Organisations based in Uganda, Malaysia and the UK have been put on the shortlist for the Sustainable Buildings categories as part of the Ashden UK and International Awards. These awards are recognised around the world as a measure of excellence for sustainable energy. The winners will be announced at a ceremony taking place at the Royal Geographical Society in London. The prize for the winners will be tailor made support that will help the organisations scale up their work as well as a prize of up to £20,000.

The organisations that have reached the shortlist for this year’s Ashden UK and International Awards are all industry leading when it comes to sustainable buildings. The organisations are setting the standard for sustainable building very high and it is hoped that it will provide a boost for other businesses to do the same. Pushing sustainable buildings will help with improving the sustainability of our practices.

The finalists this year include Haileybury Youth Trust which is a charity in Uganda that trains young people to build using blocks that are made out of compressed earth. The Malaysian firm T.R. Hamzah and Yeang Sdn. Bhd have been utilizing green building practices for more than 40 years, and they are also a finalist for this year’s award.

In the UK the finalist is the Carbon Co-op, which is a Manchester-based community-driven society that aims to help members achieve significant energy and CO2 savings by retrofitting homes. More than 100 householders have joined up and are working with technical experts in order to look at the best ways to implement changes that will improve comfort as well as cut energy bills and reduce CO2 emissions. As part of the project, for a nominal £35 fee a year members will get discounts for training events and home energy surveys as well as being able to purchase the materials and labour to retrofit their homes at a discount.