Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- A joint project of UN Development Programme (UNDP), Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and the State Committee for Architecture and Construction of Uzbekistan ‘Promoting Energy Efficiency in Public Buildings’ gathers its Board members for the first meeting, aimed at reviewing the progress made and agreeing on the future steps. The discussion comes timely as the project has completed its inception phase and is going to embark on new set of activities.

The project, implemented in partnership with Uzbekistan’s Committee for Architecture and Construction, has started in late 2009, to help the country reduce consumption and associated emissions of greenhouse gases in public buildings, particularly those serving education and healthcare sectors, such as schools and hospitals. It supports national institutions in improving building norms and standards, demonstrating the advantages of integrated building design and training local specialists in construction and maintenance of energy efficient buildings.

The project is particularly important for Uzbekistan where buildings account for almost half of the country’s total energy consumption, and in most cases do not respond to even the minimum requirements of energy efficiency, accepted worldwide. Majority of buildings require massive reconstruction, and it is also important to ensure that the new buildings, constructed within a wide government-led campaign in education and healthcare sectors, are more energy efficient.

During its inception phase the project has produced a number of meaningful results: local architects and construction specialists were trained by the leading Russian experts in best practices of energy efficient building codes, and the work on selecting the pilot buildings to be reconstructed in accordance with revised standards is under way.

The members of the Board, representatives of the Ministries of Economy, Health and Higher and Secondary Education, State Committee for Nature Protection and Hydro-meteorological services, had an opportunity to learn about the achievements of the project detailed by the Project Inception Report. Members have agreed on the project’s plan of activities and budget for the remaining part of the year, and approved the terms of reference of the Board.

As it was noted by Ms. Nato Alhazishvili, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative a.i., “This meeting is especially important for us as it gives us the opportunity to discuss with our partners the achievements made and plans for future. I hope this first meeting of the Board will become an important milestone towards successful implementation of the project’s goals.”