The official closure of Freie Universität buildings over the festive period (December 20, 2025, to January 2, 2026) led to a historic low in electricity consumption on the main campus in Dahlem. These savings were particularly pronounced in the second half of the building closure period as compared with previous years. On December 28 and January 3, the electricity load reached a historic low at just under two megawatts.

This news comes in addition to the fact that the university’s total electricity consumption has been falling month by month since June 2024. For the whole of 2025, this results in a 4.3% reduction in electricity use compared with 2024, which equals roughly 1.79 million kilowatt hours saved. At the same time, it is important to make a distinction between electricity consumption and energy consumption. For example, heating must also be taken into consideration as it is a big contributing factor that accounts for 60% of Freie Universität’s total energy consumption. Analysis of heating consumption patterns is still ongoing.

University leadership would like to thank all members of staff for their proactive and dedicated approach to conserving energy – it is thanks to your efforts that this impressive reduction in electricity use was made possible.