New initiative helps colleges cut energy bill

Average annual energy savings of 3.3% have been achieved by four Dublin-based colleges as part of a new University Energy Management Bureau initiative.

The Bureau, called e3 and launched in 2004 by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI), unites four Dublin third level institutions, in an effort to reduce their annual energy consumption.

Servicing Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), Trinity College Dublin, Dublin City University and University College Dublin, e3 aims to achieve a 10% reduction in collective energy consumption over three years.

In 2004, the Bureau’s first year of operation, overall energy savings of 3.3% were achieved, representing a total cost saving of €119,895 or 976 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) is providing 50% of the funding for the initiative under its public sector programme. SEI as established in 2002 as a statutory authority charged with promoting and assisting the development of sustainable energy.