The CARICOM Secretariat will accelerate the energy and financial savings that have already been achieved over the past twelve months in 2015 through the utilisation of new energy monitoring equipment that has been provided by the GIZ REETA programme in terms of the overall Development Co-operation between the German Government and the CARICOM Secretariat.

The new energy monitoring equipment is handed over to CARICOM on date in a small ceremony.  The equipment will provide sub-metering of electricity consumption in the building as well as detailed temperature and humidity data for improved comfort.  The Deputy Secretary General, Ms Manorma Soeknandan, welcomes the contribution, on behalf of the CARICOM Secretariat, for the additional capacity to monitor the details of energy utilisation in the CARICOM Secretariat building.  The Building Energy Efficiency Project (BEEP) that has been underway in the CARICOM Secretariat since January 2015 has already yielded energy savings of 185,000 units of electricity and financial savings of USD 55,000.  These financial savings can be re-invested in further energy efficiency measures – such as more efficient air-conditioning and lighting – to achieve additional savings.

The Building Energy Efficiency Project concept has been developed by the Energy Unit in the CARICOM Secretariat in collaboration with the GIZ REETA programme and within the overall context of the CARICOM Energy Policy and the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Roadmap and Strategy (C-SERMS).   Dr Devon Gardner, the Programme Manager for Energy in CARICOM, says….????  Dr Andreas Taeuber, Team Leader of the GIZ REETA programme, says… ????

The positive experience of the BEEP activities in the CARICOM Secretariat have also led to the expansion of the BEEP initiative across all Member States, starting with the buildings of the OECS Commission in St Lucia and five other Member States.