Photograph — Newsrealty

In what demonstrates a commitment to become the first green city in Lagos, Eko Atlantic City has secured its first-ever EDGE certification from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group.

The certification was awarded to Alpha1 Towers, Eko Atlantic City’s pioneer office building completed in 2016, following its fulfillment of IFC’s criteria to reach the minimum standard of using 20 percent less resource intensity in energy, water, and embodied energy in materials.

“At Eko Atlantic, we are determined to build a green city, one that is future-ready,” said Ronald Chagoury, Jr, Vice Chairman of South Energyx Nigeria Ltd, city planners and developers of Eko Atlantic. “By encouraging developers to construct resource-efficient buildings such as Alpha1 has done, we have a unique opportunity to create an eco-friendly city that will have a high percentage of green buildings that have been certified to standards such as EDGE. This means that Lagos State will raise the bar and usher in a new era in the development of green cities.”

The certification comes at a time when the roles of resource efficiency and sustainability become more apparent in preserving our planet. Moreover, the market potential for green buildings in emerging markets is estimated to reach $24.7 trillion by 2030, Marcene Mitchell, IFC’s Global Head for Climate Strategy and Business Development, said citing a recent report by IFC.

“Eko Atlantic’s encouragement of EDGE certification for its properties validates the opportunity for green buildings in Nigeria and demonstrates their understanding of the importance of pursuing a more low-carbon path,” added Mitchell, who also leads the EDGE program.

By receiving the EDGE certification, Alpha1 joins a line-up that includes Cornerstone Towers (Lagos, Nigeria), Atlantic Tower (Accra, Ghana), and Citra Towers (Jakarta, Indonesia), among many others. So far, in Nigeria, 370 homes have been EDGE certified with over 2,010 tCO2 of carbon dioxide to be eliminated per year.

EDGE, which stands for Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies, cuts down building energy and water consumption while lowering greenhouse-gas emissions. The IFC certification has become a worldwide trend with nearly 9 million square meters of floor space certified to date. The estimated energy savings are over 360,000 MWh per year, with over 9.5 million m3 of water per year and over 206,000 tCO2 of carbon dioxide per year, among other benefits.

Eko Atlantic is an entirely new coastal city being built on Victoria Island adjacent to Lagos, Nigeria. It includes state-of-the-art urban design, its own power generation, clean water, advanced telecommunications, spacious roads, and tree-lined streets.

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