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Ivan Zhakata
Herald Correspondent
ZIMBABWE is set to develop green building standards which are model codes that contain minimum requirements for increasing the environmental and health performance of buildings, sites, and structures.
Green building standards generally segment requirements into separate chapters such as energy efficiency, indoor air quality, sustainable site selection, and materials and resource use.
The Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities will carry out the project with the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) offering technical assistance.
This comes as the country is facing challenges in implementing sustainable building practices and adopting environmentally friendly technologies due to limited institutional and financial resources.
In a statement, CTCN said there was an urgent need to establish new building systems and practices based on green thinking and applications.
“Effective green building standards, policy guidelines, and Monitoring, Verification, and Evaluation (MV&E) frameworks are critical to improving the environmental and economic performance of new and existing buildings,” read the statement.
“The objective of this technical assistance is to introduce green building standards for enhanced energy efficiency in residential, office, and commercial buildings in Zimbabwe. This includes assessing building regulations, developing draft green building standards and policy guidelines, and creating implementation mechanisms and tools.
“The main objective is to validate the newly developed green building standards for Zimbabwe, ensuring they meet the needs and expectations of local stakeholders and are aligned with national sustainability goals. The validation workshop for Zimbabwe’s green building standards will consist of presentations from the consultant’s team and key stakeholders in Zimbabwe.”
CTCN said break-out working groups will also take place where more specific topics of attention will be discussed and agreed on.
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu