How to conserve energy at KHiO?

KHiO students will soon receive invites to department meetings in which it will be discussed how KHiO could best reduce its electricity costs, and in creative ways avoid that this negatively impacts the teaching environment.

Check KHiO e-mail and Canvas for the specific time slot for the individual meeting.

A presentation of how the explosive rise in the price of electricity will impact the budget of KHiO will be given in the department meetings. And, which measures will have the most impact in conserving energy.

As a student you can ask questions and come with suggestions for energy conserving measurements. You can also offer your honest opinion on whether the implemented measures will have the intended effect.

«Dugnad» and dialog with the student council and student democracy

KHiO uses an area of totally 43.000 m2. We rent the premises of a private owned building complex. In the buildings there is a plethora of rooms, lightbulbs, electrical outlet, ventilation units, machines and equipment.

As someone who spends time in exhibition spaces, hallways, workshops and stages, you will feel the temperature on your body.
The idea of department meetings came about from a meeting between the student council and the rectorate at KHiO.

Students are also represented with 2 out of 11 board members at KHiO. The board holds its next meeting the 24th and 25th of October. There is an election of new student representatives to the board.

19 degrees in all rooms

The whole of Europe is now conserving energy. Several countries have done this through far more drastic measurements than Norway. At KHiO the following measurements have been implemented so far:

The standard room temperature in all of the school’s buildings will be 19 degrees.
A guard will make a round every evening at 19:00–20:00 to turn off the lights in the dance studios, audition rooms, and theatre stages, as well as the stage area and mounting hall, when these are not in use.
The sauna ovens in the theatrical arts building will be on for fewer hours.
The ventilation will be reduced in the evening and on days when this will have little or only a barely perceptible effect.
Program automatic timer in some important rooms so that the light is automatically turned off (and the user may need to turn the light back on if the room is still in use).

KHiO is also in dialogue with the owner of the premises concerning measures that could reduce the costs.

Poster campaign

Communication and the infrastructure team are working on a campaign to remind each other of specific, daily saving measures:

Turn off the lights
Close the windows
Layer-up

In a little while, posters will be put up in several spaces, including rooms that are very large that lead to several unnecessary expense for light, heating and ventilation. But we need help from all the users to identify the correct measures for the particular space.

Unknown factor

1. The price of electricity

It is difficult to predict the future, also for the price of electricity. In the course of this year the electricity price has multiplied. For 2022 the estimates show that this amounts to 12 to 15 million kroner. This bill needs to be paid.

2. State subsidy

KHiO is state university college that gets nearly all of its budget allocations over the the national budget. A large portion of this budget goes to rent, salaries and other operational costs (among others energy and ventilation).

The explosive increase in electricity prices were not taken into consideration by the authorities when KHiO was granted budget allocations for 2022. We are applying for compensations for this great extra expense from the Ministry of Education and Research.

On the 6th of October the government presents the suggested national budget for 2023. The national budget will be approved by the Storting in December.