Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The Energy Efficiency Project (EEP) is retrofitting old and often rundown public buildings in western Mongolia, ensuring warmer, greener and more energy-efficient kindergartens, schools, health centres and school dormitories. 

Six public buildings in two western aimags, Khovd and Zavkhan, have been prioritised by local communities and governments to benefit from “matching funds” - joint funding pools with contributions from the project and soum Local Development Funds (LDF).

One of the EEP beneficiaries is the health centre in Erdenekhairkhan soum, Zavkhan aimag, which has become a model of public health service standards and energy efficiency.

“Before the rehabilitation, it was very difficult to provide sufficient hospital care and treatment,” said Erdenekhairkhan soum Hospital Director Sh. Dulmaa. “There was a severe shortage of wards. The entire northern block was out of service because there was no heating supply. Our patients usually preferred outpatient treatment. There were weeks when we only had outpatients. But now citizens want to receive inpatient treatment to experience the full benefits of the hospital. They are very pleased that the hospital is now a warm and comfortable place.
The Erdenekhairkhan soum community contributed 47 percent of the total cost of the renovation from the soum LDF.

The EEP involves local communities in the budgeting, planning and implementation of retrofitting, which in turn helps to improve communities’ knowledge of energy cost reductions and improve their working and learning environments. 

Zavkhan aimag Deputy Governor Mr Puntsag said: “The Energy Efficiency Project not only exemplifies sustainable investment, but also good governance. It supports citizens’ initiatives and is dedicated to using Local Development Funds - and thus local budgets - efficiently.”

A tangible result of the retrofitting is a halving of the building’s heat energy demand, which has led to a reduction in emissions from burning coal and hence a smaller carbon footprint.

After retrofitting, the indoor temperature at a school for 160 children in Zavkhanmandal soum, Zavkhan aimag, was a stable 20C in the cold winter months, when the mercury outside would often drop to below -40C.

Students from the soum said that before the retrofitting, their hands would become stiff when writing during winter, when the temperature inside their classrooms barely rose about zero.

In addition to warmer buildings, an energy audit found that the school used 50 percent less energy than similar buildings that had not been retrofitted.

After constructing a boiler house and installing an electric pump, the school in Zavkhanmandal was able to connect its new shower and toilet facilities to the heat supply. This led to significant improvements in health, hygiene and learning for students.

The EEP, implemented by German International Development Cooperation (GIZ), was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, reports SDC Mongolia.