BUILD ME – boosting ambitions to achieve a climate-neutral building standard in the MENA region

The building sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has a great potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by means of energy-efficient and climate-friendly construction. The project consequently supports pilot projects and policy dialogues that foster the partner countries’ ambitions to achieve climate-neutral building standards. The focus is on the introduction of an energy classification system for buildings, aimed at facilitating access to finance for buildings that meet a higher energy efficiency level. Technical support is given to building projects, which should ideally then receive funding from international financial institutions like the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) or regional financial institutions. Furthermore, advice on building regulations (EEBC - energy efficiency building codes) and support on the incorporation of building energy efficiency into the national strategies (e.g., NDCs, NEEAPs) is given to the national authorities.

Project data

Countries: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia
IKI funding: 5,712,129.30 €
Duration: 10/2016 till 03/2025
Status: open
Implementing organisation: Guidehouse Germany GmbH
Political Partner: Ministry of Energy - Algeria

Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources - Jordan

Ministry of Energy and Water - Lebanon

Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development

Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities (MoHUUC) - Egypt

Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy – Tunisia
Implementing Partner: Housing and Building Research Center (HBRC) - Egypt

Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC)

L’Agence Nationale pour la Promotion et la Rationalisation de l’Utilisation de l’Energie (APRUE) - Algeria

National Agency for Energy Management (ANME) - Tunisia

National Agency for the Development of Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency (ADEREE) - Morocco
Online: http://www.buildings-mena.com/

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State of implementation/results

The first project phase (2016-2018) is completed. During this phase, an extensive analysis and research on the building sector in the MENA region were conducted. Barriers toward a low-carbon building sector were identified. The generated outputs and recommendations are available on the project website.
The focus of the second project phase (2019-2022) was on Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.
- The project curated a database for best practice examples and a Building Typology Database that contains information on typical construction practices in new and existing buildings in the MENA region, technical building systems and energy requirements.
- The Building Energy Performance (BEP) tool was launched. It calculates the energy demand, potential energy savings as well as the cost-effectiveness of energy efficiency measures. For an easy utilization of the tool, a detailed manual as well as a video is available.
- Moreover, 15 selected pilot projects across Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan were provided with technical assistance for integrating energy efficiency measures, accompanied by publications of the learning experiences from the technical support of the pilot projects, an Analysis of the National Energy Efficiency Action plans (NEEAP) and building codes in the partner countries.
The third project phase (2022-2025) aims to support national authorities in the target countries on increasing investments in energy-efficient buildings by international and national banks and improving the political framework for more ambitious GHG savings in the building sector. This will be achieved through the use of the BEP tool by financial institutions and the national classification system for evaluating bankable projects in target countries, increasing the level of knowledge of relevant local stakeholders with regard to low-energy buildings in the target countries, and increasing the level of ambition of political framework conditions through the formulation of building-specific goals in national strategies and energy building guidelines in the target countries. The following specific sub-goals have been achieved until now:
- The development of the National building classification system in the target countries is advancing and new features in the BEP tool have been integrated.
- New financial institutions in Egypt and Jordan have been approached and the concept of the classification scheme has been introduced.
- The knowledge of "local" interest groups for low-energy buildings in the target countries has increased through conducted online seminars and through national and regional workshops. Moreover, various trainings on the BEP tool and classification system have been carried out. All trainings, webinars and workshops can be followed on the BUILD_ME website - News section incl. the trainings’ material and presentations.
Further information and news can be found in the project's current newsletter. To register, please contact the BUILD_ME project team (BUILD_ME@guidehouse.com).

Latest Update:
04/2024