Greening a university campus: trends of energy consumption and possible sustainable paths

Recent years have seen an increasing public interest in issues related to energy saving and environmental pollution reduction of public buildings, such as those in university campuses, that should set an example of sustainable development. University campuses are usually characterized by the daily presence of a high number of people working and living in a relatively limited area. They are sites of a wide spread of functions, ranging from teaching to laboratory activities, from housing and food preparation to local transportation. All these activities require remarkable amount of energy that, actually, are not always utilized with the best possible efficiency. This calls for a deep reconsideration of the energy policies regarding campuses, with a particular attention on the energy efficiency and on the energy sources feeding them. Moreover, the energy efficiency interventions and rehabilitation actions are characterized by an emblematic demonstrative impact, since they represent significant examples of good practices for limited and/or confined communities. The above-described issues have be treated through the paper by referring to the campus of the University of Palermo (Italy), which is involved in a change of its energy policy, by adopting severe actions devoted to the energy saving.