EThekwini Municipality Buildings Energy Efficiency Pilot Project

DATE COMMENCED:  2004/2005
KEY KPI addressed: Programme 7: Develop and implement municipal pollution reduction and climate protection.

BACKGROUND:
The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory project was undertaken by the eThekwini Municipality as part of the Cities for Climate Protection programme (initiated in 2002). The management of greenhouse gas emissions is considered a priority for the adaptation, mitigation and avoidance of greenhouse gases in response to climate change. Based on the findings of the 2003 GHG Inventory, a broad outline of GHG mitigation measures were recommended for the municipal buildings, transportation and water and wastewater sectors. Amongst the suite of recommendations, it was proposed that energy efficiency and energy management measures would achieve both environmental and financial savings by addressing energy efficiency improvements within the municipal buildings sector. As part of its ongoing commitment to Climate Change mitigation, the Municipality commissioned energy audits and energy surveys of two of its administrative buildings: The eThekwini Health Unit and the headquarter offices of eThekwini Water & Sanitation Department

KEY RESULTS:
It was originally forecast that the exercise would identify a range of cost-effective interventions yielding a minimum of 10% energy savings for the buildings audited. The energy audits and surveys revealed that if the low-cost and no-cost opportunities are considered alone, the annual saving would be in excess of 400,000kWh per annum, or 15% of the buildings’ combined energy usage.  The collective payback of the low-cost and no-cost options was under 5 months.
The implementation of no cost measures were predicted to yield a total annual CO2 savings of 128 tonnes and an estimated financial saving of R 53 400.00 per annum.
The annual CO2 savings based on low-cost and no-cost measures together would be 340 tonnes.
EThekwini Municipality secured additional funding from the ICLEI: Local Governments for Sustainability US$ 36,000 (approximately R 216 000) for the roll-out of this initiative in another 11 municipal buildings

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