In October 2006, a decision on the lighting of public buildings was signed by the Minister of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralisation, Mr Pavlopoulos, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Mr Alogoskoufis, and the Minister of Development, Mr Sioufas. It stated that:
1. By 30 March 2007, in buildings of the public sector, local government and supervised bodies (whether owned or leased), all luminaires fitted with incandescent lamps or lamps with an energy efficiency class lower than B are to be replaced with fluorescent lamps of energy efficiency class A or B, equipped with a built-in or external electronic ballast (or dimmable electronic ballast) or, alternatively, a high-efficiency magnetic ballast. The use of high-loss magnetic ballasts is excluded.
2. The resulting illuminance in lux after the lamps are replaced must not exceed the level that existed before the intervention.
3. Any reduction in the power factor (cosφ) of the building’s overall electrical installation after the intervention must be addressed centrally, building by building, by adding suitable compensation equipment, so that the power factor always remains above the 0.95 limit set out in joint ministerial decisions Δ5/ΗΛ/Β/Φ1.α/9021/17-5-2005 and Δ5/ΗΛ/Β/16954/13-9-2005.
The decision states that central coordination will be carried out by the Secretary General of the Ministry of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralisation, Mr Athanasios Vezyrgiannis, and the Secretary General of the Ministry of Development, Mr Nikos Stefanou.
The costs of replacing the lamps will be borne, as appropriate, by the ministries, local government and the supervised bodies.
