Key data
Usage of drinking water and paper
The usage of drinking water varies a lot but total consumption has been slightly reduced over the past years. The consumption was higher in the year 2009 is due to construction activities. As a comparison: the BAFU (Federal department of the environment) used 8700 Liters per person in 2006 whilst the BSF (Federal department for statistic) used 6000 Liters. The BSF uses rainwater for its toilet flush. Eawag has been using rainwater for the toilet flush at the Chriesbach Forum since June 2006.
In 2005 Eawag standardized the kinds of papers it used and chose to work
with a light-colored recycled paper (Nautilus). Recycled paper now accounts for
more than 95% of the usage.
Eawag usage of drinking water and paper per person (FTE) and year from 2004-2011. Indications in litres and pages.
Usage of electricity and heating
The implemented changes to the buildings enabled us to reduce energy consumption for heating and cooling to a very low level. In Dübendorf Eawag draws most of its energy from the Empa heat plant. Approx. 25% of this heat comes from waste heat (heat pumps), 30% from a gas heating plant and 45% from a mixed gas and fuel plant. Thanks to the installation of a heat recovery plant in the laboratory building, heating energy consumption has been reduced from 4 TJ to 1.5TJ. With the renovation of the laboratory building in the year 2009, heat recovery was improved over again.
At the beginning of 2008 the Chriesbach rental property in Dübendorf was vacated. It was replaced by the Forum Chriesbach that was built to meet sustainable development criteria. The growth and retro-fitting of energy efficiency features to the old office building were completed by the end of 2007.
The research center for limnology in Kastanienbaum has been heated by means of a heat pump using lake water since 1997, thus reducing the fuel consumption from 1TJ to just 0.1 TJ. The boathouse was renovated in 2007. The renovation of the lake research center is in progress 2010 - 2012.
For electricity the production of renewable energy has been increased.
For more information on the usage of electricity and
heating see Annual Report 2002 [pdf].
Since the installation of the heat recovery plant in the laboratory building in Dübendorf and the lake water pump in Kastanienbaum Eawag has consumed 5 TJ per year of electricity and heating; down from 7-9 TJ in the years 2004-2011.
Key data (usage per person or per m2 of energy reference area)
Key data for energy per person (FTE) or per m2 of energy consuming surface – as well as consumption data for
other goods such as water and paper - are generally higher for universities and
research institutions than for standard administrative buildings (see environmental reports 2003 to 2009 of the federal government). These figures should be considered cautiously as they are heavily
influenced by the nature of the specific research institutions and the number
of students that are not directly bound by the same responsibilities. Per
person data are lower in the year 2009. This is due to a lower consumption and
to a new compilation of data: Effective 2009, persons working at Eawag are
included even it they are not on the payroll of Eawag.
Electricity and heating usage at Eawag per person (FTE) and
year for 2004-2011; indications in Megajoule.
Electricity and heating usage at Eawag per person (FTE) and year for 2004-2011; indications in Watt*. Measured against the target of a 2000 Watt society an annual average consumption of approx. 1000 Watt per person is still very high, especially considering that mobility, private consumption and grey energy are not taken into account.
* Based on 8,760 hours per year (365 x 24) and a conversion rate of 1
kWh = 3.6 MJ, these indications correspond to the data from the table “Energy
consumption per person” in Megajoule.
Heat consumption at Eawag per energy reference area in the years 2004-2011.
Current environmental report is available in the Eawag Annual Report.