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19 September 2023 | Story University of the Free State | Photo Supplied
Staff from UFS University Estates: Engineering Services; Obakeng Mocwana, Ben Mhlomi, Sibusiso Lediga, Waylon Kruger, Alain Isaacs, and Nicolaas Esterhuysen.

Last year, the University of the Free State (UFS) launched a progressive institutional strategy, which contains bold but achievable goals to maximise its impact on society. Vision 130 expresses the institution’s intent and commitment to be acknowledged by peers and society as a top-tier university in South Africa, ranked among the best in the world. It highlights key focus areas for the period leading up to 2034 when the university celebrates 130 years of existence. A set of key values have been identified to guide UFS strategies and operations – with sustainability occupying a central space.

As an institution of teaching and learning, research, and engagement, the UFS wants to use its strategic position to drive sustainability issues by establishing green campuses and adopting sustainable built environment practices.

It aims to renew, rejuvenate, regenerate, and revisit facilities and infrastructure. This includes a commitment to implementing energy-saving and effective water management initiatives for greater sustainability.

Solar energy

A flagship renewable energy project is the installation of solar plants across the three UFS campuses in response to the call for urgent solutions to load-shedding problems, and promoting sustainable, clean energy solutions.

The microgrid installation on the Qwaqwa Campus in the Eastern Free State is one of the biggest solar-diesel hybrid systems in South Africa, enabling this campus to keep running despite excessive power interruptions in the region.

The installed grid-tied solar plants operate without batteries on all three campuses, giving the university an optimal configuration between capital cost and payback period.
The UFS has saved up to R32,5 million since the first solar plant was commissioned in 2017. This will soon increase substantially with the commissioning of two large new ground-mounted solar plants on the Bloemfontein Campus.

Waterwise landscaping

Changing environmental conditions are putting precious water resources under strain across the world – especially in drought-prone sub-Saharan Africa.  

The UFS has been implementing innovative waterwise and greywater initiatives over the past couple of years in response to continuous local drought conditions and sporadic water restrictions, replacing large expanses of lawn with hard elements and paving, as well as waterwise indigenous plants, including a range of hardy succulents. 

Rainwater harvesting systems have been fitted at all residences and academic buildings. Other water-saving initiatives include greywater systems installed at residences, waterless urinals in administrative and academic buildings, water restrainers, pressure control systems (reducing the volume of water) and push-button systems instead of taps.  

Encouraging energy-saving results

A clear indication that the energy-saving measures are yielding positive results is that energy consumption has decreased with 14,5% since 2017, even though the gross surface area of the university has grown with 8,8%.

UFS carbon emissions have shown a significant reduction over the years – from 0.115 CO2/m2 in 2013 to 0.088 CO2/m2 in 2022 – making it a frontrunner in low carbon emissions among South African higher education institutions.  This is mainly due to the implementation of energy-efficient strategies and solar generation, effectively minimising energy consumption. 

The UFS not only prioritises sustainability as a fundamental institutional focus, but also actively engages in numerous projects that contribute to a more sustainable world, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In this way, it lives up to its mission to be a research-led, student-centred, and regionally engaged institution that contributes to development and social justice through the production of globally competitive graduates and knowledge. 

Energy-efficient buildings

The UFS has thorough guidelines for pursuing sustainability in its built environment, with factors such as energy efficiency given meticulous consideration when new buildings and structures are planned. The university also measures and tracks energy consumption in all its existing buildings.

On the Bloemfontein Campus, the multi-functional Modular Lecture Building offers flexible teaching and learning spaces, where large numbers of students exchange knowledge and information in an environment enhanced and supported by electronic media. This facility is considered a hub for innovative learning, recently receiving a National Merit Award from the South African Institute of Architects (SAIA). Adjudicators noted that the building sets a benchmark for rational planning and technical efficiency and helps to complete the campus urban framework through its placing and material choices.

The building incorporated various energy-saving measures in its design, including building orientation to optimise exposure to sunlight in spaces where it matters, seasonal sun control, double glazing and louvres for energy conservation, rainwater harvesting and storage on the roof of the building, trees and waterwise landscaping.

This facility forms part of an endeavour to create a cohesive campus identity that improves the university’s core business, and exemplifies its emphasis on innovation and excellence.

The UFS has adopted technical guidelines for building design and development, following the rating systems and tools developed by the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA), which are used for the certification of sustainability performance in the built environment. These guidelines, which apply to indoor environmental quality, energy, materials, land use ecology, emissions, innovation, and water, among others, form part of the measures used when new buildings are developed.
 
