Mentor Management CEO, James Hoddell (left)receiving the certificates during the LEED pre-certification of Nairobi Business Park Phase 2 and Garden City Retail from Elizabeth Chege, CEO Web Limited (centre). With them is Boniface Chege, Director Web Limited (right)
The Nairobi Business Park Phase 2 and Garden City Retail have won LEED Gold pre-certification, making them the first commercial buildings in East Africa to be registered as ‘green’ buildings under the international standards of the world’s leading green code, the LEED Core and Shell rating system.
Mentor Management (MM), Kenya’s largest construction, project and development management firm, has secured the ratings of both projects as part of its drive to reposition the Kenyan construction industry on environmental standards.
“It has been a harsh reality of the Kenyan construction market, until now, that buildings are leased out with tenants forever locked into inefficient lighting, heating and power that not only generate charges that stretch for decades ahead, but also contribute to the degradation of our environment. As project managers, this has necessitated innovation on our part to develop environmentally conscious commercial buildings,†said James Hoddell, MM CEO.
KGBS, registered under the World Green Building Council, is set to adopt and customise the Green Star rating system to fit the Kenyan context. Green Star, developed by the Green Building Council of Australia, is already in use in South Africa and most African countries. Garden City Residential, another development by MM, is in line to attain a Green Star certification.
To acquire a LEED pre-certification, a project must meet minimum programme requirements prior to registration and submission of the pre-certification documents to the Green Building Council. The projects by MM took a year to attain LEED pre-certification.
Nairobi Business Park Phase 2 is a 15,000 square metre ultra-modern, low-rise, A-Grade office space on Nairobi’s Ngong’ Road. Garden City Retail is a 32-acre development on Thika Road, including a 50,000-square metre mall, modern commercial premises and a 3-acre central park with an outdoor arena.
The near absence of green buildings in Kenya is affecting the cost of doing business. Inefficient technology and design account for an estimated 20 per cent of energy waste, resulting in high energy costs and consequently higher production costs. This, in turn, lowers Kenya’s profile as an investment destination, as well as driving up the cost of goods and services.
The two LEED Gold pre-certified buildings are set to raise the bar on the construction of commercial spaces in Kenya in achieving environmentally friendly designs.