The Sustainable Buildings Programme aims to improve the energy performance of the building sector in the Caribbean. The programme supports the implementation of the CARICOM Regional Energy Efficiency Building Code (CREEBC), enhances the regional knowledge base on energy efficiency measures and renewable energy solutions for buildings, supporting building owners in identifying financing options.
The draft Regional Energy Efficiency Strategy (REES) identifies the building sector as a regional priority for the enhancement of the overall energy performance in CARICOM Member States. The biggest sectoral challenges relate to the need for a mainstreaming of energy efficiency in the building sector through policies, technical expertise and local industry support, the need to establish greater awareness on the linkages between energy efficiency improvements, enhanced air quality and living comfort. This is paired with limited technical capacities to monitor and enforce compliance with existing building codes and energy efficiency standards. From a cross-cutting perspective, the biggest challenges for energy efficiency in the region relate to the need for a stronger institutional and policy framework, lack of accessible financing mechanisms and high upfront costs, as well as limited local capacities and low awareness of available technologies and options.
The Sustainable Buildings Programme aims to address these challenges through a mix of intervention measures:
The programme will enhance the regional knowledge base on sustainable and efficient buildings by supporting data collection and intelligence (through the CARICOM Energy Knowledge Hub – CEKH), strengthening capacities of key stakeholders in the Member States, supporting the development of sustainable building projects (e.g. through the Project Preparation Facility – PPF), or providing technical assistance in project implementation. Further programme components address awareness raising and the development of a suite of knowledge products and tools for different target groups in the private, public and residential sectors.