Kenya to encourage construction of green buildings

NAIROBI, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Kenya plans to encourage construction of green buildings in order to promote environmental sustainability, an official said on Wednesday.

Charles Kagura, the Chief Research Officer at State owned Kenya Building Research Centre (KBRC), told a science forum in Nairobi that conventional buildings are a major source of green house emissions in the country.

"In order to embrace a carbon neutral development pathway, Kenya will encourage the real estate sector to construct more green buildings," Kagura said during the Seventh National Science Week which runs from May 7 to 11.

KBRC is currently undertaking research on new materials, technologies and processes to ensure that the building sector does not contribute to climate change.

The state body is also partnering with academic institutions to roll out environmentally friendly building material and techniques to the construction sector.

Kagura added that a key challenge facing country building sector is the environmentally sustainability.

"If no major innovations are introduced, the construction industry will over the long term have a major negative impact on the environment through pollution," Kagura added.

He said research on building materials and construction technologies is still under tapped in Kenya. Enditem