The Clean Energy Solutions Center provided assistance to the Housing, Sustainability, and Energies Forum (FOVISEE), an NGO that supports municipalities in Argentina with developing new models for energy efficient affordable housing, rehabilitated housing through the use of energy efficiency criteria and technology, and audited energy use and assessed opinions and perceptions regarding energy consumption in low-income neighborhoods. Solutions Center experts worked with FOVISEE to design a weatherization program to be piloted in the city of Rosario and replicated in municipalities throughout the country. The program will include such elements as design, implementation, and evaluation of field projects in low-income neighborhoods and generation of a cultural change that promotes awareness of energy efficiency in housing and particularly in low-income housing.

Impact of Assistance

The assistance provided by the Clean Energy Solutions Center will help FOVISEE develop a model for public housing policy in Argentina, demonstrating that sustainability and energy efficiency criteria can be included in housing projects without large additional costs. FOVISEE also demonstrated that the application of this criteria translates into significant reductions in energy costs for the families and a marked improvement in their quality of life (hygiene, comfort and health), as well as benefits to the environment due to reduced C02 emissions. The program design and management is aimed at generating policy models that can be transferred to local, national and regional governments and other public policies institutions.