International housing experts are gathered in Kigali for a three-day workshop to discuss regional energy efficiency in building codes.
The International Energy Agency estimates that globally about 42% of energy is used in buildings. In developing countries approximately 50% of the total national electricity consumption is used in urban buildings alone. With rapid population growth, a rising urbanization rate and continued rural-urban migration, East Africa’s urban housing stock is rapidly increasing along with the demand for modern energy for domestic use.
East Africa is currently facing the challenge that existing building codes and regulations have limited direction or incentives for resources efficiency. Therefore, UN Habitat’s project on promoting energy efficiency in buildings in the EAC is actively endorsed by the five member states. “This is primarily to support the review of the existing building codes and regulations. This review is aimed at highlighting gaps on energy and resource efficiency in buildings, and at proposing simple and easy resource efficiency measures to be included in the building national codes,” said Esther Mutamba, the director general of the Rwanda Housing Authority.
Mutamba said that the meeting is timely as Rwanda is currently designing the building and urbanization codes. “Recommendations from this workshop will play key roles in our designs,” she remarked
The three-day workshop is organized by the government in partnership with UN-Habitat, the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and the World Bank.
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