Important investments in the green and smart UPT campus in the heart of Timisoara

Concrete steps for a truly future campus. The year 2023, which marked the 100th anniversary of the inauguration of the first own building of the Timișoara Polytechnic, was a good opportunity to rethink the entire campus of the Timisoara Polytechnic University and transform it in accordance with the principles of urban sustainability, which is a priority of the management of the institution.

“The idea of ​​a campus of the future, smart and green, appeared even before the entry into the year of the European Cultural Capital, when the students of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of UPT came up with a new vision of its development, in tune with today’s times. The urbanism project establishes two fundamental transversal directions through the “smart” and “green” themes required to be applied to each proposal. The proposals aim at interventions at the level of the entire united campus, including the dormitory area”, declared Prof. Dr. Eng. Florin Drăgan, rector of Timișoara Polytechnic University.

As a first step in modernizing the UPT campus and transforming it into a green and smart campus, two projects are already underway. One of them aims to install a photovoltaic system at 17 buildings of the Timișoara Polytechnic University (student dormitories, faculty buildings, administrative buildings), with an installed power of 1.5 MWh, worth 1.8 million euros, through a project financed from the funds of the Ministry of Energy, the buildings in question to ensure a production of renewable electricity to cover the consumption requirements.

Another project, financed by PNRR, aims at the complete modernization of student dormitories. To begin with, in the 1C and 2C dormitories, the interior remodeling, the increase of the living space, the transformation of the rooms into apartment-type modules of two rooms, two bathrooms and a kitchenette, the modernization of the HVAC and electrical installations systems, the restoration of the thermosystem in view of reducing energy consumption, installing renewable energy sources (photovoltaic system, thermal panels, heat pumps). In the idea of ​​a green campus, the other student dormitories are also to be modernized, with priority given to those with individual rooms, the total value of the investments being over 4 million euros.

“Sustainability is one of the development pillars of our university for the new strategic plan 2024-2029. The transformation of the Campus cannot be summed up only in buildings, but also in mentalities. In this sense, the University Students Engaging in Responsible and Sustainable Energy Consumption (USE-REC) project was carried out, which aimed to reduce the gap between students’ beliefs and their actual behaviors related to the efficient use of energy, responsible energy consumption in campus and/or at home, through training, awareness campaigns, contests and events that reinforce pro-active behavior to save the environment”said Prof. Dr. Eng. Simon Pescari, vice-rector for investments, heritage and sustainable development of the Politehnica University of Timișoara.

At the heart of the campus, however, remains the sports base, which enjoys continuous modernization. After the investments at the Sports Base 2, completed with the restoration of the swimming pool and the synthetic fields, the works on the Science stand are being carried out at a sustained pace. The grandstand also provides for a multi-storey car park which represents a first step in the long-term plan to transform the campus into a fully pedestrianized space that meets the current needs of the community.

Complementary to the investments in the physical infrastructure, the Politehnica University of Timișoara emphasizes the importance of continuous education, creating tools to facilitate learning (informal and non-formal) outside the classrooms as well. Against this backdrop, the UPT Campus Creativ program emerged, a platform that lays the foundations for social, cultural and urban regeneration, the campus thus becoming a space of innovation and creativity, a space where young people create their own identity within the structure of the city.

“We launched the UPT Campus Creativ program with the vision of encapsulating all the effervescence generated in the university by the European Capital of Culture program and using it in the long term to direct the educational process towards interdisciplinarity, dialogue, inclusion and sustainability. The aim is to strengthen UPT as a university open to the community and that trains specialists who use resources in a creative way, responding to the needs of the city in an ethical, solidarity and care for the environment. We continue this year with events aimed at translating science and research into the meaning of the general public such as Open Campus Night or Science&Wine, with interdisciplinary activities for students such as those included in the BrightCityscapes program or that of cultural vouchers and with alternatives for spending free time on campus such as micro-stage of performances or the electronic music festival TakeOver”, said Alexandru Luca, director of the Department of Educational Marketing at UPT.