Promoting energy efficiency in buildings in East Africa

buildings make up a large proportion of energy consumption and eventual energy shortages can be addressed by reducing electricity consumption through demand management and energy efficiency measures. This can be facilitated by promoting energy saving measures through awareness campaigns and sustainable urban energy policies; by encouraging the development of green buildings through fiscal and financial incentives; by giving regional awards to energy efficient buildings; and, by developing regulations that incorporate energy efficiency into design standards and codes in order to facilitate adoption of energy friendly technologies and wise energy use. This initiative involves: initiating energy consumption benchmarks in buildings; awareness-raising and capacity-building in energy-efficiency practices in existing and new buildings; mainstreaming energy efficiency into national housing policies and developing energy conservation building codes for each climatic zone; developing energy-efficiency strategies and guidelines for each climatic zone of the region; developing appropriate financial and market-based mechanisms to promote energy efficiency in buildings; incorporating energy efficiency measures in all ongoing government housing projects and donorfunded housing projects, and encouraging such practices in the private sector; and creating The African Energy Efficient buildings Award.