This report: Financing for Resilient and Green Urban Solutions in Cebu, Philippines examines the status of housing and urban infrastructure and how much investment
is needed. The assessment particularly considered the status of housing finance instruments and costs, as well as the roles of local and national governments in facilitating investments. The report was also anchored on determining whether the identified investment needs address resilient housing and infrastructure and assessed…

A practical guide to project financing in East Africa is based on the premise that green buildings typically carry higher upfront capital/buyer costs but lower ongoing/ operational ones. As such, they offer financial value to lenders, owners, and occupiers; and societal value in reducing resource consumption, and carbon and other forms of pollution. Unlocking this value requires specialist energy efficiency, green building, and localised energy finance.

The document was prepared as a companion piece to the Sustainable Building Finance: a practical guide to project financing in East Africa under the UN-Habitat Energy Efficiency in Buildings in East Africa initiative. The intent is to test a number of the finance mechanisms/strategies described in the Sustainable Building Finance Guide for their applicability to East Africa, and assess their ability to overcome barriers to delivering green/energy efficient buildings and local low-carbon energy…

Urban areas generate around 70% of global energy use and energy-related Green House Gas (GHG) emissions (IEA 2009), thus cities in the developing world, where most of the growth will take place, will have a significant impact on GHG emissions, seriously threatening any effort to reduce them – unless new urban developments are designed to minimise their impact.

Green buildings are healthy buildings, both for the occupants and the environment. They are energy efficient, conserve resources, create healthier indoor environments and offer durable and beautiful spaces that use environmentally suitable materials. The guidebook’s primary intent is to provide a resource for building professionals in which they will find suggestions for green practices through the full cycle of a building project - from site planning to building design, construction and…

Finance has been identified among the most important barriers for the adoption of green building designs, and is the topic this guide seeks to address. The regional market presently does not provide adequate financial mechanisms and alternative lending products, i.e. green mortgages or preferential loans for sustainable, green and energy efficient buildings, and asset finance for integrated renewable energy networks. International experience with such products can inform how green property…

Building materials play a significant role in sustainable architecture. The choice of materials is crucial from the perspective of both the thermal performance and the environmental impact of the building.

A well-designed building according to its respective climate can respond to the need for thermal comfort. Green building design strategies should address each of the following climatic data: temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity, rainfall and wind.

One way of reducing energy consumption in residential and institutional buildings such as schools and hospitals is by use of a tubular biogas digester. Use of biogas eliminates the use of the more expensive electricity and/or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Organic materials are the feedstocks for a biogas system. Some organic materials will digest more readily than others. Restaurants fats, oils and grease; animal manures; wastewater solids; food scraps, and; by-products from food and beverage…