The Georgetown Public Hospital hopes to reduce its energy consumption by 10 to 15 per cent following the completion of an energy audit.

The audit is being funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Improving Health Facility Infrastructure (IHFI) project. Mahender Sharma, head of the Guyana Energy Agency, which is conducting the audit along with Spectrum Engineering Concepts, said that the hospital’s audit offers a model for running industries and commercial enterprises.

“The objective being to reduce the overall consumption pattern to gain higher efficiencies of energies,” Sharma said. This is important because it affects the bottom line, that is the cost of running the facility, Sharma added. Spectrum Engineering Concepts Chief Executive Officer Timothy Janos led the audit team and praised the hospital for its maintenance schedule while pointing out the hospital’s major energy systems are being analysed. The audit team looked at the steam system, which is critical for the hospital, air conditioning systems, and the air handlers to the operating theatre. “We’ve also identified a tremendous opportunity in terms of lighting so we’re going to be recommending significant lighting retrofit,” Janos added.

The audit team, which includes representatives of the Guyana Power and Light Inc and University of Guyana, has to approximate energy balance and provide the basis for the energy savings and implementation cost estimates. An investment-grade energy audit to identify specific detailed energy efficiency measures and its cost-effectiveness is part of the IHFI. The energy audit has been running since April 25.

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds said government welcomed the chance to improve efficiency and is willing to put up the capital to ensure it is achieved. “I would guess at a start that maybe 10 to 15 per cent overall energy saving would be a reasonable target. It does come with some capital investment,” said Hinds.

The audit report of the GPHC is expected to be presented at a two-day energy audit training and workshop scheduled for May 2-3 at Cara Lodge. “The important thing is that local people should start to get trained and start to do the local audit,” said Hinds.  The GPHC’s energy audit is the first in a series of energy audits that is expected to be carried out on 20 government buildings. According to Sharma, the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) began with the hospital, since it “got to this stage much quicker than the others”. The GEA has begun evaluating the systems at the EPA, but is awaiting approval to move forward. The GEA is working in collaboration with other agencies. Later this year, a similar workshop and training is expected to get underway with funding from UNDP.

Source:  www.guyanatimesgy.com