Seoul National University was the most energy-hungry building in Seoul, a report showed Sunday.

From 2011 to 2012, the university devoured 4,403 tons of oil equivalent, surpassing major hospitals, department stores, hotels and office buildings, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said.

According to the officials, frequent use of experimental apparatus in laboratories and high energy loss typical of old buildings mainly contributed to the high energy use. The officials also assume the 22 percent electricity discount offered for universities in the capital has encouraged them to use more.

Lotte Hotel World in Jamsil trails behind the chart topper with 36,260 TOE, followed by Samsung Medical Center logging 32,072, Asan Medical Center recording 31,329 and Severance Hospital in Sinchon posting 24,892 during the same period.

The city government has been stepping up efforts to lower electricity consumption, especially after experiencing an hours-long power outage that trapped hundreds of people in elevators and affected at least 820,000 households on Sept. 15, 2011.

By Monica Suk (monicasuk@heraldcorp.com)