Sustainability at the University of Kassel - An Interview with Georg Mösbauer

In 2014, the University of Kassel published its first sustainability report - reporting period 2011 to 2013; in 2020, this has been published as the "Third report on sustainability in research, teaching and operations - reporting period 2017 - 2019". Universities "are therefore called upon to contribute visibly and measurably to sustainable development and to act as role models in fulfilling this task" formulates Prof. Dr. Reiner Finkeldey, President of the University of Kassel, in the foreword.

Following the task, the university has published a 40-page publication on "Sustainability Management and Energy Efficiency in the University of Kassel" at the beginning of 2021. In this, sustainability management in operations is presented and an interim balance is drawn (years 2016 to 2020) and, building on this, very concrete perspectives are formulated (2030). The publication is intended to provide a concrete overview of the ongoing projects on sustainability and energy efficiency in operations and to evaluate the projects in terms of their savings potential in terms of energy consumption, energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. It can be observed that the projects, as different as they are, have an effect in particular through the combination of constructional, technical and organizational measures, each of which is interlinked.

This observation is reason enough for HIS-HE to inquire with those responsible and in charge at the university; Georg Mösbauer has been in charge of the Occupational Safety and Environmental Protection Group in the Construction, Technology, Real Estate Department since 2008 and is thus also responsible for coordinating sustainability development in the company:

HIS-HE: How do we have to differentiate between the challenges of sustainable development and climate protection in our questions?

Mösbauer: Sustainable development and climate protection are two aspects of sustainability management that must be considered equally in order to be successful. While climate protection is primarily aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, for me sustainable development encompasses more aspects and areas, in the sense of an ecological, social and economic dimension. Our sustainability mission statement envisages equal development of these three sub-areas, with the ecological dimension being the initial focus. In my observation, this also applies to most other universities. Social and economic aspects such as equality, improvement of the  organizational climate or accessibility are further developed at the University of Kassel under the responsibility of the departments and staff units, but are not part of our work. With our interim review of the measures underway at the University of Kassel since 2017, we were able to demonstrate that the success of sustainable university operations lies in particular in the combination of structural, technical and organizational measures. The structural-technical measures primarily lead to less energy consumption (climate protection), while the organizational measures, such as the sustainability-related optimization of waste disposal and procurement or the consideration of Green IT, lead to a change in awareness through appropriate information and sensitization of university employees. This interaction is what makes sustainable development of operations possible in the first place.

HIS-HE: What motivates the university to be active in climate protection and where do you get the energy to be so persistent here
?

Mösbauer: As a university with a focus on environmental and sustainability issues, I believe the University of Kassel must act as a particular role model. In accordance with our mission statement, it bears social responsibility for a future worth living in all of its  fields of action: in teaching, research, promotion of young scientists and knowledge transfer, but also as a social organization, as an environmentally friendly company and as an employer. As a place of teaching and science, it is particularly important for  to develop itself step by step in line with the goals it has set itself in order to be a thought leader and model for  social change. In this way, the university underscores the competencies it already has in research and teaching, lends them credibility, and presents itself as a contemporary and responsible organization. I am convinced that this will also be a criterion in the future when competing for researchers, students and employees. But the energy turnaround and the associated increases in energy costs also form the basis for our actions, which can be well illustrated by the development of electricity costs. Since 2001, electricity demand has increased by 44%, with electricity costs rising from €1.3 million per year to €4.3 million per year, or 240%, over the same period. This  development alone is reason enough to counteract the trend of rising consumption and costs with targeted measures. My energy and perseverance to commit to sustainability development is rooted in the personal conviction that we must all act to stop climate change and the waste of resources. When engaging around resources, structures and participation, frustration and joy often alternate. After a setback, you have to collect yourself for a moment and then continue anyway.

HIS-HE: What are the key successes so far and how do you define "impact"?

