Sustainable rural-to-urban transition in Mongolia
Enhancing access to affordable energy-efficient housing in rapidly urbanizing emerging economies
Project type
OBF Pre-development
Sector
Sustainability / Affordable housing
Sustainable Development Goals
Target outcomes
Increased access to affordable energy-efficient housing
The problem.
The world’s climatic future hinges on how developing regions grow. Each year the developing world is projected to add 3.6 billion square metres of housing to meet demand, and developing countries will account for 67% of global energy consumption by 2040. How the built environment is constructed will determine how these regions consume energy and emit carbon for generations. There are 840,000 people living in the ger (traditional felt tents) districts of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. These sprawling settlements of gers and self-built houses do not have centrally supplied water, heating, or sewage infrastructure. 70% of these households live in just a ger with each using an average 4.1 tonnes of coal and coke briquettes to heat their homes each winter when temperatures can drop to -40°C. The resulting toxic air makes Ulaanbaatar the most polluted capital in the world. Even if people are able build a house, they typically lack basic sanitation, are poorly built and insulated, and still rely on fossil fuels to heat their homes.
The intervention.
District Development Unit (DDU) aims to implement scalable sustainable solutions for the built environment in emerging markets undergoing rapid urbanization by integrating research and analysis. DDU integrates research and analysis to deliver evidence-based high impact projects, innovating in areas where conventional methods of development are not working. The approach involves detailed spatial analysis, community engagement, specialist technical input, and financial planning. DDU designs products that are proven to demonstrate high thermal performance, reducing carbon emissions. The aim is to connect these products to green financing to implement large scale impact.
The Ger Plug-In is an energy efficient housing product designed for Mongolia developed by DDU. It is a permanent house that provides the ger with everything it does not have: a toilet; a shower; an electric heating system and increased thermal insulation. The Ger Plug-In prototype is 23% more efficient than the Mongolian Building Code, allowing residents to use 93% less coal than living in a ger. It has been independently audited for energy efficiency and qualifies for low interest rate green mortgages offered by local banks via the Green Climate Fund. If each of the 163,000 ger households was replaced by a Ger Plug-In, this would result in an estimated saving of 576,000 tons of coal per year.
The project.
Shifted provides pre-development advisory to DDU with the ambition to develop an innovative OBF mechanism that best allows DDU to achieve its long-term strategic and impact goals. Shifted will be supporting DDU in developing an OBF to bridge the capital requirements enabling a sustainable transition for DDU’s business model and to create greater impact in Mongolia.
Shifted provides pre-development advisory in the areas of:
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Feasibility assessment
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Fundraising support
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OBF and funding strategy