FEARS OF an impending power crisis have sent both the government and the private sector scrambling for ways to shore up the country?s power supply.

Putting up the needed baseload power plants, however, would not only entail huge investments, but would also take three to four years to build.

As such, the government is in the meantime pushing for energy efficiency and demand-side management ? in short, energy conservation ? to at least delay a power crisis that is expected to again hit the country by 2012.

In Bulacan, a university is taking to heart the government?s drive to conserve energy by building the province?s first ?green building.?

Baliuag University, the first fully autonomous school in Region III, has begun the construction of the first energy efficient building in Bulacan in a bid to help avert the adverse effects of global warming.

According to BU executive vice president Patricia Lagunda, the P80 million four-storey Information Technology (IT) building will be completed within eight months.

?Going green will provide us with cost savings which we can channel toward providing better facilities and services to our students. We also want to set an example in the province and in Region III in the campaign against global warming,? Lagunda says.

An energy efficient or green building is one that has been built to minimize energy consumption without sacrificing safety and comfort.

For example, energy efficient buildings use intelligent lighting solutions (say, compact fluorescent lamps as against incandescents); has been structured in a way that will allow natural lighting to minimize use of power for lighting; would use strategic ventilation systems, as well as environment-friendly materials to construct the building, among others.

Usually, a green building would take into account its so-called carbon footprint and environmental impact.

Energy conservation program

Making buildings green or more energy efficient is among the programs outlined by the Department of Energy under its Energy Efficiency and Conservation Program.

With this program in place, the DoE expects to generate as much as $15 billion in savings, which would be equivalent to the cost of immediately putting up power plants with a combined capacity of 7,455 megawatts.

Aside from $15 billion in savings from deferred power capacity, the DOE targets to realize cumulative savings of 76 million tons of oil equivalent by 2030.

Such savings correspond to the discovery of oil field with reserves of 500 million barrels in the country and production of same over a 20-year period.

Other programs under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Program included information, education and communication campaigns; standards and labelling for household appliances; fuel economy run; government energy management program; and energy management services and/or energy audit, among others.

Using solar power

Once completed, the 3,500 square-meter green, IT building in Bulacan University will also be running on renewable energy, specifically solar power, which will provide 85 percent of the building?s energy use. It will also be equipped with a rain water harvest facility which will make the building self-sustaining in its water needs.

According to Lagunda, the building will also be utilizing the latest LED lighting technology to further cut energy consumption. It will use air cleaning paints to reduce air pollution and volatile organic compounds within its surrounding area, she adds.

?We expect the new building to provide the university with at least a 40-percent savings in energy consumption and a return on investments over the next five years,? Lagunda says.

The building will be the new home of the university?s School of Information Technology and will feature 11 computer laboratories with a combined capacity of 550 work stations, one smart room with the latest multi-media equipment, three lecture rooms, and an Internet room.

BU currently has five colleges including arts and sciences, business administration and accountancy, education and hospitality management, environmental design and engineering, and nursing. It also offers post graduate courses.

The university, which has continuously posted above the national passing rate in various board examinations, is one of only 44 educational institutions in the country that has been granted full autonomy by the government.