Riga, Oct 30 (LETA) - To improve energy efficiency, 309 public municipal buildings in Riga will undergo an energy audit, representatives of the municipality told reporters on Wednesday.

Previously, the municipality focused more on energy efficiency of apartment buildings, but now it has also turned to public buildings such as schools, kindergartens, cultural centers and others. These buildings range in size from 200 to 16,000 square meters.

Following the analysis and assessment of the data by the energy auditors, the municipality will be able to implement measures to improve energy efficiency.

"It is not right to produce green energy and use it inefficiently," said Riga Mayor Vilnis Kirsis (New Unity). He pointed out that the municipality had "not done very well" in the past with building insulation and energy efficiency, while in recent years there had been a "significant breakthrough".

The project will cost EUR 441,000, of which EUR 316,000 is Altum funding and EUR 125,000 is municipal co-funding.

Altum so far has signed 105 agreements on energy grants for a total sum of EUR 1.5 million. The agreement signed with the Riga City Council and the Riga Energy Agency so far is the biggest one among Latvian municipalities.