Umm Al-Qura University approved a plan for energy conservation to lay down the standards of energy sustainability through the application of a time plan to turn off the air-conditioning and lighting devices at the different sectors and departments in UQU after the end of the official working hours, as of Wednesday 24 of this current month of Ramadan.

In accordance with a circular issued by His Excellency Prof. Abdullah Bafail, President of Umm Al-Qura University, the daily schedules will be determined for the management and operation of electricity in the sectors and their affiliated departments. The university set a period of a maximum of one week to reprogram the schedule of the mechanism of electricity operation in the buildings, as per the schedules of the activities and works carried out in them during the specified turning-off period for each sector, to conform to the directives of the administrative decision by fixing the temperatures of the air-conditioning devices in the governmental facilities to be between 23-24 degrees during official working hours, and turning off the lights of the governmental facilities if they are not being used.

The schedules of the electricity consumption plan were determined as follows: regarding the air-conditioning devices of the vice deanships, deanships and the administrative offices, they will be turned off at 6.00 p.m. and turned on again at 6.00 a.m.

As for the lights, they will be turned off at 8.00 p.m., and turned on at 6.00 a.m. However, the air-conditioning and lighting devices of the colleges and classrooms will be turned off at 11.00 p.m and turned on again at 6.00 a.m.

Umm Al-Qura University aims to comply with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 with regard to the plan for the rationalization of electricity consumption, especially since the average consumption per capita in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is equivalent to 3 times the global average. This is in addition to supporting the integration of the efforts of the bodies concerned and the coordination among them, and enhancing public social awareness.