FRESH – Promoting Energy Renovation in Habitat in Hot Climates
Geres is an international NGO that has been operating in Benin since 2001. Dedicated to improving living conditions, the organization works to reduce energy poverty and tackle climate change by promoting energy efficiency, renewable energy, and resilient, sustainable solutions for communities.
Overview of the project
The project addresses the overexposure of populations to extreme heat in often self-built, energy-inefficient housing—a problem exacerbated by climate change and poorly managed urban growth. This situation leads to health risks, increased energy poverty, and higher greenhouse gas emissions due to the growing use of air conditioning. The FRESH project is implemented in three phases:
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Baseline study phase: This initial stage involves conducting socio-energy surveys with hundreds of households to understand housing characteristics, lifestyles, and heat adaptation strategies. This phase also allows for the selection of beneficiary households for the pilot phase based on vulnerability criteria.
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Pilot phase: The project tests affordable technical solutions on a limited number of houses. A comprehensive energy audit is conducted for each dwelling to define the most appropriate interventions. Proposed solutions include improving roof and wall insulation, installing solar shading (shutters, awnings), enhancing natural ventilation, greening surrounding areas, and using more efficient equipment.
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Dissemination phase: After evaluating the pilot solutions, the project aims to scale up renovations to a larger number of households (around 150 in Morocco). Awareness campaigns are also conducted for a wider community (approximately 600 households) to promote best practices for coping with heat.
The FRESH Project aims to improve the living conditions of urban populations and their adaptation to climate change in countries with hot climates, particularly Morocco and Benin, drawing on experiences gained in Mongolia and Tajikistan. The project aims to disseminate low-tech, low-cost energy efficiency practices for habitat.
Ongoing research
07/07/2024-08/03/2027
organisation
Geres is an international NGO, established in Benin since 2001, whose mission is to improve living conditions and combat energy poverty and climate change by promoting energy efficiency and resilient solutions. In urban areas, Geres focuses on renovating heat-vulnerable housing to improve thermal comfort, reduce energy consumption and lower GHG emissions, while making homes more resilient to extreme weather. Its approach combines affordable technical solutions, awareness-raising, financial support and capacity building for local communities, service providers and actors in the construction sector.