Research on water and water quality 

In line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), several UFS researchers are involved with important research efforts on water and water quality, including:

• Centre for Environmental Management: The use of freshwater algae to treat acid mine drainage or domestic wastewater.
This research, which has earned a coveted NSTF-South32 award, focuses on a more circular use of resources where waste is reduced and resources are recycled, which has driven a paradigm shift within the scientific community about wastewater solutions.

• Centre for Mineral Biogeochemistry: Developing sustainable water treatment options using biogeochemical processes in engineered technology.
The UFS has established a Mineral Biogeochemistry Research Infrastructure Platform as part of a national initiative to promote the science of biogeochemistry as a strategic objective in South Africa. It also focuses on agricultural bio-augmentation research with industry partners to help ensure long-term food security in Africa.

• Institute for Groundwater Studies (IGS): Research on fractured rock aquifers, industrial and mining contamination, groundwater governance and groundwater resource. 

The IGS water research laboratory has ISO 17025 accreditation from the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) for all its methods, setting it apart in the field of contract research on water-related topics in the mining and industrial sectors.


 

 

WATCH: UFS' Sustainable Energy Initiatives



News Archive

Honorary doctorate to Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu attracts wide attention
2011-01-27

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu after receiving his honorary doctorate in Theology at the UFS.
- Photo: Hannes Pieterse

 

The University of the Free State (UFS) awarded an honorary doctorate to Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu on Thursday, 27 January 2011. The graduation ceremony, which was attended by guests from across the country marks a milestone in the history of the university.

Amongst the guests were the ambassador of the USA to South Africa, Mr Donald Gips; the British High Commissioner to South Africa, Dr Nicola Brewer; members of the local government; Ms Barbara Hogan, former Minister of Public Works and the daughters of Bram Fischer, Ruth Fischer-Rice and Ilse Fischer-Wilson. Friends of Dr Tutu, Dr Ahmed Kathrada, Ms Barbara Hogan and Dr Allan and Ms Elna Boesak also attended the occasion.
 
The UFS also received a message of congratulations from the Deputy President of South Africa, Mr Kgalema Motlanthe. “The choice to honour this exemplar of virtue to which most of the world still look for direction as it buckles under social, political and economic difficulties is laudable in all respects,” he said.
Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS, said: “We honour a great son of South Africa who made a tremendous contribution to peace, reconciliation and justice in South Africa and in the world.
 
“There were times when few of us thought apartheid would end in our lifetime, yet you stood as a rock reassuring us, not about a black future, but about our common future. For this reason, Arch, we would not miss this opportunity to honour you for any reason whatsoever.
 
“You, Sir, are a Jew among Muslims, a Christian among Hindus, a Catholic among Anglicans, a bridge-builder among all of us. That is why we love you; because you look deeper and see further than all of us.”
 
According to Prof. Francois Tolmie, Dean of the UFS’s Faculty of Theology, the university honours Dr Tutu for his contribution as theologian – through his teaching and the books he wrote – as well as for the role he played in bringing about reconciliation in South Africa as well as in the rest of the world. The university also honours Dr Tutu as a moral and spiritual leader who never sacrificed his integrity as a Christian.
 
Apart from being a church leader and a leading world figure, Dr Tutu is the author of several books and also held a number of teaching posts at various tertiary institutions.
 
In 1984, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his role as a unifying leader figure in the campaign to abolish apartheid in South Africa. A further highlight in his career was his election as Archbishop of Cape Town in 1986. He was the first black African to serve in this position, which placed him at the head of the Anglican Church in South Africa.  
 
Many South Africans also remember the role he played when President Nelson Mandela appointed him in December 1995 to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was established to investigate human rights violations during the apartheid era. The Archbishop guided the nation in the process of choosing forgiveness over revenge and in so doing set a historic international precedent.   
 
In 1996, he retired as Archbishop of Cape Town but continues to speak out in favour of human rights, equality and social justice in South Africa and throughout the world.
 
In August 2009, President Barack Obama presented him with the Medal of Freedom, the United States of America’s highest civilian honour. Dr Desmond Tutu is recognised around the world as a moral leader committed to the human rights of all people.
 
Today he is chairman of The Elders, a group of world leaders who, in view of their integrity and leadership, are equipped to deal with some of the world’s most pressing problems.
 
Prof. Tolmie says: “It is often asked how Dr Tutu could have achieved all this in the span of one lifetime. Some people would refer to his warm personality or his humanness, his deep sense of humility or his wonderful sense of humour. Probing a little deeper, however, one is struck by Dr Tutu’s deep relationship with God. He is known as a man of faith, a man of prayer. He lives his life coram Deo, in the presence of God.”
 
Dr Tutu also lead the introduction ceremony of the UFS’s International Institute for Studies in Race, Reconciliation and Social Justice.
 
 
Media Release
27 January 2011
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication (actg)
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za
 

 

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