A major aspect to the recent 31st Meeting of the Council of CROSQ, in St. Kitts and Nevis was a half-day sensitization seminar on the ground-breaking efforts CROSQ has initialised in the area of energy, with joint-venture support from the CARICOM Secretariat’s Energy Unit.
The workshop, which took place on the first day of the two day CROSQ Council meeting, focused strictly on the increasing energy portfolio of the CROSQ network – namely the Regional Energy Efficiency Building Code (REEBC) Project, which is partnered with the GIZ-REETA programme (German Development Agency, Renewable Energy Efficiency Technical Assistance programme); and the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (R3E) Project, which is funded by the German National Metrology Institute (PTB).
Technical Officer, Communication and Information, Ms. Latoya Burnham, who conceptualised the seminar, along with other technical staff of the CROSQ Secretariat explained that the key objective was awareness.
“The main things we wanted our directors to walk away with were – an understanding of the progress made thus far with our energy projects; what the next steps would be, and what would be needed in terms of collaborations and cooperation to make our outcomes successful. Primary among all this of course, was to also hear what their concerns were; their thoughts on the Energy Roadmap that has been devised with considerable CARICOM Energy Unit input and their suggestions to us that could make it all happen.
“The manner in which CROSQ functions makes all our project implementation at the national level; so whatever we do at the Secretariat, has to be rolled out on the ground among our regional people. So at every stage, the consultation, buy-in and clear ideas of the roles different parties have to play must be a central thread,” she stated.
As such, the Communication Officer said she believed their objectives were reached, especially as far as Member States understanding what comes next, how and why.
For the R3E Project, there was a major stakeholder meeting in Guyana in late October, and the Draft Minimum Energy Performance Standards for Energy Efficiency Buildings in the REEBC Project was still in Member States for comment and feedback, a process that remained open until the end of November 2017.
Activities will intensify in 2018 – with the expected approval of the REEBC by the CARICOM Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) and then the development of model legislation for the REEBC along with conferences and stakeholder engagements; and too, the declaration of regional standards for energy efficient lighting, air conditioners and refrigerators in the R3E Project, along with strengthening of laboratory testing capabilities for energy efficiency in these devices.
There will also be a pilot project for the energy efficient labelling scheme in select countries.
