Devtraco Plus, one of the largest real estate developers in Ghana, pledges to start to certify its future buildings with IFC’s EDGE green buildings certification.
Eugene Birikorang, Sales and Marketing Manager for the company, told News Ghana that the company has developed a five-year plan to construct residential, commercial and investment properties certified with EDGE. An innovation of IFC, EDGE certification is available for building projects that achieve energy, water and embodied energy materials savings of at least 20 percent.
The implementation of the five-year plan by Devtraco Plus, beginning in 2020, will result in more EDGE-certified green buildings in the West African country, more business for green building materials suppliers and more job opportunities in the green building industry.
Mr. Birikorang said, “We have a plan to go green, which is a key component of our development over the next five years as we drive expansion across our group of companies from residential to commercial to investment properties.”
As a wholly owned Ghanaian company, Devtraco Plus has a vested interest in the success of the country and the sustainable development of the African continent and beyond.
Mr. Birikorang continued, “As a citizen of the world, we are keen to be a driving force behind EDGE. Going green will come with many benefits: better recognition from the international community, better value to our tenants and a better return on investment to our shareholders.”
Because of the opportunities that will be open for suppliers of green building materials, Devtraco Plus’ sales and marketing manager appealed to the Ghanaian government to put in place policy interventions to facilitate their work and help them to be more responsive to the environment.
“A lot has to happen from the players’ side of the industry,” said Mr. Birikorang. “The government needs to create interventions to advance product supply.”
In 2018, the government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo launched the new Ghana Building Code, which stipulates the construction of green buildings.
Mr. Birikorang disclosed that his company has already had interactions with the Ghanaian government on how to accelerate the adoption of the new building code.
He stated, “Devtraco is one of the biggest companies in the real estate sector and we’ve interacted with the government to show how we are taking the lead and other developers are following. We see this as a responsibility, as everybody is watching us, and other developers learn from what we’re doing.”
Mr. Birikorang notes that the future of green buildings in Ghana is exciting and comes with lot of opportunities for people. He emphasized that Africa is the next big opportunity in the world and urged both developers and Ghanaians to take advantage and make the right investments in the built environment.
“You can see the future of green building in Ghana by how Airport City is developing,” he said. “When you look at the skylines of Accra, there is obviously a lot of opportunity. It’s an exciting future for the industry.”