METU has plans to upgrade its existing buildings to higher energy efficiency.

Plan

METU's Energy Management System has been certified to ISO 50001:2018 since 27 August 2024 by A'ND International Certification Services, a certification body accredited by TÜRKAK (certificate no. T50001/68/2024, valid until 26 August 2027). The certificate covers METU's education and research activities, its scientific, cultural, artistic and sports events, and the administrative services that support them.

METU's Energy Management System Handbook (document EnYS-EK-01, published 16 April 2024) sets energy criteria for procurement: when METU buys energy services, products and equipment that affect significant energy uses, its specifications tell suppliers that the purchase will be evaluated partly on energy performance, and energy criteria are defined in the specifications and contracts for energy-consuming equipment. The handbook also requires the energy policy to be reviewed at least once a year at the management review.

https://eyb.metu.edu.tr/tr/enerji-yonetim-sistemi-el-kitabi

Under the ISO 50001 Energy Management System (certified in August 2024), METU completed an inventory of all energy-using equipment in 160 campus buildings in 2024. The Energy Management Unit uses this inventory to identify significant energy uses and propose improvement projects, and each year top management sets the energy objectives and targets for the following year (Energy Management System Handbook, sections 6.2–6.3). METU's building upgrades work towards these targets:

• A 30% energy saving by the end of 2030, set for METU by Presidential Circular No. 2023/15 after METU reached its previous 15% target for 2019–2023.

https://haber.metu.edu.tr/tr/2024/09/odtu-enerji-tasarrufunda-hedefine-ulasti/

• METU Strategic Plan 2023–2027, Objective O4.2, Strategy S1: renewing old and worn-out infrastructure and improving the campus in line with energy-efficient, sustainable and smart campus principles. Performance indicators set yearly budgets for improvement projects in campus buildings (PI4.2.1: TL 15 million in 2025, rising to TL 25 million in 2027) and in outdoor infrastructure (PI4.2.2: TL 6 million in 2025, rising to TL 10 million in 2027).

• Renewable energy used on campus: 1,325 kW in 2025, rising to 1,825 kW in 2027 (Strategic Plan, PI4.2.5).

https://sp.metu.edu.tr/system/files/SP_2023-27-ENG.pdf

Upgrades in 2025

• Solar power: the rooftop solar power plants on the İsa Demiray, Faika Demiray and Refika Aksoy dormitories (810 kWe in total) generated 1,151,589 kWh of electricity in 2025, worth about TL 6.4 million. METU contracted their periodic maintenance and fixed the defects found at final acceptance (TL 420,000; METU YITDB, 2025 Activity Report).

• Lighting: in 2025, conventional indoor and outdoor fittings with a total power of 106,677 W were replaced with LED fittings of 60,870 W, a 42.9% reduction; in the Faik Hızıroğlu dormitory, lighting power fell from 19,000 W to 9,000 W (52.6%). The second-stage outdoor lighting project, started in 2025 (contract value TL 47.5 million) and completed in 2026, installed 675 LED fittings and 200 LED bollards on 514 poles, with remote control, fault monitoring and dimming (METU Energy Management Unit, Energy Efficiency Practices 2023–2026; METU YITDB, 2025 Activity Report).

• Major repairs: in 2025, METU signed contracts worth TL 344.7 million for ten major maintenance, repair and infrastructure projects (METU YITDB, 2025 Activity Report). Energy-efficiency work in 2025 included: external wall insulation, high-performance double glazing, rooftop solar collectors for hot water and variable-speed circulation pumps in the Osman Yazıcı dormitory; replacement of the heating and hot-water lines serving staff and professors' housing with pre-insulated pipes and variable-speed pumps; new window joints and sills on the Library façade to stop air and water leaks; remote-controlled boiler automation in three dormitories, the Rectorate and the Cafeteria; repair of steam leaks and renewal of pipe insulation and valve jackets in the service galleries; and a tender for external insulation of Guesthouse 1 and the 10th dormitory (METU Energy Management Unit, Energy Efficiency Practices 2023–2026).

• Power quality: the reactive-power compensation system at the A1 gate main transformer is being replaced with an 800 kVAr silicon-carbide (SiC) MOSFET-based static VAR generator (contract signed in 2025, TL 5.0 million; completed in 2026) to remove reactive-power penalties and improve efficiency (METU Energy Management Unit, Energy Efficiency Practices 2023–2026).