The ECPA is supporting three pilot projects carried out in three municipalities—Valdivia, Chile; Goiania, Brazil; and Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago—geared toward developing energy efficiency practices and policies with the potential of being replicable in other cities in the region.
A team of Universidad Austral de Chile (UACh) recently conducted energy efficiency testing in a rural school outside Valdivia. Recommendations were issued on ways to reduce the school’s electricity bills. In this case, considerable efficiency was achieved by switching lighting fixtures to LED lamps, with a reported reduction in consumption in excess of 20%. This is the first school in the region illuminated exclusively with LED fixtures.
In Goiania, a team of experts is implementing three pilot projects under the ECPA umbrella to support a grant application with local electricity utility CELG. The objective is to use the ECPA project as a means to access CELG’s energy savings fund to finance the retrofits needed to increase energy efficiency. This experience has the potential to be replicable in other municipal buildings which would also receive support from CELG.
In Port-of-Spain, Florida International University (FIU) and local partner Energy Dynamics Limited (EDL) are implementing an energy efficiency project at the building of the Ministry of Energy. The objective is to lower electricity consumption by 10 to 15 percent through energy efficiency standards and policies. A similar approach is sought in approximately 400 municipal buildings in the island nation.