The Region of Istria (PP12) and IRENA (PP1) started the Save@work istria activity in March 2020 in cooperation with 4 Istrian cities: Buzet, Buje, Vrsar and Labin. The main goal is to test the ability of the cities to save energy only through employee behavior in selected buildings. Energy managers were designated in each building and bills are being sent to the Region of Istria in order to analyze the current consumption in regards to an average consumption in previous years.
The goal of this meeting was to check on the situation of every City involved in Save@work Istria and to discuss the progress achieved so far. The Covid-19 epidemic sidetracked Save@work Istria a bit, but saving were achieved! All four city energy managers stated that only half of their employees worked in their offices during March and most of April due to the epidemic and the safety procedures. Despite all this the word about Save@work Istria spread and plenty of other employees showed interest in our activity. The most basic action were the most practiced ones: turning off the lights, switching off computers and keeping an eye on water consumption. One city even removed half of the light bulbs from the common areas (without condition deterioration) in order to minimize energy consumption. Other actions are hard to develop since most people are very conscientious about energy efficiency and the buildings are small without elevators, but the energy managers were adamant they would find new opportunities. Working from home was also noted to be an interesting option since people tend to be even more efficient when not bound by work hours. Everyone agreed that the necessary work and tasks were completed in time, less fuel was used in transit, less electricity and other utilities were used in the offices and people were more content.
