Energy efficiency projects progressing
August 04 2023
The Ministry of Sustainability & Climate Resiliency is progressing important projects to improve energy efficiency and facilitate retrofits to public sector buildings and National Housing Development Trust (NHDT) homes.
Funded by the European Union by way of two grants from the Resilience, Sustainable Energy and Marine Biodiversity Programme (RESEMBID), the Cayman Islands Energy Efficiency Programme aims to improve energy efficiency and facilitate retrofits for both existing public sector buildings and Government-built affordable homes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide cost savings for homeowners and the Cayman Islands Government.
Ministry of Sustainability & Climate Resiliency Chief Officer, Jennifer Ahearn said the project team has been working hard to progress both aspects of the Cayman Islands Energy Efficiency Programme and meet the rigorous standards set by the RESEMBID grants.
“Improving energy efficiency is an essential component of our efforts to reduce the amount of power needed to keep our homes and offices running while providing solar to those who need it most,” she said. “I am very proud of the hard work being undertaken by our small but mighty project team who are diligently progressing both components of the Cayman Islands Energy Efficiency Programme.”
Residential Energy Efficiency Programme
The Ministry recently started working with a socio-economic consultant to help select ten NHDT homes to receive energy efficiency retrofits and rooftop solar.
Over the next several weeks, the consultant will work closely with the Ministry’s project team to develop selection criteria, shortlist households, and provide a final recommendation to the Ministry.
As part of this programme, members of the project team emailed informational flyers and application forms to NHDT owners and tenants and hand delivered to those without an email address, so residents can opt-in for consideration to the programme.
This programme complements the Ministry’s recently launched Cayman Home Energy Efficiency Retrofits (CHEER) Programme which enables lower-income Caymanian homeowners struggling with high electricity bills to apply for free energy efficiency upgrades.
Public Sector Building Energy Efficiency Programme
Focused on increasing the energy efficiency of public sector buildings, this programme will result in 13 buildings undergoing an energy audit. Based on these results, three buildings will be chosen for retrofit with energy-efficient devices such as air conditioning and spray foam insulation. The project also includes energy audit training for local facility managers and college-level students, establishing minimum energy efficiency standards for new builds, and an assessment of the best financing mechanisms to support the retrofit of additional buildings.
As part of these efforts, the Ministry recently started working with an energy code consultant to develop energy efficiency standards for the Cayman Islands.
The consultant will undertake a feasibility study on the adoption of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) Regional Energy Efficiency Building Code for the Cayman Islands and develop energy efficiency standards for public sector buildings.