Photo courtesy of Agncia de Notcias do Acre

Introducing: The Edge

Climate change and other environmental risks caused
by rapid industrialization are a growing challenge,
threatening poverty alleviation efforts and undercutting
achievements in sustainable development.
Business as usual is no longer an option.
IFCs first green building office investment, Actis Africa Fund: One Airport Square in Accra, Ghana.

Photo courtesy of Jaume Meneses
Going green in the building sector can save EDGE is an innovative assessment tool. By using EDGE, the financial viability of a green
investors serious money through lower energy building project can be determined at the early design stage. EDGE offers options that lead
and water bills. Understanding this, both to an ideal set of technical solutions that reduce energy and water consumption, calculating
investors and policymakers alike are upfront costs and potential operational savings.
recognizing that greener buildings can provide Underlying the user-friendly interface is a sophisticated set of country-specific calculations
multiple benefits: that create a single picture of building performance over timemaking EDGE an effective
saving operating costs by boosting eciency, intervention tool in combating climate change.
reducing a communitys carbon footprint
through lower greenhouse gas emissions, and
generating jobs through home-grown The EDGE interface can be used for offices, hotels, and homes.
innovation
Until now, going green in the building business
seemed a luxury for the wealthy or for select
multinational companies looking to make a
branding statement. Today however,
middle- and low-income buildings can also
adopt environmentally sound designs.
Imagine a simple, inexpensive, and reliable way
to generate real and dramatic savings on utility
bills no matter what the income of the client or
the kind of building they live or work in
whether a house, hospital, apartment building,
hotel, or oce.
There is a waythe IFC EDGE Green Buildings
Certication System.
Building for the Future, Now

Already more than half of all resources

consumed globally are used in construction
and almost half of all energy generated across
the world is used to cool, light, and ventilate
our buildings. Meanwhile, buildings account
for 15 percent of worldwide greenhouse gas
One Airport Square in Accra, Ghana.
emissionsa number that is expected to climb
higher as more people migrate to urban
centers for work in coming decades.
With this in mind, developing country Building-related greenhouse gas emissions
governments are focusing on the building
are currently set to double by 2030 under a
sector as an area for reform and innovation.
IFC too is looking for innovative ways to help high-growth scenario, and most of this will
the industry adapt and promote more
affordable, energy-efficient designs and take place within emerging market
specifications. countries. Never has there been such a
IFC already is committed to sustainable,
pressing need for a green building
low cost solutions for the building industry.
It invested $22.5 million in the rising developer, certification system available to all. It is time
Vinte of Mexico, for example, with its green
homes starting at $22,000, making them to rethink the sustainability of the
Mark Henley/Panos Pictures
attractive to working young adults. construction industry and ensure that green
Savings from going green can repay costs buildings deliver a demonstrably different
within the first three years of operation.
Green buildings offer the single largest global carbon footprint from conventional
opportunity to make deep emission cuts at low
buildings. Now is the time for EDGE.
and even negative cost. In addition to using
less water, green buildings reduce energy costs
by 20 percent on average over conventional
buildings, and have lower maintenance costs.
EDGE takes this movement a step further by
encouraging more affordable green housing
in high urban growth markets, helping build
sustainable cities at a time when resources
are getting increasingly harder to secure.
Today, IFC offers EDGE, providing technical
solutions for improving resource efficiency
and cost savings with investment paybacks.

GMB Akash/Panos Pictures

 RESIDENTIAL CASE STUDY Energy, Water, and Materials Cost Savings
Apartment in Latin America
Low-energy lights
Limiting power density
$110 / yr
Solar collectors
For hot water

Low-flow taps
For kitchen sinks
$20 / yr
Dual flush
For toilets

The EDGE Difference Hollow concrete blocks

$100
For external walls

Incremental Capital Costs $500

EDGE reveals the most critical solutions for
Photo courtesy of Prashant Kapoor Energy Cost Savings 37%
going green and captures the capital costs
and projected operational savings at the early Water Cost Savings 40%
conceptual stage.
Payback Time 3 years
EDGE provides country-specific advice for the
most relevant project information.
EDGE is hosted on a user-friendly, Excel-based
COMMERCIAL CASE STUDY Energy Efficiency Measures Energy Savings
platform to avoid investment in proprietary
3-Star Hotel Property
software.
in Southeast Asia Glazing percentage 7%
EDGE can be utilized by competent building Window-to-wall ratio on faade
professionals without the need for expensive
green building specialists. Solar shading 5%
Horizontal & vertical devices
EDGE can be used to assess risk reduction for
residential owners interested in green Glass performance 11%
mortgages. Solar & thermal properties

Efficient air-conditioner 6%
Higher chiller COP

Heat recovery 1.5%

Adding unit to fresh air inlet

Solar collectors 5%
For hot water

Low-energy lights 6%
Dieter Telemans/Panos Pictures
Limiting power density

T5 fluorescent lamps 0.4%

For back-of-house lighting

Movement control sensors 0.5%

For corridors

Incremental Capital Costs $300,000

Cumulative Energy Savings 30%

Energy Cost Savings $144,000

Payback Time 2 years

 Working with partners in more than 100
countries, IFC invests, advises, and mobilizes
resources from others, creating opportunity
for clients in a broad range of industries in
emerging markets. Standing between the
public and private sectors, IFC brings
market-based solutions to the challenge of
creating low-carbon economic growth.
IFC has developed EDGE as part of its strategy
in partnering with clients, global financial
institutions, and local banks to wholesale
green building investments. By creating an
international green building standard, IFC is
working with clients to save money and
leverage their own brands of corporate
responsibility and environmental excellence.
For more information on EDGE, contact IFCs
Climate Business Group at edge@ifc.org or
visit www.ifc.org/edge
Photo courtesy of Prashant Kapoor