The Presidential Office today announced energy-saving measures to cut operational costs in response to the Legislative Yuan’s budget cuts, including reducing electricity, air-conditioning and water usage.
The Legislative Yuan cut 10 percent of the office’s water and electric expenses, and froze 70 percent of its operational budget, putting it in a difficult financial position, office spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said.
In addition to suspending weekend open-house events last month, the office is implementing three new measures to save energy and reduce costs starting from today, Kuo said.
Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba, AFP
The first measure centers around minimizing electricity use by lights, she said.
The office plans to reduce daytime hallway lighting by one-fourth, and turn nighttime outdoor lighting to its lowest setting after sunset and completely off after midnight, Kuo said.
The office’s electricity use has already been reduced from its peak of 214.6 kWh to only 45.34 kWh, saving about NT$6.12 million (US$186,015), she said.
The second measure limits air-conditioning and water usage.
Air-conditioning would be limited to the fan setting in winter, while in summer it would turn off one hour earlier, maintaining a temperature no lower than 28°C, she said.
Public faucet water flow would slowly be reduced, and water-saving devices would be installed to strengthen water conservation, she said.
Garden irrigation and car washing would also be reduced, she added.
The third measure is to reduce the number of newspaper, magazine and cable TV subscriptions to only those absolutely necessary for official business, Kuo said.
In addition, the use of consumable office items such as copy paper, copy machines and printer cartridges is being systematically reduced across ministries, she added.
The office would continue to adjust its operations as necessary, she added, apologizing to the public for any inconvenience.
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