With The Strand, Novaterra is about to deliver its first EDGE certified project
Novaterra is committed to making Beau Plan a resilient city, whose development is aligned with sustainability. The preliminary EDGE certification received for the three office buildings at The Strand comes to reinforce its commitment. Let’s take a look.
What does EDGE mean ?
EDGE stands for ‘Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies.’ To facilitate the design and certification of resource-efficient buildings, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, created the EDGE certification to support the international market in the construction of low-impact real estate projects.
This certification is a measurable and credible solution to accompany the real estate sector towards more reasoned practices, through three key pillars: energy, water and grey energy in materials. By bringing together the designers, developers and investors of the project around common objectives, EDGE facilitates collaboration.
The importance of designing sustainable projects for Novaterra
Sustainability has become a standard for all our built-up projects, says Hubert Koenig, Senior Development Manager at Novaterra. It is a prerequisite that determines our approach for each project, our working method and the choice of our partners».
Key criteria for reducing the impact of Novaterra’s constructions on their environment include:
- Carefully choosing certain materials in order to save the grey energy associated with construction
- The installation of special glazing and coated facades to control the sunlight and the temperature inside the building – thus reducing the use of air conditioning
- The use of specific products for sealing roofs to reduce the temperature in the building.
- Optimal orientation of buildings to promote natural ventilation
- Installation of fittings and sanitary facilities adapted to reduce water consumption
- Use of low-consumption light bulbs to reduce electricity costs
EDGE, a certification with high added value according to Novaterra
A clear sign that the market is ready to evolve towards more environmentally friendly practices, are the numerous certifications and other green accreditations that are quickly rising.
Among the options available to match our desire to design sustainable projects, EDGE appeared to us as being the best suited to the local environment, explains Hubert Koenig. It is widespread throughout the world and is growing in Africa, with more than 4.2 million m2 of EDGE-certified surface in 2022 across the continent. This is encouraging and very promising.”
The Strand is the first Beau Plan smart city built project to be EDGE certified (*preliminary). From the location of buildings to the choice of materials, to their natural ventilation, everything has been clearly designed to optimize the energy consumption of offices. The preliminary EDGE certification is a differentiating asset in the market that aims to strengthen the well-being of users of these offices, and positions Novaterra as a committed player in the real estate sector, engaged in an efficient transition of construction methods in Mauritius.
