The FINANCIAL — IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, on February 16 signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Construction and Urban Development (MCUD) to jointly develop mandatory regulations and voluntary policies to encourage and promote green buildings in Mongolia.
The partners will also generate awareness and promote knowledge exchange of sustainable buildings, according to IFC.
Mongolia is one of the most urbanized countries in Asia with 72 percent of its population living in cities. About 60 percent of urban residents live in gers or traditional tent dwellings. A significant number of buildings, new and old, still rely on inefficient household stoves or coal-based heating systems. These are economically inefficient and also directly contribute to severe air pollution in winter. Improving building designs through mandatory and voluntary measures can result in substantial benefits by reducing monthly utility bills, improving public health, and cutting down greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
“This cooperation recognizes a strong partnership between Ministry of Construction and Urban Development and IFC to promote energy efficiency in the building sector,” said Lkhamsuren Shukhert Vice Minister of MCUD. “With IFC’s support, we believe we will have a clear path of how to improve energy-efficiency regulations in Mongolia, based on market research and survey results in the coming months.”
MCUD is mainstreaming sustainable building in the construction sector. The Government of Mongolia aims to reduce heat losses from buildings by 20 percent by 2020 and 40 percent by 2030, compared to 2014 levels. Energy-efficient buildings will help the government achieve these targets.
“IFC and MCUD share a common belief that building efficiency makes sense for the environment and for business.” said Simon Andrews, IFC’s Country Manager for China, Korea, and Mongolia. “Together with our key partners, we will pave the way for an energy-efficient building sector in Mongolia.”
IFC is widely recognized as the premier global-development organization in the building resource-efficiency space due to its extensive global experience in green-building regulations and facilitating access to finance for green-building owners and developers. IFC’s EDGE green-building certification is helping builders worldwide to implement energy-efficient technologies into their buildings, thus helping to save resources and reduce GHG emissions. Over these past years, IFC has successfully provided advisory services and implementation support for mandatory green-building/energy-efficiency regulations in several countries in the region, including Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam.
