Client
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
Scope
Phased rollout of the Energy Management System across 52 buildings in 5 campuses across the city.
Energy management in universities with multiple campuses, buildings and users is a challenge and this is without mention the rising energy costs. Once your university’s spending plans are finalized, it is likely that energy bills won’t add up. Therefore, you may ask yourself how to use energy more efficiently and where you can save costs. These are regular and relevant questions that managers, deans, rectors, directors, principals, and in general any senior manager in university centers must consider.
In this article you’ll see the example of the Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC) in Spain, as well as an overview of some key areas to consider when planning your energy efficiency strategy.
The Energy Challenge
URJC serves nearly 45,000 students across 52 buildings on five campuses in Madrid. With such a broad and diverse portfolio, energy consumption was high, and not always efficient.
The URJC has been dedicating efforts to energy efficiency and savings for years. In fact, in 2015 they decided to take over energy management directly, creating an in-house team, the Energy Efficiency Unit (UNEFE)., which was created to improve the University’s energy performance.
Even with a defined energy strategy and the creation of UNEFE, the university lacked the digital tools to manage and monitor such a large estate. They also intended to obtain and maintain over time the ISO 50001 certification, which required a certified Energy Management System (EMS) to:
- Monitor energy use continuously
- Define and verify savings
- Establish baselines
- Centralize insights from multiple data sources
To meet these technical and compliance needs, URJC needed a flexible and robust software platform.
The Solution: A Phased Rollout of Spacewell Energy
URJC selected the Spacewell Energy Platform to centralize and simplify energy data management. The rollout began with the Móstoles campus and expanded in phases. The platform quickly became an essential tool for the university’s energy managers.
With the Energy Management System, the team could:
- Monitor energy use across all campuses from a single interface
- Detect inefficiencies and anomalies
- Verify and track savings for every energy measure
- Simulate bills using real-time tariff structures
- Integrate external data from systems like BMS and SCADA via API
This end-to-end solution allowed URJC to align its energy strategy with operational actions without needing to be energy experts. For example, on of the field actions include the replacement of all lighting across laboratories with a less-consuming option, which is already generating energy savings.
Key Spacewell Energy Features Used by URJC
The energy team at UNEFE regularly uses the following Spacewell Energy capabilities:
- Automated baseline calculations: Adjusted for occupancy, temperature, seasonality, and other factors.
- Measurement and Verification (M&V): For tracking the actual performance of energy efficiency measures (MAEs).
- Advanced analytics: To compare consumption over time, normalize based on weather and usage, and flag anomalies.
- Tariff-based cost analysis: Enables simulations and real cost breakdowns at building or portfolio level.
- API data integration: Seamlessly brings in data from third-party systems to build a complete energy picture.
Results: 40% Energy Savings Achieved
Since deploying the Spacewell Energy Platform, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos has cut its energy use by nearly 40%.
The savings were driven by two key factors:
- Insight – understanding when, where, and why energy was being wasted.
- Action – implementing and tracking energy-saving measures based on real data.
These achievements also helped URJC become the first Spanish university to earn the ISO 50001 energy management certification.
URJC continues to expand its use of Spacewell Energy to deepen analytics, increase automation, and support long-term sustainability goals.
One key benefit, according to the university’s energy managers, is that the platform allows them to focus on what really matters—making strategic energy decisions without being buried in manual data work.
“One of the key advantages of Spacewell Energy for the University is how it allows the energy managers to focus their efforts on the most important aspects with an agile tool, which is time-efficient and user-friendly”. Energy Manager at the URJC.
How to Achieve Energy Savings in Universities?
Just as in any sector, you have to start step by step. Indeed, regularly measuring energy consumption data, establishing patterns and baseline consumption, and identifying the biggest areas of savings are key to success. Some factors to take into account in energy management in universities include the occupation and use of spaces, temporality, or the commitment of the users.
Occupancy: During the week, spaces such as classrooms or cafeterias are likely to be occupied most of the day, while halls or libraries may experience periods of very low occupancy. If they are kept lighted and air-conditioned whether they are full or not, energy will be used unnecessarily.
Temporality: The campus is not the same during the academic year as it is during the summer or exam period. To illustrate, a campus in December before the holidays, with a very high occupancy rate and heating requirements due to the cold weather, is not the same as in July when temperatures are high and the occupancy rate is very low… Nor is it the same on weekends. These variations, thanks to an energy management system, can be controlled and managed efficiently.
Commitment and awareness: It is true that in a university, students can have a high level of belonging. However, they are just passersby, so they may not be or not feel very involved in achieving energy efficiency. Although energy management is carried out centrally, the users always have an important role to play in not wasting energy. Therefore, sharing your savings plans and involving users, regardless of their status can help you reach your goals.
As part of your strategy, an awareness campaign should be conducted to help you lower consumption. Even if it is about the private sector, here is an example of energy management and awareness and culture at CaixaBank, with more than 4,000 people involved and hundreds of locations.
You may also be wondering if is it better to have your own team or to hire an energy service company (ESCO). Both options are viable and depend on the needs of your university, based on the professionals you can count on, the experience that an ESCO can provide, and other priorities in your daily management.
These are some of the areas you will need to consider to save energy at your university, considering more depth and specific, well-managed data to take your energy-saving plan forward.
