Colombia. The National Council for Economic and Social Policy (CONPES) approved the national policy on sustainable buildings aimed at mitigating the negative effects of building activity on the environment, improving living conditions and generating employment and innovation opportunities.
This policy, which was submitted to public consultation between September and October 2017, in which the sector's unions, academia and citizens participated, seeks to promote the inclusion of sustainability criteria for the different uses and in the stages of the life cycle of the buildings, both urban and rural.
In addition, it establishes public policy instruments in the uses and life time of buildings, creates financial incentives for the construction of sustainable buildings and defines monitoring mechanisms for this market with an action horizon to 2030.
The CONPES document is aligned with the fulfillment of the commitments on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the goal of reducing Greenhouse Gases (GHG) by 20%, as a result of the Paris Agreement (COP21); and follow-up to the New Urban Agenda (NAU).
"The implementation of a national sustainable building policy is a priority taking into account that there is no unified strategy that consolidates actions at all stages of the life cycle of buildings, articulates initiatives related to the inclusion of sustainability criteria in the sector and monitors the results of the actions implemented in the policies," said the director of the National Planning Department (DNP), Luis Fernando Mejía.
Policy Goals
The CONPES document on sustainable buildings establishes three short-, medium- and long-term phases of the policy: 2 years for the definition of sustainability criteria for all types of buildings (new and used) in the life cycle; 5 years for the implementation of the monitoring and control system; and by 2030 100% of new housing with sustainability criteria.
In the absence of sustainability criteria during the life cycle and type of use of buildings, it is necessary to include new measures in the regulations regarding the location, materials and quality of the environment, among others. This includes industrial uses, used housing, rural buildings and social housing. This action will be carried out by the Ministry of Housing.
The National Government reported that it is developing a pilot program in the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina to improve energy performance through the replacement of equipment (appliances, luminaires and light bulbs) and training on good operational practices. This program will be extended to the Caribbean region.
Incentives for sustainable constructions
Currently only private banks offer mortgage credit benefits to users and builders of real estate with sustainable criteria, so in the CONPES document it is established as a strategy to develop a program of financial incentives by the Special Official Institutions for the construction and acquisition of buildings with sustainability measures.
Within the financial incentives, on the supply side, both Findeter and the National Savings Fund (FNA) will finance with preferential rates, construction projects that include sustainability criteria. These benefits may be extended to households that opt for sustainable projects and that are financed by the FNA.
To solve the lack of sectoral information, sufficient for monitoring, the DNP, with the technical support of MinVivienda and DANE, will design and calculate an Indicator of Sustainable Buildings.
Source: National Planning Department.
