Students are “unsupportive” of the University of Sheffield’s decision to close one of its buildings overnight to save energy.
First opened in September 2015, The Diamond is the University’s Multidisciplinary Engineering Education’s largest ever capital investment (£81 million).
It originally provided students with 24/7 access to its facilities. However, in July this year, the University decided to change the opening hours, shutting down the building from 10 PM to 7 AM every night, except during assessment periods.
The university said: “To balance the needs of our students with our responsibility to reduce our carbon footprint, we made the decision to close The Diamond overnight.”
A pilot study conducted by the university in 2023 found that the overnight usage of the building accounted for 2% of its daily users but 23% of its energy usage, prompting the decision.
The university suggested the Information Commons as an alternative for The Diamond.
Unhappy with the change is Fayez, a civil engineering student. He started a petition for the university to reconsider the decision.
Citing the unique features the building offers and highlighting its relevance for students over the Information Commons, he explained that the computers in the building have all the software that the students use which may not be available elsewhere.
He said: “The decision was taken with no consideration of the students’ opinions or suggestions. I and many of my peers are unsupportive of this decision.”
The petition started by him on change.org has around 500 signatures.
“I am not able to find a suitable place to study anymore. I’ve been studying at night in the diamond for the past 3 years”, said one of the students who signed the petition.
Another student said: “I have had to leave for home during the middle of my study sessions and I have been unable to use services such as the computers and iforge that I could use previously.”
Fayez has also come up with alternate solutions for the university to save energy and still keep the building open.
He said: “There are so many lights around and computers that stay on even when unused, all of these can be turned off … which according to my calculations can save double to triple the amount of energy savings.”
Talking about the impact, Fayez explained that the issue has been escalated with the authorities and is under consideration.
However, the university told the Sheffield Wire that it will not revisit the decision and the closing “is unconnected with the university’s financial position.”
The university has installed high-performance computers in the Information Commons to compensate for the ones not available due to The Diamond’s closure.
