The University of Versailles Saint Quentin-en-Yvelines in France wishes to apply to the Intelligent Energy Europe (Call CIP-IEE-2010). UVSQ is looking for partners already working on this field to be part of the proposal.
 

The project:

Fondaterra led since 2006 a project to improve energy efficiency and reducing emissions of greenhouse gas emissions on universities.
The goal is to establish the situation to define clearly the technical and economical scenario to improve the universities environmental carbon impact and energy performance.
The major target of this project is to deploy the process on several European universities (or colleges).

This project aims to establish a common base of knowledge of the state of carbon and energy on European higher education establishment and capitalize on current and past experiences to identify energy rehabilitation packages and new economic models relevant to the typology of buildings in this park.
The project also aims to optimize the adaptation to change universities technician skills (in terms of climate change adaptation and mitigation).

This project will be applied on the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (France) as a pilot campus.

1 - First, we have to capitalize and compile data from universities across Europe. We can easily complete this part by creating an internet platform which leads to a survey about Universities energy consumption and carbon emission and data about its buildings and their use. We can spread this survey with the help of European higher education network. This result to cartography of European universities energy and carbon situation and a building complete information.

2 - Next, we could, thanks to this survey, find major indicators / rates to move towards sustainable campuses.

3 – Then, we could test these indicators and process of improvement on the university of Versailles St Quentin (FR) and 2/3 others universities across Europe.

4 – This experiment will help us to define a process of sustainability improvement which then would be deployed on all universities in Europe with a toolbox. This toolbox would contain methodological tools to make sensitization in higher education establishment and practical tools to lead a complete sustainable improvement (sensitization, energy efficiency, building rehabilitation, financial plan, new business model – benefits / limits of sustainable solution, risks in terms of costs / benefits of different technical solution)…

5 – Dissemination of results and toolbox, conferences…

University of Versailles St Quentin (FR) :

The University of Versailles immerses students in an interdisciplinary knowledge environment, without neglecting competence at a disciplinary scale. Its ability to offer such a programme at the UVSQ is directly linked to the fields of research excellence within the university, allied to its partners in public research institutions and business.

Partnership activities take many different forms, from exchange of students for short-term projects and doctoral studies, to collaboration on individual modules of the teaching programmes, to joint activities at the level of Specialities in M2 programme. Links with the business world are given a new emphasis through the establishment, in 2004, of FONDATERRA (European Foundation for Sustainable Territories, see inset).
At the international level, the University of Versailles gets its strength through networking, for example: European research and exchange programmes on climate change and environment, such as the Carbo-Europe programme and the EFEIA (Euro¬pean Forum for Integrated Environmental Analysis), the EEESDP Network (Education in Ecological Economics and Sustainable Development Policy) linking more than 20 centres of excellence for research and teaching in ecological economics, environmental politics, governance and sustainability.

Fondaterra, European Fondation for sustainable territories (FR) :

Fondaterra (European Foundation for Sustainable Territories), formally established in September 2004 is a unique network of more than 70 public and private multidisciplinary institutions.
Fondaterra brings together skills of research, training, mediation of knowledge and expertise on the theme of sustainable development of territories.

This network is designed to organize and put on the map a true center of excellence and European competitiveness.

Fondaterra is a real source of innovation in the sustainable development field driving the territorial economy. Three priorities are established for its operations:
 

• Ramifications of climate change at a territorial scale, and asso¬ciated challenges for regional development, infrastructure and technology choices;
• Participatory governance through state-business-civil society partnerships, notably for territorial development at a regional level;
• Environmental planning, resource management and organisa¬tional change.
• Established through the alliance of higher education, speciali¬sed research institutes, private companies, business federa¬tions, publicly owned companies and territorial administrations (village, town & county, and regional authorities), FONDATERRA works for mutual benefits in research. It is linked across France, Europe and worldwide in a network of centres of excellence on sustainability, territorial governance, research and technology themes.

For more information kindly contact:

Céline Delacourt-Gollain
Ingénieur Europe
Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
Direction de la Recherche, des Etudes Doctorales et de la Valorisation
55, avenue de Paris - 78035 Versailles Cedex
Tel : 01 39 25 41 81
Fax : 01 39 25 78 94
celine.delacourt-gollain@uvsq.fr