Executive Director, Yecham Property Consult, Cyril Nii Ayitey Tetteh, has announced that some five start-up companies have been selected to become the first cohort of the Green Accelerator Programme. Providing updates at the Ghana Green Building Summit in Accra, Cyril Ayitey said the start-ups will undergo an extensive nine-month business coaching exercise to enable them scale up and be market ready. “We are doing this through a Memorandum of Understanding with She Grows It who are offering the coaching with a sponsorship value to the tune of US$45,000. We have also partnered with IFC to organise a Green Building Challenge to build capacity, and empower the youth with building and design tools through the EDGE app,” he noted. “The most exciting aspect of this is the emerging winner from the competition will be allowed to design and construct a green building structure which will serve as model that will be open to the general public to sample the green building experience,” Mr. Ayitey added. He further revealed that an agreement has been signed with some partners to create a green development pipeline with a 30-unit apartment project. This, he explained, forms part of efforts to boost awareness of green building in the country and reduce the national housing deficit. Cyril Nii Ayitey further called for the adoption of green technology in Ghana’s construction space, which he believes can be cost-effective and energy efficient. “To have the desired impact, projects must be designed to maximize energy savings and minimize construction costs by using less energy and water.” The annual Green Building Summit focuses on engaging stakeholders to deliberate opportunities, challenges, and solutions for Ghana's green-built environment. The aim of the summit is to reduce the negative impact of real estate projects on the environment whilst conserving natural resources. MA/BOG