REAL ESTATE MINUTE: With Cyril Nii Ayitey Tetteh
So, it’s that time of the year again, and after a year of you following and learning from my green building tips, we are providing you a stop shop with over 50 speakers from over 10 countries at the 4th Ghana Green Building Summit 2021. Here is a teaser to some of the discussions.
SUSTAINABLE MATERIAL USE DISCUSSION
Overview
The building sector is one of the three consumption clusters – housing, transport and food – that have been identified by life cycle studies as the most important in terms of their environmental burden. Activities falling under “shelter” category specifically the building sector account for some 40% of overall energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions and a majority of material resource use. Accordingly, the sector offers a substantial emissions reduction potential at low on no cost. On that basis, sustainable construction should be the rule and not the exception.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
- Examples of sustainable materials – earth, bamboo, recycled plastics, EPS, cellular concrete; retrofits and remodels like shipping containers.
- The types of buildings sustainable materials can be used for.
- The inherent benefits for using sustainable materials regarding build cycle, thermal comfort, cost savings and personal wellness for individuals.
RE-IMAGINING FACILITY MANAGEMENT (FM) IN A DIGITAL AGE SESSION
Overview
Efficient facility management has a direct impact on daily business operations. If problems occur within an organization’s equipment or facilities, then business operations can become disrupted, which will in turn disrupt the organization’s bottom line. Poorly designed or unclean workspaces, for instance, can also negatively impact the experience of customers, employees, and managers, which can have detrimental effects on productivity, the workplace experience, the brand’s reputation, and more.
As with all new technology, though the benefits can be obvious, prospective adopters need a sound economic, social and environmental case before jumping on.
The session should thus seek to shift mindsets by showing clear benefits of digital integration, which should be treated as an investment with specific, measurable returns, hence a re-imagination of FM in a digital age.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
- How FM has transited over the years from conventional approach to the new trends with practical relatable examples regarding IoT, Big Data, Automation, Smart Buildings, Building Automation Systems, Interoperability of Building Energy Modeling (BEM) with Building Information Modeling (BIM), Smart Metering, Smart Grids etc.
- How do you measure the soundness or integrity of Facility Management systems? What are the metrics? The average time between failures, Average time to repair or Costs? Are there any corrective measures for undesirable results?
- The Next Normal; When to expect to see in full force new trends like artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), blockchain, and other new technologies.
- How do you leverage digital in forecasts and demand planning to achieve energy and water efficiency?
- How COVID-19 has impacted management within commercial facilities
GREEN FINANCE SESSION
Green buildings represent one of the biggest investment opportunities of the next decade—$24.7 trillion across emerging market cities by 2030.
Ghana’s Paris Agreements targets require up to USD22.6 billion of investment across several key sectors, including, Renewable Energy, Mass Transportation and Freight, Wastewater, Sustainable Agriculture, Forestry, and Real Estate. Whilst the Government of Ghana has started allocating budget to the SDGs and the INDCs, significant private sector investment is necessary – at least 16% of the overall NDC costs are earmarked for private capital. To this end, the Government and its Ministries have already identified green bonds as a tool that could help achieve several of Ghana’s ambitions, and have made significant progress towards issuing the first green bond in the country.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
- Availability of green finance products and how to access them.
- Who are the key actors and what are their roles in the development of a green bond market? How are they developing guidelines for issuers and investors for green bonds to support Ghana’s transition to a lower-carbon future?
- What are the road blocks that are preventing issuers from coming to market? Could it be knowledge gap, pricing uncertainty, low project pipelines etc.?
- A case study of successful projects financed with green bonds in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Ivory Coast and how Ghana can replicate a green bond issuance.
To learn more about how to register and other business opportunities, visit www.ghanagreenbuildingsummit.com
Join us to dialogue.
The writer is the Executive director of Yecham Property Consult
& Founder of Ghana Green Building Summit.
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: Cyril Nii Ayitey Tetteh
