Creating lasting change:  Reall and The Happold Foundation partnership for greater climate impact

As a grateful recipient of a three-year organisational grant, Reall would like to warmly congratulate The Happold Foundation on their 30th anniversary. This grant awarded to us in 2022, has enabled the organisation to deliver projects that have made a significant impact in the green, affordable, housing space. The activities being implemented are vital to our mission, driving forward key initiatives, including training programmes on green accreditation, impactful advocacy efforts, Carbon footprint benchmarking, technical innovations and a variety of supporting projects.   

The Happold Foundation is a charitable organisation dedicated to leveraging the power of engineering to make a lasting positive impact on society. The Foundation aims to foster a vibrant community dedicated to building a better and more sustainable built environment by working hand in hand with young individuals, educators, and researchers. Its initiatives aim to support underserved communities by improving access to education and enhancing the built environment. In alignment with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Foundation funds projects that address climate change, urban resilience, social inequality, and sustainable design, amongst other things. 

 Below we have outlined the important ways in which the Happold Foundation grant has supported our work:  

Training on green accreditation  

The IFC EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) Green Buildings Standard is a globally recognised certification system that promotes and measures the sustainability of buildings. In March 2025, Reall colleagues successfully completed EDGE Expert training. This strategic initiative enhances internal capacity to lead green building projects and ensures that we remain at the forefront of sustainable housing development.   

EDGE Expert Training with Jose Bonivento Bruges at Reall

In partnership with the Kenya Green Building Society (KGBS), Reall supported EDGE Expert Training for 20 local and national government representatives in April 2025. This training, which is fully funded by the Happold Foundation, will ensure these professionals become EDGE-certified experts, enhancing their ability to implement EDGE certified projects, building capacity and knowledge in green, affordable homes.  In addition to supporting the EDGE Expert training, our colleagues actively participated in KGBS’s Sustainable Affordable Housing Roundtable, focusing on scaling sustainable housing in Kenya, with a particular emphasis on green affordable housing finance and gender considerations.   

EDGE Buildings Expert Training, delivered by the Kenya Green Building Society (KGBS) in collaboration with The Happold Foundation and Reall

KGBS’s Sustainable Affordable Housing Roundtable

Advocacy and impactful influence   

Happold Foundation funding has also enabled our colleagues’ presence at global forums to advocate for green affordable housing solutions, sharing knowledge and experience, best practices and influencing the discussion on sustainable urban development.  During the New York Climate Week 2023, we collaborated with Build Change and Habitat for Humanity to orchestrate an investor roundtable. The focus was on how we can bring together the climate-smart initiatives and climate finance, which is one of our key advocacy areas.  

At COP28, Reall presented at key events, including “Delivering the Buildings Breakthrough: Pioneering Leadership for a Low-Carbon and Resilient World“, hosted by the BuildingToCop coalition.  Furthermore, Reall spoke at the “Activating the Trillions: The Critical Role of Finance to Deliver a Net-Zero Built Environment” event, organised by the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) at the COP28 Buildings Pavilion, stressing the importance of financing for net-zero construction.  In March 2024, Reall co-organised two events with UN-Habitat, Habitat for Humanity, Build Change and Cities Alliance at the Buildings and Climate Global Forum (BCGF) held in Paris, focusing on affordable and resilient housing in rapidly growing regions. In addition, Reall participated in various sessions and high-level dialogues during the forum advocating for the Green Affordable Housing Finance (GAHF) instrument.  

Buildings Breakthrough at COP28

At World Urban Forum 12 (WUF 12), Reall hosted a networking session and shared insights through two engaging panels hosted by UN-Habitat and Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF). Our networking session, titled “Learning to collaborate: Embracing the role of international donors and investors in delivering a step-change in the supply and demand of gender-sensitive Green Affordable Housing (GAH),” was all about sharing ideas on how to scale GAH. We also highlighted about how collaboration can make a real difference in solving global housing challenges.  

Reall’s Panel session at WUF12

Being part of global advocacy efforts like these has strengthened our ability to build strategic partnerships, influence industry policies, and improve our approach to creating sustainable housing solutions.  

Carbon footprint  

Funding from the Happold Foundation is supporting Reall to develop a robust carbon footprint and benchmarking framework, evaluating the carbon footprint in two main areas; operational and investment portfolio, with a new baseline year set for 2023-2024. This comprehensive evaluation will help us with a clear understanding of our environmental impact and help identify specific actions to reduce emissions across its operations and investments.   

Technical innovations  

One of our ongoing projects involves providing solar panels for a 4-unit housing development in Jacobabad, Pakistan, designed for flood victims who have been living in unsafe shelters since their homes were destroyed. Developed by our partner ModulusTech, these units are already EDGE Advanced-certifiable, and the addition of solar panels will enable them to achieve EDGE Zero Carbon certification after a year of occupation, a milestone for Reall. The solar panels will work alongside with in-house sensors that monitor internal temperatures, helping to measure the impact of solar integration and electrical connectivity. Additionally, we are supporting the effort to obtain EDGE certification for the 20-unit Link Build housing development in the Philippines, which features innovative cement-bamboo frame technology by Base Bahay. This sustainable construction approach combines locally sourced materials with advanced design to create energy-efficient homes.  

Reall remains committed to strengthening its role within the green, affordable, housing sector with a continued focus on dual mainstreaming of gender and climate, advocacy, and driving transformative change on a global scale. Our partnership with The Happold Foundation has been instrumental in enabling us to continue our mission and drive lasting positive change. We extend our deepest gratitude and appreciation to the Happold Foundation for their invaluable and impactful support in helping us achieve these objectives.   

Written by Jayamali Kankanige, Climate and Green Buildings Co-ordinator and Clare Ollerenshaw, Programme Lead – Climate Advocacy and Green Buildings