Conference article

With urbanization; the construction sector (CS) has been consuming great quantities of energy and contributing to almost 50 percent of the global GHG emissions. Thus; it is imperative for the CS to adopt a sustainable energy system (SES). Renewable energy (RE) is foreseen as a viable option to promote SES. However; adopting RE in CS involves challenges within the areas of both RE development and infrastructure planning (IP). These challenges call for research not only on technology; but also on policy aspects and systems thinking. Thus; the aim of this paper is to understand the scope for incorporating discussions on RE use within the policy instruments (PIs) used in the IP process. The method involved literature review from the perspective of the synthesis of PIs that have the capacities to accommodate discussions on sustainability during planning. The paper highlights a PI called green procurement (GP); which involves procuring services and products that meet environmental requirements. GP could go far to ensure that the energy procured is renewable. The paper indicates that the discussion on procuring RE could be routed through synthesis of GP and impact assessment; which is a PI for evaluating environmental impacts; with the capacity to assist IP.

Infrastructure; urbanization; sustainable energy; impact assessment