Over the years, I have worked on projects or in technical fields that gave me an appreciation for good building codes.  Having worked on air quality outreach efforts in Denver, Colorado, I was very familiar with their housing codes that were adopted to help the city clean its air.  For example, in the early 1990s, Denver and cities in the surrounding area modified their building codes to only allow clean burning fireplaces to be installed in all new construction.  This coupled with other efforts made a big improvement in air quality for the Denver metropolitan region.

For our Green Generation Project in Jordan, we are raising awareness with engineering and architectural students at three universities about the importance of building codes and how they can help Jordan solve its current water and energy challenges.  Jordan imports more than 95% of its energy needs and is rated 4th worst in the world for water resources.  So we hope in some small way we can contribute to solutions to these challenges.

Using traditional and social media and through in person awareness sessions, we are bringing best practice surrounding water conservation in their plumbing codes and drawing attention to Jordan’s newly enacted code requiring all new construction to install solar water heaters.  Additionally, Jordan recently issued a green building guide to encourage more citizens and contractors to build more sustainably.

Solar water heaters on the roof of an apartment building.

ICMA is working with its local partner, Dr. Amal Hijazi and her company, Sustainable Environmental and Energy Solutions (SEES), for this program that is targeting students at Jordan University (JU) in Amman, Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) in Irbid and Al-Hussein University (AHU) in Ma’an.  The project is supported by a grant from USAID's Public Action for Water, Energy and the Environment (PAP) program.

At one of the breaks at the awareness session at AHU, Dr. Hijazi speaks with engineering students about Jordan's water and wastewater issues.

 

At these awareness sessions, I have discussed the importance of codes as well as highlighted the resources that ICMA has on the Knowledge Network.  I also ask them if there is one thing they can do at their house or on their campus to help conserve water.  They have had great ideas like installing aerators on faucets and conducting an audit of buildings to see which ones use the most water.  At JUST and AHU, we also had a vibrant discussion on insulation – and what a difference that could make in heating and cooling and making your home “greener.”

Hasan (left) with SEES, is speaking to a student at AHU and showing him the Facebook page for Jordan Green Generation.

Joining me on this project is Emily Sadigh, ICMA member and Sustainability Director for Alameda County, California.  Emily just joined me here in Jordan and she will be sharing her outreach and behavioral change expertise with the Jordan National Building Council so they can build off the Green Generation efforts to reach more citizens to raise awareness and build compliance with the new building codes. 

I enjoy meeting and working with the students and look forward to hearing more of their ideas to address Jordan’s water and energy needs!  If you want to follow what is happening on the Green Generation project (in English and Arabic), like us on Facebook at our Jordan Green Generation page or follow us on Twitter - @jordangreengen.

And for more information about ICMA International, visit our website.