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The Green Building Council South Africa (Gbcsa) on Wednesday announced the establishment of Kenyan Green Building Society (Kgbs), a move that will bring the commercial and industrial property industry in line with global environmental practice in the east african country.
Kenya is an attractive and well-established African market with great growth potential, strong institutions and many global companies are already operating in the market.
Gbcsa signed a license agreement with the Kenya Green Building Society (Kgbs) last week which allows the Kgbs to use the Green Star rating system and trademark in Kenya for certification of green buildings, and to train and accredit professionals in Kenya using Green Star material.
The chairperson of the Kenya Green Building Society, Elizabeth Wangeci Chege, said last week at their annual conference and at the signing of this agreement that the Kenya Green Building Society is excited to have signed this Green Star license agreement.
“It allows us to drive the green building industry in Kenya through internationally recognised best practice green building tools and education courses. As the latest National Building Code is yet to be ratified, contextualisation of the Green Star Rating Tools for Kenya empowers the industry to radically transform the way buildings are designed, constructed and operated in Kenya,” she said.
Kenya also achieved its first Green Star certified rating this week, which was for the Garden City Village Phase 1 residential project, with over 400 apartments in Nairobi, which received a 4 Star Green Star SA-Kenya – Multi Unit Residential v1 rating.
Gbcsa CEO, Dorah Modise, says, “Gbcsa has been certifying green buildings across the continent outside of South Africa since 2013, with Green Star buildings in Ghana, Rwanda, Namibia and now Kenya, but this license agreement will empower the local Kenya GBS to drive green building certification and education themselves, with support from the GBCSA where needed.”
Green Star was originally developed by the Green Building Council Australia, and was licensed to Gbcsa in 2008 for use in Africa. Green Star has been extensively adapted for the local African climatic and economic context, which makes it the rating tool of choice for property owners in the African context.
To date the Gbcsa has issued 239 certifications for Green Star projects, with approximately 95% of these having been in South Africa.
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