04 Operations

Erasmus University Rotterdam is committed to meeting the CO2 reduction targets set out in the Climate Agreement. Using the Energy Transition portfolio road map as a guideline, we continue to develop our campus sustainably. We aim to reduce CO2 emissions by 49 per cent by 2030 and by 95 per cent by 2050 (compared to 2021). We do this according to the trias energetica:

• Limit energy demand
• Use sustainable energy
• Use fossil fuels as efficiently and cleanly as possible

The Langeveld building, the newest building on Erasmus University Rotterdam's campus Woudestein, has been awarded a BREEAM-NL score of 91.5 per cent by the Dutch Green Building Council (DGBC). According to the BREEAM-NL standard, this officially makes it the second most sustainable education building in the Netherlands.

As of 1 April 2023, the opening hours of the offices on campus Woudestein have been altered to reduce energy consumption. By closing offices in the evenings and weekends, the university expects to save about 5 to 10 per cent energy.

More lighting has been replaced with LED lighting, which uses 85 to 90 per cent less electricity than traditional halogen and incandescent lamps. Among other areas, all the lighting in the underground bicycle shed under K.P. van der Mandeleplein has been replaced with more sustainable LED lighting.

The university is powered entirely by renewable energy: our electricity is supplied by a combination of wind energy generated in the Netherlands and solar energy produced by photovoltaic systems mounted on nine rooftops across the campus. We rely on district heating for our heating and hot water needs, but compensate for the ensuing emissions with carbon offsetting.

As part of the ‘bring your own cup’ initiative, no more disposable cups are available on campus as from January 2024. Students, employees and visitors can purchase cups or cutlery at specific locations on campus. They can choose to keep these items or return them in exchange for a token. The cups are then cleaned by our partner, Swapbox, and the tokens can be used later to receive a clean cup.

Even though there are highly accessible trash bins on campus, cleaners still often come across litter, such as empty cups or tea bags. To tackle this problem, cleaning company Gom worked with BIG ‘R researchers and ESSB students todevelop a nudging technique to reduce littering in the Langeveld building. For this pilot project, they developed a series of banners, posters and table cards together with EUR’s Real Estate & Facilities department. If the pilot is successful, the behavioural interventions will be used more widely at EUR.

As of April 2022, a new composting machine was installed to process a food waste generated across the Woudestein campus. However, due to technical issues, the machine was out of service across 2023, and its future is yet to be determined.

In December 2023, one of the Sustainability Dialogues was focused on Sustainable Campus and Operations. The EUR community explored how EUR can reduce its environmental footprint significantly and work towards a positive impact on climate and ecosystems in different aspects of its operations.

As from 1 July 2023, EUR has a modified catering policy for employees. Since then, catering orders placed with Vitam may only contain vegetarian products and no cow’s milk.

EUR is aiming to create a campus area with social, physical and ecological value, focused on the well-being of people and the preservation of the ecosystem. To achieve this, a ‘green’ design plan is being developed for campus Woudestein, focusing on the outside area. The plan outlines the measures related to the layout and management of the campus, which are intended to contribute to increased biodiversity and improved water management.

EUR has partnered with an ecology agency to develop a plan to make the campus more nature-inclusive. This includes planting more native species, less frequent mowing and pruning, and more green facades.

Ecosia has become the default search engine for all employee computers in 2023. This search engine compensates for the energy used by planting trees.

EUR donated another 200 computers to the Ecoware Foundation, which refurbishes and donates computers to families who do not have sufficient financial resources to purchase a computer themselves. We have been working with Ecoware for several years.

While there are several initiatives aimed at making our campus and operations more sustainable, we need to strengthen our strategies further across the entire spectrum of the sustainability framework. This includes reducing our carbon footprint from operations (across scope 1, 2, and 3), especially by addressing sustainability concerns related to food, mobility and procurement. Also, the EUR community must act to enhance biodiversity on campus. Undoubtedly, there are several challenges and limitations on the way to make those plans possible, such as general budget cuts at EUR, pressure on unlawful contracts and limited capacity. However, there are several projects already planned for 2024 and beyond (see ‘Looking ahead’) to continue our commitment to meeting the CO2 reduction targets set out in the Climate Agreement and making our university a great place to study and work.