The exterior lighting of the Parliament building in central Athens will not be switched on at night as part of the national effort to save energy.
By decision of Parliament Speaker Kostas Tasoulas, the lighting on the front and sides of the building will be discontinued, while only the perimeter security lighting will remain.
At the same time, the building’s energy upgrade program is under way with a 36% reduction in energy consumption.
The program started in 2019 and is in the completion phase, regarding heating-cooling systems the installation of low-energy consumption lighting inside the building. The new external lighting is expected to be ready in 2023.
Μeanwhile, the public building energy upgrade program “Electra” started on Monday. Priority are offices, schools and hospitals and aim is to reduce energy consumption by at least 30%.
The State is investing 640 million euros, coming from the Deposits and Loans Fund, the European Investment Bank and the Recovery Fund, with the aim of upgrading 2.5 million square meters of buildings that house state services (owned or leased).
Priority, as indicated in the programme guide, will be given to buildings with high energy consumption, through the upgrading of which, a greater saving of primary energy is achieved, as well as a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
The budget of the programme is allocated by priority to offices (280 million euros), education buildings (universities, schools – 160 million euros) and health – social welfare (hospitals, health centres, nursing homes, etc. – 80 million euros).
The other uses (indoor sports facilities, museums, church foundations, cultural events, etc.) will absorb 70 million and buildings of the central public administration 50 million euros. [ertnews, amna]