A P20 million yearly savings is foreseen by the Department of Energy with the implementation of the “Government Building Retrofit” as it does away with old lighting systems in favor of more efficient lighting systems within government buildings.

As of January 16, the existing lighting systems of 22 government buildings that consisted mostly of T12s have already been replaced with the more efficient lamp T5 and efficient electronic ballast.

The 22 buildings that have been retrofitted will result to one million kilowatt hour electricity reduction, equivalent to monetary savings of as much as P10 million (at P10.00/kWh) per year.

The retrofit scheme, which would cover up to 35 government buildings, falls under the efficient lighting initiative component of the DoE’s Philippine Energy Efficiency Project.     

The project is backed by the Asian Development Bank. The total projected savings is P20 million, the DoE said.

This component also includes the National Residential Lighting Program, the Public Lighting Replacement Program, and the carrying out of energy efficiency testing and lamp waste management which intends to expand the DoE’s existing testing laboratory and the establishment of a mercury waste management facility for recovery of mercury from used fluorescent lamps.

PEEP Project Director, Undersecretary Loreta Ayson, said the final impact of the project will be reduced cost of power generation through the reduction of the peak demand since electricity cannot be stored.

The government buildings that have already benefited from the program are National Dairy Authority National Housing Authority, Environmental Management Bureau, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Mines and Geosciences Bureau, National Food Authority, Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Philippine Information Agency and National Telecommunications Commission.

Also retrofitted are Philippine Coconut Authority, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Agriculture, Tourism Infrastructure and Entrepreneurship Zone Authority, Department of Tourism, National Electrification Administration, National Printing Office, National Irrigation Administration, Land Transportation Office, Department of Science and Technology, and National Economic Development Authority.

This February the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Health, Metro Manila Development Authority, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Trade Industry-International Trade Group, Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions, Department of Justice, Philippine Trade Training Center, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Finance, and the National Center for Mental Health will be retrofitted.