Three Questions for...

Geva Aschhoff and Markus Leber

Geva Aschhoff is Head of Department 10.0 at RWTH and heads the University’s Facility Management together with Co-Head of Department Markus Leber. We asked them a few questions about their work with a view to Operations.

 

What do you associate with sustainability in the field of Operations (at RWTH)?

Great potential! RWTH Aachen University operates over 350 buildings with an electricity and heat consumption of around 30,000 two-person households. The fact that RWTH operates its own energy generation plants and energy distribution networks (with the BLB) for electricity, heat, and gas opens up enormous potential through the coupling of sectors and smart district energy concepts. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of effective sources of funding for sustainability-specific investments on the part of the state. However, we are in close contact with the owner, BLB, and the ministries in order to agree on ways to make important investments in the partially outdated building stock and thus enable a long-term switch to fossil-free fuels. Sustainable building operation is largely impossible without making investments in buildings, technical systems in buildings, distribution grids and generation plants.
Construction and refurbishment are therefore elementary components of sustainable operation in the life cycle.

The picture is divided into two sections. On the left is head of department Geva Aschhoff. She is wearing a checked blazer and a red shirt. She is smiling at the camera. On the right is Co-Head of Department Markus Leber. He is wearing a gray cardigan and a blue-striped shirt. He has his hands in his trouser pockets and is smiling at the camera.
Head of Department Geva Aschhoff and Co-Head of Department Markus Leber
Martin Braun (beide Fotos)

In your opinion, what has changed in terms of sustainability at RWTH since 2021?

With the invasion of Ukraine and the rising energy prices, attention to the topic has increased to the maximum! An overall strategy has been developed with the Sustainability Staff Unit. In building operations, we are quickly talking about very high investment sums and long-term concepts with life cycles of over 20 years to improve sustainability. However, we are also focusing on the low-hanging fruit in this area. For example, we have been buying 100% green electricity since 2023, have several photovoltaic systems in operation and in planning, and are setting up an energy data management system that enables users of the RWTH buildings to receive direct feedback on their energy consumption behavior. As an excellent technical university, we believe that RWTH should be a leader in the implementation of sustainable and innovative solutions in the field of building operation!

If you had to name one, which project should the University initiate and/or drive forward?

Just one??? The whole is much more than the sum of its parts. This applies in particular to sustainability in building operation. In this respect, we no longer think in terms of individual projects but in terms of neighborhood concepts for energy supply, which are integrated into an entire portfolio of measures and projects. For example, there is such a neighborhood energy concept for the Melaten campus, which is aimed at defossilized heat generation. The renovation of the chemistry/biology collection building is a fundamental project, as important network parameters can be optimized after its renovation. In addition, a renovation of the Sammelbau can save around 90% of the current heat consumption!
Other building blocks include individual projects, such as the new RWTH Melaten daycare center, which is based on the passive house standard and uses low-CO2, recyclable materials that can be returned to the material cycle.

Thank you for answering our questions!