Mösbauer: We have been involved in sustainability development at the University of Kassel for many years, initially with profile building in research and teaching and later also in operations. Many of the smaller successes, such as the determination of environmentally relevant basic data and key figures, which can be used to identify optimization potential and which also form the basis for sustainability reporting, cannot be measured directly. Unlike the "hard" consumption and emission data, the more "soft factors" cannot be calculated to the decimal point. However, they are  to a certain extent the heart and soul, create identity and are thus essential to bring people along on the path of sustainable  development. The operating processes have been and are being gradually changed toward greater sustainability. This  includes the implementation of an operational sustainability management, a better visibility of the sustainability organization and the contact persons, a central website with which the topics of research, teaching and operation are presented under one roof, and targeted campaigns with which the university members are sensitized to the topic. The "Energy Concepts" funding line launched by the Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts (HMWK) in 2016 as part of its innovation and structural development funding has supported several operational projects at once. This has provided a positive boost. These include the establishment of operational sustainability management and a pilot study on the introduction of EMAS at the Department of Ecological Agricultural Sciences, as well as energy intracting, an energy potential analysis of the building stock and a digitalization of the metering and measuring infrastructure. The first interim results and a forecast derived from them show that if these measures are continued until 2030, a considerable savings potential can be achieved in terms of energy consumption (by -33% per year), energy costs (by -34% per year) and CO2 emissions (by -43% per year).

HIS-HE: What are the key aspects of internal organization?

Mösbauer: Sustainability development must be structurally anchored in the organization and needs central coordination structures that provide all university groups with central contact persons. Such an implemented sustainability office can inform, connect and support university members to work on sustainability. In my efforts to establish suitable structures, I experience that concerns are often expressed that this would create a parallel structure or an additional instance. However, it is important to bring the areas of research, teaching and operations along on this path in equal measure and, above all, to provide them with active support. This requires a joint service unit that coordinates, maintains an overview of activities and projects, and presents the successes achieved both internally and externally. In my opinion, a clear structure, anchoring and legitimization of the actors in the sustainability process are fundamental prerequisites for acceptance and workability. The university management must support the participants in this process and define the environment-related guidelines, principles of action and overall goals with the sustainability mission statement. In a large and largely decentralized institution such as a university, it is precisely this commitment on the part of the management that is an important basis for getting the decision-makers in the departments, facilities and divisions to cooperate. Otherwise, it remains a battle against windmills and also wears out intrinsically motivated people.

HIS-HE: What are further goals?

Mösbauer: To take up the initial question about sustainable development and climate protection, we want both. With structural and technical measures, the university wants to establish a targeted energy management system and take measures to reduce CO2 in building operations. Sustainability management as a whole is intended to enable operational processes to be linked with the various players and interest groups from research, teaching and student initiatives, to initiate important structural developments and to integrate the university's sustainability strategy as transparently as possible into all processes and fields of action. With the current sustainability report, we have once again set ourselves concrete goals until the end of 2022, which we naturally want to achieve. But we also want to continue to pursue the very ambitious long-term overall goal of the sustainability mission statement, according to which we strive for sustainable and equal development in ecological, economic and social dimensions.

HIS-HE: Where do the central potential conflicts lie?

Mösbauer: As already made clear in advance, there is definitely a great potential for energy and also financial savings in climate protection. This is easy to calculate and therefore easy to argue. For the sustainable development of other areas, such as social aspects, such a cost-benefit calculation is not possible. However, this is not available for free; it requires financial and human resources. Sustainability management thus competes with all the other equally justified claims, plans and ideas from the most diverse areas of a creative and innovative institution such as a university. In addition, it requires processes of change to familiar (operational) procedures, which initially involves additional effort. Thus, it remains a permanent task to promote sustainable development, to convince the various stakeholders and to bring them along on this path. (jm)

The interview can also be found in the HIS-HE March/2021 newsletter. As well as here the publication on "Sustainability Management and Energy Efficiency at the University of Kassel".