Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies
EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) is a green building certification system for new residential and commercial buildings in emerging markets.
EDGE enables design teams and project owners to assess the most cost effective ways to incorporate energy and water saving options into their buildings.
An innovation of International Finance Corporation (IFC), EDGE consists of a web-based software application, a universal standard and a certification system.
- The EDGE software application is free at edgebuildings.com. Within minutes, a building designer can determine the optimum combination of design strategies for the best return on investment.
- EDGE creates a new global standard by requiring that a green building achieve a projected minimum reduction of 20% in energy and water use, and embodied energy in materials as benchmarked against a standard building.
- Certification is offered at a modest cost in order to validate project achievements for financial and community stakeholders.
In 2013, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) announced that they will collaborate to rapidly scale up the construction of green buildings in emerging markets.
Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI), apex body of private real estate developers in India, have partnered to promote green buildings in the country through EDGE certification. An MoU was signed in the presence of Minister for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar on[2] November 25, 2014.
In September, 2015, Thinkstep/SGS and GBCI was named global certification providers for EDGE Certification.[1]
In Dec 2015, at the first-ever COP Buildings Day event, green building councils around the world made an unprecedented commitment for 1.25 billion square meters of buildings to be certified as green in the next five years. Pledges by Peru, Brazil, South Africa and the U.S. Green Building Council identified EDGE as a solution for reaching their targets. In response to the Paris Agreement, The EDGE program will work closely with both national governments and private sector firms to support them in attaining their Nationally Determined Commitments (NDCs) through emission reduction strategies in the building sector and beyond.-ever COP Buildings Day, to make a persuasive case to divert construction financing towards green buildings.
HOK has committed to using the EDGE software and exploring the potential for certification on at least five projects in emerging markets over the agreement’s first year. One of these projects will be the 2.3-milllion-sq.-ft., mixed-use World Trade Center in Chennai, India.[2] HOK will also help create awareness about the economic and environmental benefits of EDGE within the global design and construction industry.
The Construction firm, Bouygues Batiment International is committed to EDGE certifying at least 5 projects during the first year of the partnership, and aims to increase this share to 80% by 2020.[3]
The EDGE program has been supported by the following donors: Austria, Canada, Denmark, ESMAP, EU, Finland, GEF, Japan and Switzerland.
References
- ↑ "GBCI named global certification provider for IFC’s EDGE green building system | GBCI". www.gbci.org. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
- ↑ HOK. "IFC and HOK Partnership Will Accelerate Sustainable Design in Emerging Markets". www.hok.com. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
- ↑ "Sustainable buildings all over the world". Blog Bouygues Construction. 2016-03-02. Retrieved 2016-05-01.