More than 400 participants gathered at the Kfar-Saba Country Club (Israel) to celebrate the final event of the ‘Smart Energy’ project, funded by the European Union, under the Sustainable Urban Demonstration Projects (SUDEP-South project). The final event congregated pupils from the 20 schools participating in the Energy Management System (EMS) from the municipalities of Kfar Saba, Tira, Kfar Kasem, Kfar Bara, Kalanswa and Jaljulia.

The EMS has allowed a reduction of 11 % of the energy consumption compared to average consumption during 2014-2015. The main actors have been the participating schools that are now able to monitor energy inefficiencies in the building through monitoring devices that allowed measuring the exact energy consumption in every class room at every moment. Time controllers were installed to limit consumption of air-conditioners and water-coolers beyond working hours. A competition was organised between the participating schools to know the most energy efficient centre. The top scoring schools will be awarded with public money to continue implementing energy efficiency activities.

This initiative has allowed Arab and Jew students to better communicate, interact and work together towards a common objective, energy efficiency. Political representatives present in the event congratulated for the fact of this cohesion and encouraged to continue working together.

For the mayor of Kfar Kasem, Abel Badir, the SUDEP South project has brought a “state of mind” in the municipality that is changing the city. According to Mr. Badir, the municipality will change the public street lighting into LED after having realised the importance of energy efficiency through the SUDEP South project activities in the schools.

SUDEP-South project started its activities in early 2015 over 12 cities in 6 countries of the southern Mediterranean. The overall objective of the SUDEP Programme is to assist local authorities on responding to sustainable energy challenges. The specific objective is to enable local authorities to implement sustainable energy actions leading to energy savings, energy efficiency and more use of renewable energy sources as solar energy.

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Press release

Sustainable Urban Demonstration Energy Projects – website