National Construction Authority’s (NCA) officers were recently trained on EDGE (Environmental Design for Greater Efficiencies), a green building certification tool for emerging economies.
The training was conducted by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group together with the Kenya Green Building Society alongside other construction industry professionals in Kenya.
The EDGE green building rating software presents the business case of green buildings, as it enables designers and developers to expediently and directly understand the financial as well as environmental impacts of their design choices.
With EDGE, the design team can explore technical options alongside their capital costs and savings, thus enabling cost control.
The tool further incorporates local climate data and costs which guides decision making without compromising the integrity of adopted building designs. It is suitable from design phases to construction phases of a project with immense fiscal and environmental benefits for properties as it drives profitability while upholding resource efficiency for sustainable development.
The National Construction Authority envisions a well-coordinated, developed and efficient construction industry. The Authority is keen and committed to building a robust construction industry for sustainable socio-economic development.
This means streamlining and building capacity of the industry: within the Authority and without.
As part of the effort to achieve sustainable socio-economic development, the industry in Kenya needs to be resource efficient and incorporate environmental designs in infrastructure development.
The Authority is cognizant of the fact that business as usual is not an option in a rapidly changing world trailed by environment degradation where the construction industry is a major culprit.
In leading by example, the Authority has sought to build in-house capacity on upholding sustainable development in the industry. The Authority has trained 8 of its officers on IFC Edge tool besides Green Star South Africa tool for new and existing buildings.
Therefore, NCA from the regulatory front seeks to jumpstart the movement and amplify construction of green buildings in Kenya by encouraging industry players to embrace green buildings for low carbon growth.
IFC Edge is relevant to Kenyan construction market as it is a tool tailored for emerging markets like Kenya.
