommodate 60,000 students.
Already, the drop in room temperature to 19 degrees and the commissioning of the heating a month later than usual, in November, have made it possible to achieve savings of around 5%. As for the two additional weeks of closure this winter, the management of the university regrets “the media storm” that the announcement caused, and that Unistra “served as a punching bag”, while “all the universities had think about that”. But it will still save 3% more. Insulation of buildings, adaptation of the university calendar or installation of photovoltaic panels are all avenues under study for the years to come, while business continuity plans in the event of a power cut, particularly in research laboratories , have been updated.