Green Building Practices for Water Security Incorporated in New Housing Policy

Green Building Practices for Water Security Incorporated in New Housing Policy

The Government has incorporated green building practices towards water security into its new Housing Policy. According to Minister with responsibility for housing in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr, the new Housing Policy mandates that developers incorporate green building technologies into their development plans. “We must look at all the issues we face as being interconnected and by that very token, the solutions we develop must also be interconnected in order to be sustainable. By incorporating green building technologies we are ensuring that our buildings are more efficient and environmentally friendly,” explained the minister. He added that the New Housing Policy includes provisions that focus on the inclusion of rainwater harvesting infrastructure and water storage facilities for all housing developments. “We are working on multiple long term solutions for our water woes and as we work on building resilience through the many on-going water projects, we are also very keen on making better use of our months of rain to help offset water shortage during the dry periods. As such, we are currently exploring all possibilities and consulting the necessary stakeholders to determine the feasibility of these possibilities,” said Minister Charles. The National Housing Policy was tabled in Parliament on July 23, 2019. It provides a raft of new and sustainable measures on home construction and the housing sector as a whole.