Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli reviewed on Monday a report published by the World Bank Group under the theme “Egypt’s Green Social Housing Supports Climate Efforts and Improves Quality of Life for Citizens”, Nader Saad, the Cabinet’s spokesman, said.
The reported pointed out that Egypt, for the first time, adopts a National Social Housing Program that enhances green building practices in social housing units benefitting the planet and low-income families.
According to the report, the Egyptian government is making bold efforts to integrate climate issues into its development initiatives.
“The Social Housing Program ( now called “Housing For All”), which aims to provide affordable housing to 1 million low-income households, is no exception. It is Egypt’s first national initiative for green buildings and believed to be the first green social housing initiative in the region,” the report read.
The report said that construction has already begun for the program’s first pilot of 7,000 units that will be GPRS-certified, and the program aims to build 25,000 units over the next three years.
Research showed that green buildings can reduce energy consumption by 24 to 50 percent and CO2 emissions by at least 3 percent (from 33 percent to 30 percent). Compared to existing social housing buildings, those under the GPRS certification will result in energy savings of about 30%.
Since 2015, the World Bank has supported Egypt’s national housing program through its $1 billion Inclusive Housing Finance Program-for-Results (PforR). To date, the program has supported the delivery of over 420,000 subsidies to low-income households. More than half (51%) of the program’s beneficiaries are below the age of 45, and one in five are women.
Source: State Information Service Egypt