The “Green School” Project

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The Project is an initiative of H.E. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al Khalifa, Minister of Finance.The Project task force involves representatives from Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Works and Electricity & Water Authority.

The purpose of this project is to identify, analyze and recommend ways to optimize the use of resources and energy in five (5) public schools.

The Project Objective: plan, develop and implement an environmental and energy efficiency strategic framework to optimize resources, reduce costs, increase environmental awareness among younger generations, set an example nationally and regionally for successful environmentally friendly schools practices.

The scope of the project includes:  reducing electricity consumption, reducing water consumption, recycling of water, and recycling of waste paper.

The five (5) public schools included in the project are: Rabiah Aladawiah Girls Primary School, Al Ala’a Alhadrami Boys Primary School, Sakina Bint Alhussain Girls Primary School, Al Mutanabi Boys Primary School, Um Ayman Girls Primary School.

The work done includes: distribution of dust bins in classrooms, offices, corridors, and outside the school; installing Angel Valve to Wash Basins; separation of grey water from black and using grey water in irrigation; installing Air Bags in WC flash Tanks (reduce water consumption from 8 Liters to 7.4 Liters/use).

Work is still in progress for:   installing Roof Insulation, Fixing water Leaks if any, installing water filtration, Using Grey Water for Garden irrigation.

Work planned includes: installing LED lights, using Solar Water Heaters, using Efficient A/C, and using Wall Insulation.

The school is granted a number of stars based on the number of procedures (out of 12) implemented. 1 star for implementing procedures 1 to 8, 2 stars for implementing procedures 1 to 9, 3 stars for implementing procedures 1 to 10, 4 stars for implementing procedures 1 to 11, 5 stars for implementing all procedures 1 to 12.

Ministry of Finance “Go Green” Committee

The Ministry of Finance formed a “Go Green” Committee with the objective of establishing and implementing a “Go Green” policy in the Ministry.

The Committee published the “The Green Policy” document which includes: the Vision, the Mission, the General Strategic Goals, the Specific Objectives, the Policy and Guidelines, the Potential Environmental Effects of Ministry Activities, the Office Waste, the Responsibilities of Directorates &Employees, the Follow up & Audit, and the Environmental Initiatives.

The objectives of the Committee include: reducing paper consumption by 10%, recycling 70% of waste, reducing electricity bill by 10%, reducing waste produced by 15, auditing compliance to environmental standards every 6 months, and obtaining the ISO 14001:2004 related to the environment.

Each environmental initiative is illustrated by specifying the objective of the initiative, the basic procedures to be implemented to achieve the objective, the targeted date for completion, and the performance indicator/s to measure performance.

The achievements of the Committee include such things like: replacing traditional fax machines with e-fax, using the workflow application for requesting services within the Ministry, using the attendance application for approving the attendance sheets, using email instead of paper work, using the Intranet for storing information instead of paper, conducting energy audit, changing light bulbs to LED, installing window films, using light sensors, using water sensors, recycling paper etc.

In addition: waste paper bins are provided to all employees, and separate bins for paper/glass/cans/plastic are distributed in all kitchens. The paper is collected and taken for recycling by the sustainable development commission-mother & child welfare society.

The Committee is currently in the process of obtaining the ISO certification.

The Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) Project

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The project is initiated by the Government Committee formed by the Cabinet to follow up on the implementation of the government initiative for the optimum use of natural wealth and available resources.

The Project key objectives are:

* Reducing peak demand (MW) and energy demand (MWh) to enhance energy security in a cost effective manner, and
* Producing environmental benefits, including reduction in carbon emissions.

The purpose of the Project is to design and implement a large scale efficient lighting program to benefit the residential and commercial/public buildings and other sectors that currently use incandescent lamps (ILs), which contributes to 10 percent of the electricity load, mostly coinciding with peak load hours.

The Project is being implemented by Electricity & Water Authority in coordination with Ministry of Finance and with the support of the World Bank.

Eventually the energy inefficient incandescent lamps will be replaced with efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) in the short term, and with more efficient technologies like light-emitting diode (LED) based lamps in the medium term, across the residential, commercial and public buildings sector in Bahrain.

This project will help the consumers in the Bahrain market to gradually transition to the new, evolving and efficient lighting technologies, and to help switch completely from energy inefficient ILs to CFLs and, eventually, to LED based lamps.

The long term program of regulatory policy-based instruments will ensure a sustainable market transformation towards CFLs and consequently LEDs, which are more expensive but more efficient (and longer life) than CFLs.

The project has already started and will be completed by mid of 2014.

Special MOF Committee for the Application of “Green Policy” Principles

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The Ministry of Finance has formed a special committee to apply  “Green Policy” principles. The move emphasizes the keenness of the Ministry to adhere to concepts related to the environment and the importance of maintaining ecological balance and sustainable development

Mr. Ismail A. Al Marhoon, MOF Assistant Undersecretary for Resources and Information, said that the committee was formed according to the directives of H.E. the Minister of Finance to promote the Ministry’s contribution to creating a healthy, clean and safe environment.

He added that the environmental impact of activities conducted by the Ministry would be reviewed in order to identify the necessary measures that have to be undertaken.

Steps already taken in this respect include, among other things, increasing use of e-mail rather than paper in correspondence and internal memos, electronic faxing and archiving, giving priority in procurement decisions to products which comply with environmental standards, seeking the reduction of electricity and water consumption, and a total  ban on smoking at Ministry premises  in accordance with Decree No (8), 2009.

Mr. Al Marhoon concluded his statement pointing out that the Ministry of Finance would seek further progress in this direction through enhancing co-operation with the Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment and Wildlife as well as relevant international organizations and consulting firms.