BUILDING A NETWORK OF ENERGY KNOWLEDGE HUB CENTRES TO FORECAST THE PRIORITY DEVELOPMENT OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND ENERGY SAVING PROGRAMMES IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

This article attempts to verify the relevance of building a network of energy knowledge hub centres to tackle the priority objective in enhancing energy efficiency and energy saving management in higher education institutions. It is emphasized that the issues of careful and wise use of fuels and energy resources challenge more government efforts, active use of advanced projects to manage energy saving and energy efficiency through the integrated use of different energy sources. The study argues that to identify the potential for energy saving, setting regulatory indicators of energy consumption, determining the key energy saving measures and target objects in the public sector where energy saving programs are planned to be implemented, there is a need to conduct energy surveys with further developing of energy passports for buildings. In the frameworks of this study, the following research methods were used: abstract and logical analysis – to interpret the essence of energy saving concepts for universities; systemic approach – to identify the specifics of energy saving projects implementation in universities; in-depth analysis and synthesis – to forecast the university development priority area of the "Energy efficiency and energy saving"; system, structural, comparative and statistical analyses – to assess the energy consumption in universities; economic and statistical methods – to evaluate the level and the dynamics of the energy sources use before and after the implementation of project activities; graph-based and analytical methods – to facilitate visual representation and schematic presentation of forecasts for further development of energy efficiency and energy saving systems. The study offers a mechanism to shape a network of energy knowledge hub centres to forecast a priority development area of energy efficiency and energy saving programs in higher education institutions along with providing an overview on the process of energy saving based on energy knowledge hub centres by carrying out the following tasks: project identification, scanning, energy audit, implementation of an action plan, and monitoring. It has been verified that to enhance the energy supply system in the university buildings, the following objectives should be attained: using the energy knowledge hub to forecast the university energy efficiency and energy saving programme, implementing an automated individual heating station with weather regulation and installing new radiator heaters.