Students complain of freezing cold university buildings
Since November, there have been 165 complaints about the indoor temperature at UiO. Harald Schjelderups hus along with the Social Science building received the most complaints.
As Universitas arrived at Harald Schjelderups building, we immediately noticed several students with thick woollen sweaters, down jackets, or blankets draped over them. Two people who had to take matters into their own hands were psychology students Nora Benningstad and Madelon Oussoren. They explained that the low temperature in the building posed challenges to their everyday studies.
«I have already filed a complaint about the temperature, but it has been like this for quite some time,» Benningstad said.
Oussoren added that the building had been too cold to get anything done during the cold wave two weeks ago.
«I just had to go home,» he sighed.
Sigurd Lekerød Alnes, leader of the Student Committee at the Institute of Psychology, said this has been an ongoing problem.
«This is not new, by any means. Measures have been implemented before and things had gotten better during winters in previous years. However, it is clear that none of these measures have worked over time,» he explained.
He found the situation troubling, but also admitted that the Student Committee cannot do much more than remind the administration of the problem.
«In the worst case, students will skip lectures and spend less time here. That will obviously affect their studies negatively,» he added.
Disagreement over responsibility
As recent as this autumn, John Skogen, director of the Estate Department at UiO, denied having responsibility for the indoor climate at Harald Schjelderups hus, and claimed that the Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction and Property (Statsbygg) has responsibility for maintenance costs. After a series of meetings between the parties in November, Statsbygg ordered an independent assessment of the technical state of the building. The assessment is now finished, and the report indicates that, among other things, the heating, ventilation, and sanitary systems of the building are in subpar condition.
The issue was addressed in a meeting with the local Working Environment Committee on 6 March. The meeting records implied that UiO must take a share of the bill, as it was claimed that the Facilities Management had recently allocated funds to improve the conditions. Cold sitting areas at the university have been a problem for years. A simple calculation shows that, so far, there has been more than one complaint every day this winter.
Not in accordance with the law
Many complaints come from Eilert Sundts hus, also known as the Social Science building. When Universitas measured the temperature at Auditorium 4, the temperature read just under 18.6 degrees, even with two additional portable heaters.
According to the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority (Arbeidstilsynet), 19 degrees is the absolute minimum recommended for the indoor temperature at work, while research suggests the optimal temperature in open offices should be around 22 degrees.
Truls Olaussen Sætrang, vice-chairperson of the Student Committee at the Social Science Faculty, is also aware of the cold problem.
«Of course, it is challenging for students when the learning environment isn’t how it is supposed to be. We understand that there are some technical challenges with ventilation, especially in terms of what can be done and how they can be done, due to the conservation status of the building
Billions required for modernization
Elisabeth Todal, communications advisor at the Estate Department at the University of Oslo, claimed that 160 complaints aren’t that many, considering that the university has 35 000 students and employees. She assured, however, that they have practical measures to address the complaints.
«When we receive notices about the locale being cold, we measure the temperature and adjust the ventilation system,» she explained.
She informed that the university works systematically on the modernization of the buildings, in coherence with the master plan developed in 2015.
«At the time, UiO’s buildings had modernization needs estimated to 8.6 billion NOK. This takes time, since we own 100 buildings.»
She admitted that the Estate Department is aware that the system isn’t working well enough in certain places.
«Large parts of UiO’s buildings are old, including the ventilation system and windows in the buildings, which means that it can take a while before the indoor temperature adjusts itself. When it comes to Eilert Sundts hus, we are aware of the shortcomings with the ventilation system.», she added.
