The Volta River Authority (VRA) provided a snapshot of the country’s energy situation in the “Status of VRA’s current and future Power Generation Report” which was published by the media recently.
The referenced report stated that the demand for electricity in Ghana increased to an all-time high of 12.38 per cent in 2013, growing from the 2012 peak of 1,728.9 mw to 1,942.9 mw at the close of 2013.
The projections
The VRA projections indicate that the country’s requirement for electricity would hit 2,764.2 mw in 2015 and the average year-to-year growth in demand for electricity has been about 10 per cent. The report indicates that our country would require US$ 200 million of investment to bring on-stream 200 mw of new capacity every year. Our country’s annual growth in the demand for electricity is far above that of the African region which averages three per cent.
The disaggregation of the electricity consumption by the VRA report shows that 62 per cent of the bulk of power generated is consumed domestically while commercial consumption and industrial large-scale account for 18 per cent and 20 per cent of the total electricity consumed, respectively.
The VRA report said among other issues that, “Experts estimate that the country can save an estimated 400 mw of electricity – equal to the total installed capacity of the Bui Hydro-electric dam in the short-term if consumers adopt energy saving practices of the uses of air-conditioners, lighting systems and the acquisition and use of stabilisers”.
According to the VRA report, out of the country’s total installed capacity of 2,846.5 mw, the VRA generates about 75 per cent of it from hydro and thermal sources. The mix includes VRA hydro, 47 per cent; VRA thermal, 36 per cent; VRA solar generation, 0.1 per cent; thermal generation, 12 per cent; and Bui hydro, five per cent.
Energy situation
Though the energy situation looks gloomy, the VRA report proffers a solution of the need for an immediate “comprehensive energy conservation campaign” as the only way out of the power challenges confronting our country. The reality that it is domestic consumption which drives the increasing demand for electricity at a level of around 10 per cent per annum requires that the solution to the energy problem should target consumption reduction at the household level.
Use of sliding windows
The fundamental issue is whether our buildings are designed to meet our energy conservation objectives as stated in the VRA report. The challenge is that, it has become fashionable to construct our buildings as glass houses which are not suitable for our tropical conditions of high temperatures. The glass house designs can be described as sealed structures which contribute to the use of air conditioners and increased energy consumption at the household level.
The fashion of glass houses started as aesthetic preference in privileged residential areas of our cities but the taste for glass houses has spread to all corners of our society. These temperate architectural designs have permeated our society to the extent that rural communities with no electricity have adopted the glass house building designs.
We have to come to the realisation that the whole nation bears the cost of the decisions by individuals on their aesthetic preferences for building designs which increase the energy demands of our nation.
It is in the period of serious energy challenges for our nation that citizens are adopting the taste for building designs that would require the use of air conditioners and high consumption of energy which would exacerbate our increasing demand for electricity of 10 per cent per annum.
Green building practices
It is time for us to incorporate Green Building practices into our architectural designs. According to the United States (US) Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental design, Green Building or sustainable building should satisfy important matters such as energy savings, Carbon Dioxide reduction, improved indoor quality and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.
Green buildings have benefits beyond energy savings and some recorded additional benefits of Green Buildings include but not limited to improvement in day lighting, natural ventilation and improved indoor air quality. Green buildings create ambient environments which promote good health and productivity among employees.
We would require a change in attitude and orientation in the adoption of eco-construction processes from cradle to grave—from inception of design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and demolition.
The nation and individual consumers stand to benefit from the adoption of Green Building architectural designs and the government must invest in education on the overall benefits to be derived from eco-construction practices that result in using energy, water and other resources efficiently, reducing waste and protecting occupant health in addition to reducing environmental degradation.
Green Buildings reduce human-induced greenhouse effect and are, thus, in conformity with practices that promote our efforts towards reducing the menace of climate change.
Focus on eco-construction
Government’s interventions should include investment in solar energy for household consumption, education on the benefits of Green Building, incentives to encourage the adoption of energy-saving architectural designs among other such initiatives. Professional associations in the construction industry such as the Ghana Institute of Surveyors, Ghana Institute of Planners and Ghana Institute of Architects have a major role to play ensuring that eco-construction becomes part of the technical training for their members.
The aforementioned professional associations have the capacity and the pedigree to lead the crusade to make green buildings the preferred building designs for Ghanaians. The media must be sensitised to the many benefits that our nation would derive from Green Buildings. Green buildings offer great hope for the energy-saving efforts of our increasing demand for energy which is among the highest on the African continent.
The writer is the general secretary of the Maritime and Dockworkers’ Union
