Fontys closes premises during education-free periods - 'planning well and looking ahead'

Last year, Fontys joined the government campaign Turn the switch too. 'We are made to think about dealing with energy consciously,' Niels explains. He is Facilities project leader. 'With this project group, we investigated how much energy we could save if we actually closed the buildings during education-free periods. We also thought about closing buildings earlier.'

The amount saved as a result? 'It's a bit of a complicated calculation, because it's not just about energy costs, but also security and cleaning costs. But on an annual basis, it probably amounts to tons.'

Align

'We would like to put that saved money back into education itself,' says Wilma, team leader Support within Fontys Academy for the Creative Economy (ACE). But that doesn't happen overnight.

'It all starts with looking together at what is and is not possible. Here in Stappegoor, in building P8, several institutes occupy the building. They all have different education and therefore different wishes. That means you have to look ahead and plan together. But I am convinced that you really achieve a lot with joint responsibility. We probably all have the same goal: not to waste energy.'

Students on one

A concrete example of energy saving is given by Jennifer Geiger, manager of Business Education Office at Fontys Engineering. 'On the part-time courses, we had three class nights scheduled in the Nexus building. But it's a waste to leave the whole building open four hours longer each time just for this.' The solution? Going back to two instead of three evenings.

'But,' Jennifer stresses, 'only on condition that there is a suitable alternative for the students. Because they are always number one. We have communicated to them, especially to international students, where they can go on that one evening. In this case, that is at the premises on the Rachelsmolen.' Wilma concurs. 'Students and staff should always feel at home.

Doing it together: it works

At the end of this calendar year, the Turn the knob project group will also present its concrete plans to save energy by opening the Fontys buildings in a more targeted way. Niels: 'Next academic year, we want to actually start implementing those plans, but even this academic year we are already working on more appropriate opening hours in the evenings and education-free periods.'

The first results are already there: several premises have already been closed during the autumn holidays, for instance, and the same ambition is there for the Christmas holidays. Lessons are being drawn from that first closure. Niels: 'If we only start closing most of our premises next academic year, only then will we learn what is not going well. By gradually closing some premises during the holidays of this academic year, we can learn from what is going well and what is not. We can then apply that back to the next holiday closure.'

No complaints

During the autumn holidays, for instance, there appeared to be no complaints from residents: they knew full well that the premises would be closed. The few who did face a closed door were referred to another building that was open. This was a slightly different story for the maintenance of the buildings, which takes place during school holidays to minimise inconvenience to education. For instance, there was maintenance planned for which the building was opened, but which turned out not to happen in the end. 'A matter of planning well together and looking ahead,' says Niels.