Researchers at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Hochschule Fresenius University of Applied Sciences and the HIS-Institut für Hochschulentwicklung e. V. examined this question in their project titled: »echo: Energieeffizienz und CO2-Einsparung an Hochschulen«.

• Washing dishes by hand is both a chore and bad for the environment. If you have a dishwasher in your kitchen, use it. Be sure only to turn it on when it is fully loaded. This will ensure that your dishes are cleaned emitting the least amount of CO2.
  
  
• Coffee machines, microwaves, kettles and the like are convenient to have at the office. But they are not used all that much during the day. Always switch off appliances in your kitchen when they aren’t being used. Keeping appliances and devices in standby mode is unnecessary and wastes electricity.
  
  
• Using a kettle to boil water is more environmentally-friendly than boiling water on a stovetop. The amount of water in the kettle also matters: only fill the kettle with as much water as you need.
  
  
• It’s getting dark earlier and lights may have to be turned on in the afternoon already. Use LED bulbs instead of conventional light bulbs. This is an easy way to reduce energy consumption.
  
  
• Daylight is only bright enough for a few hours a day at this time of year. Make the most of it and leave the lights off when it’s still bright enough outside. If you leave a room for more than 5-10 minutes, remember to turn off the lights. Only turn lights on when you really need them. Make sure that hallway, washroom and kitchen lights are only on when necessary. Lights do not have to be on across the entire floor all day.
  
  
• Make sure there is space around radiators. Keeping furniture away from radiators allows rooms to be heated more effectively, which also reduces consumption.
  
  
• Ventilation is also necessary in winter, and it’s important to do it properly. Avoid ventilating by tilting your windows; instead, open windows fully for 5 minutes several times a day.
   
• Screens are not friends of the environment. Turn you screens off when you are away even for a short period. You can do this either manually or by setting your computer’s energy management to automatically switch off after a certain period.
  
  
• Do you have any external devices connected to your computer such as additional drives connected to your computer by USB? Remove them from your computer when they are not in use. These devices draw unnecessary power via USB ports.

This join project is supported by funding from the Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, the Climate Protection Initiative and the Forschungszentrum Jülich.