Technical Expert Meetings on Mitigation 2020: Cool Buildings For All

Event organized by the UNFCCC and the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction, in collaboration with the Cool Coalition

To meet the emerging challenge of ensuring cooling for all, an approach combining avoid-shift-improve is most effective: Avoiding cooling needs through effective building design, adapted urban design, considering solutions from vernacular architecture, to building materials; shift though shifting power sources to district cooling; and improve through the use of more efficient appliances.

This session will look at preparedness for heatwaves and health impacts, existing solutions and potential innovation, barriers to implementation, and ways forward for the uptake of cool buildings for enhanced resilience and emission reductions.

Speakers include:

• Gabby Dreyfuss, Chief Science Advisor, Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program
• Jessica Grove-Smith, Senior Scientist, Passive House Institute
• Mae-ling Jovenes Lokko, Director, Building Sciences Program, Assistant Professor of Architecture, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Founder, Willow Technologies
• Polash Mukerjee, Lead, Air Pollution & Climate Resiliance, NRDC India
• Yvonne Lynch, Urban Greening & Climate Resilience Strategist, Royal Commission for Riyadh City
• David Callow, (Acting) Director Parks and City Greening, Strategy, Planning and Climate Change, City of Melbourne

This is the first of three sessions of the Technical Expert Meetings on Mitigation (TEM-M 2020) event series on “Human settlements: sustainable low-emission housing and building solutions. Technologies and design for buildings, housing and construction”.

The second session will focus on ‘Building (back) better: Mobilising the value chain towards circular economy’. The third one on ‘Pathways for moving to scale’. You can find additional information here.

For more information on this event, please contact Nora Steurer (nora.steurer@un.org) and Sophie Loran (sophie.loran@un.org).