Govt favors green buildings

A consultative workshop organised by the ministry of Energy and Public Utilities and the United Nations Development Programme on ‘standard energy efficient
designs for low and middle income housing and other buildings needs’ was held in Domaine Les Pailles.

Around 60 stakeholders from 30 organisations from the public and private sector involved in the field of construction attended the workshop.

The acting prime minister, Rashid Beebeejaun underscored the importance of developing a set of standard esigns that meet the requirements of building regulations and also incorporate cost-effective energy saving mechanisms.

“It is important that architects know how to be more energy efficient,” he said, adding that Mauritius should have a school of architecture so that students are sensitised about energy saving and efficiency.

The objective of the workshop is to enable interaction between consultants and stakeholders so as to discuss ways and means to modify proposed guidelines on energy-efficient designs so that they can be easily adopted. The designs should also be appropriate for the humid tropical climate in Mauritius.

A British consulting firm, Sarah Wigglesworth Architects was awarded the contract in order to develop guidelines for residential buildings, low and middle-income and NHDC flats as well as for non-residential buildings such as schools, offices and community health centres. The consultant has already submitted the first draft guidebooks on energy-efficient designs to be provided to stakeholders. The final draft of the guidebooks for both residential and non-residential buildings will be submitted by the end of 2011. By September, the consultant will provide training to officers concerned in issuing building permits to local authorities, architects, engineers, amongst others.