BUILD_ME at COP28: Energy Labels for Buildings (EPC) and its Impact to Cool the Built Environment

As a part of the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP28), that convened from 30th November to 12th December 2023 in Dubai, BUILD_ME project has conducted a side event titled “Energy Labels for Buildings (EPC) and its Impact to Cool the Built Environment”. The side event took place on the 6th of December 2023 in the Montreal Protocol Advancing Climate Action Pavilion with the participation of various representatives of the partner countries as well as regional entities.

The event featured an introduction to the BUILD_ME project and the pioneering work on EPCs, followed by a panel discussion with Dr. Maged Mahmoud the Director of Projects and Technical Affairs at RCREEE, Prof. Dr. Mohamed Massoud, the HBRC chairman, Prof. Dr. Ashraf Kamal, Professor of Urban Planning & Economics at HBRC, Lina Mubaideen, Project Development Manager at JREEEF, and Mr. Pierre El Khoury, Director LCEC.

The panellists explored the critical relevance of energy efficiency of the building sector in the MENA region and the increasing efforts of MENA Countries in developing energy efficiency policy instruments and the key barriers that hinders the transitions towards energy efficiency in building sector. Additionally, the panellists explored the role of EPC schemes in mobilizing the green finance for energy efficiency building projects and the next steps to improve the status of EPCs in the country.

The Energy Labels for Buildings (EPC) and its operational model have been prepared by BUILD_ME team and in close collaboration and contributions from Local partners’ teams. It aims to support the target countries’ activities towards energy efficient building sector and better facilitate green finance to energy efficient building projects. 

The BUILD_ME project is financed by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) The project is a promising step towards achieving highly efficient buildings in the MENA region with collaboration with Housing and Building National Research Center (HBRC), Integrated Development Group (IDG), Royal Scientific Society in Jordan (RSS), Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC) and the Intergovernmental Partner (RCREEE). The project began in October 2016 and is now in its 3rd phase ending in March 2025.

Watch the full event recording below: