Rwanda is one of the ten countries that are competing for an award of $1 million under the ‘Million Cool Roofs Challenge’-a global competition to accelerate access to affordable, sustainable cooling through rapid deployment of cool roof materials for residential, municipal, and commercial buildings.

The competition is an initiative of the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Programme and other programmes.

Kigali Cooling Efficiency Programme was set up after Kigali Amendment of the Montreal Protocol was ratified in 2016 in order to help developing countries transition to energy-efficient, climate-friendly, and affordable cooling solutions.

It entered into force on 1st January 2019.

Under the Kigali Amendment, countries committed to cut the production and consumption of hydro-fluorocarbons (HFCs) — potent greenhouse gases used in refrigeration and air conditioning — by more than 80 percent over the next 30 years.

This effort has the potential to avoid up to 0.4° C of global warming by the end of the century.

The contesting countries for $1 million award include Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa, Niger, Senegal, and Cote d’Ivoire, Mexico, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Philippines.

According to Haruna Nshimiyimana, the Division Manager of Housing Regulations and Standards at Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA),  if Rwanda gets the award  in the beginning of 2021, the part of this sum will be used to support the "National Green Urbanization Centre of Excellence”  that will be established soon to promote  green building technologies.

The centre is one of EDPRS 2 deliverables, he said, and the Centre will increase the level of green investment and environmentally sustainable urban development that exploits green economic opportunities, green innovation in the industrial and private sector.

In order to qualify for the award, Rwanda has started to implement a one-year project dubbed "Cooling Rwanda project”  at $100,000 to deploy 1 million square meters of cool roofs in Rwanda from September 2019 to September 2020 of which the implementation will be assessed as criteria to qualify for $1 million award.

This means  local manufactures will embrace new business model and locally produce paints that are scaled up to cool roofs in schools, hospitals, commercial building, homes, buses and others according to Yves Sangwa, the project coordinator.

He said ‘solar reflective paints’ will cope with global warming by reducing heat stress produced by solar energy in the buildings without necessarily using air conditioners.

The project is being implemented under the joint efforts of Rwanda Green Building Organization (RWGBO), the Ministry of Environment and Rwanda Housing Authority.

Rwanda Green Building Organization that is lead in representing Rwanda in this global competition was established in 2016, in partnership between Rwanda Institute of Architects and Rwanda Housing Authority to promote green building technologies.

Green building code

After Kigali Amendment of the Montreal Protocol entered into force, Rwanda developed National Cooling Strategy and this has also integrated cooling roofs.

The recently gazetted  "Rwanda Green Building Minimum Compliance System” gazetted in April 2019,  to be applied on commercial, office, schools, health facilities and assembly buildings,  took in consideration the cool roofs measures to reduce the heat inside the buildings.

The green building code is expected to help out to reduce global warming gas emissions.

The initiative is part of Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy (GGCRS), with fourteen programs of action that are all key to urbanization such as sustainable land use management, resilient transport systems, low carbon urban systems, low carbon energy grid, ecotourism, green industry among others.

Eng. Coletha Ruhamya, Director General of Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) said that the Cooling Roof project will reduce use of cooling equipment such as air conditioners that use electricity and fuel that is costly.

"We are seeking all green technologies that do not contribute to climate change. This means businesses have to change their business models to promote the green economy by embrace environmental friendly construction materials and other equipment used in different buildings,” she said.

Estimates show that over one billion people globally face significant risks from extreme heat every year and live without access to electricity for cooling.

Another 2.3 billion can afford to purchase air conditioning but only the most inefficient models, which use super polluting gases that are thousands of times more damaging to the climate than carbon emissions.

What is a green building?

A green building is a structure that, in its design, assembly or operation, reduces or eliminates negative impacts, and can create positive impacts, on climate and natural environment.

In today’s society, it is the sustainable building model, especially with the recent move by the government to approve the ministerial order that establishes the Green Building Minimum Compliance system — a scheme that will help property owners and developers choose indicators based on the applicability to the building type, usage, and benefits associated.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), buildings accounted for 30 percent of global final energy consumption and 28 percent of global CO2 emissions in 2015, and UN-Habitat estimates that in Africa, energy used in buildings is an estimated 56 percent of the total national electricity consumption.