Cape Town, September 25, 2014
—The Green Business Council of South Africa and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, have launched of IFC’s EDGE certification program in South Africa. The program, which will be focused on the residential property sector in South Africa, includes innovative software to help home builders determine the financial viability of green construction.
The launch follows in the wake of the GBCSA’s successful My Green Home campaign that provides education and awareness about the cost effectiveness of including environmentally efficient components in construction. IFC and GBCSA conducted a detailed market research study on the potential need and impact of EDGE in the South African market.
Brian Wilkinson, CEO of the GBCSA, said “Entry into the housing market is a major milestone in our commitment to bolstering green building in all sectors of property development in South Africa. The groundbreaking partnership between the GBCSA and IFC will see South Africa become the first country to operate the EDGE certification program for homes on behalf of IFC.”
The new partnership puts South Africa in a leading position globally to test and apply a green rating system for homes on a large scale. EDGE will extend the GBCSA’s efforts to transform the way that homes, the largest sector of the property market, are built. The commercial office sector is already covered by the GBCSA’s Green Star SA rating tool.
EDGE is short for “Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies” and seeks to help transform the property sector in rapidly urbanizing countries by influencing design considerations. To achieve the EDGE standard, a minimum savings of 20 percent in energy, water, and embodied energy in materials must be met. Built on a user-friendly interface, the EDGE software determines utility savings at the early design stage to make a compelling financial case for building green. More information can be found at
www.ifc.org/edge
.
“The goal of IFC’s EDGE program is to help build capacity for developers, banks, and governments to mainstream resource-efficient buildings in rapidly growing economies around the world,” said Marcene Broadwater, IFC’s Global Head of Climate Strategy and Business Development. “With EDGE, builders can assess the most cost-effective ways of bringing green features into their designs, financiers can offer better terms to developers and green mortgages for homeowners, and governments can do their part through incentives and improved regulations.”
The GBCSA has secured the support of the National Home Builder Registration Council as the local rollout partner.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in about 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. In FY14, we provided more than $22 billion in financing to improve lives in developing countries and tackle the most urgent challenges of development. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
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