The thermostats in buildings on campus have been lowered due to the energy crisis. But blankets in the library and thick sweaters in the lecture halls were already in use last year. ‘This place is always as cold as the grave.’

Dimitra Lamprou is working in the Library of Science, the library of the Huygens building, wearing a hat and a thick sweater. ‘Cold? No, it’s not too bad. I can do my work just fine’, says the biology student. ‘This morning I had a lecture in the Linnaeus building, where it was much colder. But then the outside temperature was only around 5 degrees.

The Library of Science has blankets available for students bothered by the cold, but this was also the case last year, when the thermostat was still set to 21 degrees. This spring, the thermostat was set to 19 degrees in order to avoid a dependence on Russian gas, as well as to contribute to the university’s sustainability ambitions. According to a library employee, temperatures per room and per minute. Things warm up quite quickly with the sun shining on the windows.

Freezer

It’s not cold at all in the Linnaeus building, according to three law students exiting the premises. They claim it’s much worse in the Grotius building. This is confirmed by Jet Hulleman, situated in Integrand’s warm office under the Elinor Ostrom building. Down there, it’s still possible to pump up the heat. ‘But the Grotius building is like a freezer’, according to Hulleman. ‘I’m often there in a lecture hall, with cold fingers and a thick sweater on.’

‘I often find myself wearing a coat in the library’

These complaints are very recognisable to the people at the legal faculty’s association (JFV) at the Grotius building. ‘It’s cold to death in here year-round. Just write down that it’s due to all the frosty people in here’, Niels Burghoorn says with a smile. ‘Personally, I like it; you can dress for it.’ Danique Dubach agrees. ‘I often find myself wearing a coat in the library. I really like it. And it’s wonderfully cool in the summer.’

However, there is one issue for students who get cold easily. According to students, lecturers don’t always appreciate it when people keep their coats on in the lecture halls.

Showers

The two-degree lowering of the thermostat has no effect on the showers at the sports centre, as stated by director Joris Hermans. ‘But we did change the volume of water; the showers don’t run as long anymore.’ According to Hermans, this was advocated by athletes themselves; the regular visitors of the sports centre are very engaged with sustainability issues.

There are no fears of lower temperatures at the Thomas van Aquino’s last remaining office building.

‘It doesn’t bother me if we have to wear two sweaters’, as stated by Ivo Brouns, employee for Education & IT. ‘If I can help to save on gas, I’ll gladly do it. We could use the air conditioning to heat the place, but that heats the entire room. By using the radiator next to you, you can adjust the temperature in your personal space. We’re in a large room, where some people often keep their coats on because they can’t handle the cold, while I get hot very easily. If I do ever get cold, I can just find something to get mad about.’