Sustainable walk

From the trunk of the Napoleon oak, walk down to the stone bench nearby.

On your left, at the very beginning of the Unithèque building, is a self-service bicycle station. UNIL has five of these (as does EPFL), with around ten terminals per station. Created in 2009, this model, now known as PubliBike, has been the driving force behind the boom in self-service bicycle hire now being offered in Switzerland's largest cities. Bike hire is free for the first 60 minutes, then charged for the following hours (prior registration required for students and employees).

Since 2017, most of the fleet has been made up of electric bikes.
In addition to cycling, the major challenge for UNIL, which sees its campus fill up and empty every day, is to offer as much sustainable mobility as possible, with the aim of using less energy to travel per distance covered. To this end, UNIL and EPFL are working together to develop a sustainable mobility policy, based in particular on improved public transport access.
You can find out more about PubliBike and other bike-related initiatives at www.unil.ch/mobilite.

From this bench, climb the pebble-covered path, then continue straight ahead.
At the end of the undergrowth, at the crossroads, turn left along the straight track.
After 100 metres, take the path on the right that will take you below the Biophore building.

This building, inaugurated in 1983, is currently used by the Faculty of Biology and Medicine. At the time of its construction, it was a forerunner, with 36m2 of solar panels on the roof to heat the water (20m2 were added in 2010 when the roof was waterproofed). The same applies to its original triple glazing.

More recently, other sustainable measures have been introduced, such as in the hall, where the ceiling under the mezzanine has been fitted with an LED lighting system that only comes on when a human presence is detected. What's more, the lighting automatically dims if the outside light level rises.

On another subject related to biodiversity, it should be noted that the green roofs are home to perennial plants, mainly grasses and clovers, which require no maintenance other than mowing in September.

After crossing the small car park under the Biophore, at the crossroads, go left until you reach the entrance to an underground passage.

Near the sports fields is a pumping station that injects lake water into a vast network running underground beneath the UNIL buildings. This lake water is drawn from a depth of 69 metres, 925 metres from the shore, and is distributed under the campus by means of three pumps (with a maximum flow rate of 400l/s).

Irrespective of the season, this water, at 4° at the point of capture, fluctuates between 5° and 7° at the entrance to the buildings. It will be used to cool the air to air-condition the premises. UNIL has significant needs in this area for some of its buildings, particularly those dedicated to laboratory research.

For the entire UNIL campus, the savings compared with a traditional electric cooling system are 300 tonnes of CO2eq per year. This water can also provide some heat in winter for heating purposes.
The two large pipes visible in this underground passageway are those carrying water from the lake to UNIL (the black one) and to EPFL (the grey one). The circuit is said to be open, because the water used by UNIL then flows back into the lake, via the Chamberonne river.

Operational since 1979, this system for pumping water from the lake is part of the underground network of technical galleries that cross the campus from east to west over a length of 1,700 metres (the galleries are 7 metres wide and 3 metres high). This network was built between 1971 and 1976 to carry energy: hot water for heating, water for cooling, electricity, IT and telephone networks, and so on. This network was created well in advance of the construction of most of the current buildings.

Continue along the straight, level track.
Then take the first paths to the left, then to the right and finally to the right again.
This last path, lined with plane trees, takes you to the next point.

Here you can see two solar-powered litter bins.

At the initiative of the head of the Parks & Gardens Group, UNIL has had a dozen such bins on its territory since 2012. This solar-powered compactor for incinerable waste reduces the volume of waste by a factor of seven. One hour of sunlight is enough for one month's operation! Recycling also helps to reduce the ecological footprint of waste. In recent years, more than half the waste produced on campus has been recycled through sorting. Since 2009, kitchen waste from the restaurants and cafeterias (105 tonnes in 2019) has been taken to the Saugealles farm in the Jorat woods above Lausanne. There, they are mixed with manure from the farm's cows and horses to make biogas, which, when burnt, generates electricity for around a hundred homes in the region. Since July 2018, UNIL has also been producing electricity thanks to 8,300m² of solar panels. This represents _ _% of annual consumption.

Continue along the buildings, always as close as possible.
At the end of the last building, the Amphipôle, turn left onto the narrow path that runs along another side of this building.
Follow this winding main path.
On your right, you will see the gardens of LA PEL' and its wooden hut.
At the end of the path and the building, turn right onto a wider path that climbs.
At the top of the climb, take the path that takes you as close as possible to the wooden building.

This wooden building is none other than... a sheepfold! The sheep have been here for over 20 years and have become the mascot of the site. So much so that their presence and their familiar bleating are, for many, almost inseparable from part of the campus identity. Since 1 May 2014, the flock has been made up of a herd of animals: a breed that came close to extinction in the early 1980s, the Roux du Valais. The sheep act as ecological mowers on the fifteen hectares or so of grassland on the campus. To complete this rural picture, a herd of cows belonging to a local farmer takes up residence near the lake in the summer months, while a few fields, notably in front of the Unithèque, are cultivated by another local farmer. Several hectares are cultivated as flower meadows and are mown from 15 June to encourage biodiversity.

Continue along the track, which soon bends to the right.
At this bend, go left along the forest track.
At the fork in the road, turn right and follow the winding path along the edge of the forest to the Belvédère de Dorigny, where you will find an obelisk, ancient lime trees and wooden benches.

When you walk around the UNIL campus, the abundance of greenery is surprising...
All year round, the gardeners of the Parks & Gardens Group enhance the Dorigny site by maintaining and managing the various green areas (lawn, meadow, forest, vineyard, etc.). The methods used are increasingly respectful of the natural environment.
Here is a list of some of these sustainable actions:

• No use of chemicals (except for sports fields)
• Saving energy by using sheep to mow the meadows
• Saving water (watering only when necessary)
• Promotion of indigenous plants
• Promotion of biodiversity (with living hedges, for example)
• Reasonable use of road salt in winter
• Reducing pollutant emissions by using vehicles and tools that run on electricity and alkyl (with 90% less benzene).
• Green recycling (at the composter located alongside the m1 metro line).

From the benches, head down the only forest track.
At the bottom of the path, turn right to leave the wood.
Turn right along the road, which you will cross at the pedestrian crossing.
Then turn right along the avenue lined with plane trees.
At the first crossroads, turn right.

In 2012, the management of UNIL decided to establish a strong sustainability strategy that aims to integrate sustainability into:

• research, by encouraging the emergence of interdisciplinary research, which will make it possible to deal with the full complexity of this issue by addressing subjects in line with the concerns of civil society.
• teaching, because UNIL has a duty to pass on the challenges of sustainability to the students who attend its courses, for example through optional courses or by encouraging the introduction of a ‘sustainability’ component in existing courses.
• the management of its campus by controlling its impact on the biosphere and setting quantified targets for its consumption of resources.

UNIL is also taking action within its community to raise awareness of sustainability in its day-to-day practices. It also aims to promote UNIL as a crossroads for reflection on this issue.
Find out more about the range of sustainable initiatives at www.unil.ch/durable.

From this Unicentre building, you can see Napoleon's imposing oak tree in the distance.