The housing deficit in Colombia is a reality being faced from a lot of generations now, this deficit accounts for quantity and quality, being quantity the main focus of the construction sector, having an specific economic interest over a social interest or even a consciousness in the environmental issues; this housing deficit is being handled trough the development of a large proportion of accessible social housing that presents low quality and disregards the negative impact on the environment. In a concerned world for climate change and social inequality, Colombia moves slowly towards sustainability and in response to the vast number of construction projects being created, it has attempted to encourage sustainability practices with regulations and initiatives such as guides for sustainable design; this strategies fall short as there is a lack of incentives for the implementation of sustainable construction strategies, an absence of definition of sustainable criteria for buildings of all uses including social housing (which for the existent regulations, sustainable criteria is not mandatory); this creates an even bigger distance between social housing and sustainability; the dissociation of both of this elements contributes to a social, economic and environmental negative impact; that way, thinking social housing from a sustainable perspective is a crucial component to tackle housing deficit and an environmental crisis.