SHERPA app: Towards Sustainable Housing Projects

In the training session, SHERPA tool and methodology will be introduced to the attendees as well as the philosophy and the aims that led its development.

SHERPA is a self-evaluation tool for project managers, communities and other stakeholders involved in the planning, design, construction, and assessment of housing projects. Its goal is for housing to respond to the transformative aspiration of the New Urban Agenda (NUA), the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement.

SHERPA is based on an intuitive and self-explanatory list of indicators that can guide the development of sustainable housing projects in their design phase. The training will help the users to understand the logic behind the methodology and its application to practical cases.

The training will represent a first dissemination of the SHERPA app and a valid occasion to share comments and more ideas on the topic.

SHERPA, with its 88 indicators divided into 4 scales (Process, Territory, Neighbourhood, and Household), intersects more than half of the principles expressed in the NUA. Its multi-scalar approach and the multi-disciplinarity of its contents represent a practical tool to advance on the implementation of the NUA and the SDG11.

As the NUA and the SDGs are dictating the principles and the good practices on a global level for a sustainable urban future, SHERPA is guiding the process of design sustainable housing from a bottom-up approach.

Developed by an international team of experts on sustainable housing development in close collaboration with practitioners from a variety of contexts, SHERPA is a tool that translated the empirical knowledge over sustainability in a comprehensive guideline for actions ready to be implemented on the ground.

SHERPA is a methodology that applies to a variety of developing contexts, and that will guide the experts in the housing sector to make the 'most sustainable decision'.

The focus on the sustainability of the decision-making process itself helps the practitioners to consciously reflect on their decisions, and to foster the participation of all the concerned stakeholders. SHERPA's users are asked to explain their choice in terms of localization of the settlements, planning of basic services and infrastructures, mobility schemes, the efficiency of the used materials, design and construction phase, and the complete involvement of the beneficiaries of the final product.

The event will foster the dissemination of the first version of SHERPA app that is free of charge, easy to use, and locally adaptable. SHERPA guides housing practitioners in developing countries in designing exemplary socially and culturally responsive habitats, in accordance with the principles of the NUA.

The event is presented by SHERPA developers: CRAterre/ENSAG - international center for earth construction, with the support of the AE&CC; 'Architecture Environment & Culture Constructives' research unit, VTT - Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., University of Cambridge, with the technical support of Aptivate.