Foster Osae-Akonnor, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Green Building Council
Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Green Building Council, Foster Osae-Akonnor, has said that adopting green housing practices can aid the country achieve its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
According to him, green housing practices can help Ghana, save energy and water consumption that creates minimal waste if the right measures are put in place to implement green building technologies.
“It is imperative to place a lot of emphasis on green housing in our national discourse, collaborate and form partnerships to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 which is less than eleven (11) years away,” he explained in a phone interview with GhanaWeb.
“Real estate developers must also implement new practices and new ways of thinking to work towards reducing carbon emissions from buildings. The primary aim of adopting green housing and construction is because it is responsible for 39 percent of global energy related carbon emissions,”
“28 percent of these emissions come from the operational “in-use” phase to heat, power and cool the buildings, while the remaining 11 percent of these emissions are attributed to embodied carbon emissions, which refers to carbon that is released during the construction process and material manufacturing.”
“To date, the building and construction industry’s focus has been on operational emissions and how buildings actually perform in-use. However, in order to fully decarbonize by 2050 to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees, the building and construction sector in Ghana must also tackle embodied emissions from the entire building lifecycle,” he added.
Mr Osae-Akonnor emphasized on designing buildings with sustainability in mind to enhance resource efficiency and deliver long-term energy savings, reducing harmful emissions and protecting our environment accordingly.
He cited that the environmental impact of our buildings over a period, has been affected by the choices we make - how we construct, where we source materials from, and how we transport them to the building site.
Osae-Akonnor urged the government to provide incentives for architects and contractors who embrace green building architecture in the country.
According to a 2018 report by the World Green Building Council, savings in a sustainable building could be very significant: from 25 to 35 percent energy savings, and up to 39 percent water savings compared to a conventional building.
