Unlocking Opportunities in Green Finance through EDGE Certification

Julia Evans holds a Master’s degree in Environment, Politics and Globalisation from King’s College London and has over five years of experience in green building performance within the built environment.

She plays a key role in the commercial team at Sintali, promoting IFC’s EDGE green building program globally. Sintali is a certification partner for EDGE. Sintali has issued over 260,000 EDGE Certificates across 90 countries, aiming to bring transparency and rigour to sustainability in the built environment.

Amrish Shah is the Founder and Principal of Urban Green Consultants (UGC), the leading green building advisory firm in East Africa. A pioneer in the region’s green building movement, Amrish has played a pivotal role in transforming the built environment by helping prove the business case for green buildings.

Under his leadership, UGC has worked on over 100 projects across 14 African countries partnering with a wide spectrum of clients from small-scale developers to global multinationals such as Google, Microsoft and Maersk. His track record includes delivering Kenya’s first-ever LEED-certified building, East Africa’s first LEED Platinum project, and the first EDGE-certified project in Ethiopia. UGC has consistently championed the idea that green buildings need not be expensive — instead, they are often the result of smart, climate-responsive design choices, particularly in favourable climates like Nairobi’s.

Yvonne Pelser is the founder and owner of Inside Out Consulting, and has over 19 years of experience in the building and construction industry. She studied at the University of the Pretoria where she obtained her Honors Degree Bachelor of Science in Construction Management. As a third-year student, her career began in 2000 as a junior foreman for Abcon Construction (Pty) Ltd, a medium sized construction company. In a 3-year period she was exposed to a wide range of roles such as quantity surveyor, finishing foreman and junior site agent. Projects ranged from new office blocks to the conversion of old office blocks into residential apartments.

Ashu brings a wealth of diverse professional experience. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from MAIET, Jaipur (University of Rajasthan) in 2008, and completed his Master’s degree in Sustainable Design from Vivekananda Global University, Jaipur in 2020.

In 2013, Ashu founded D2O and since then he is a Managing Partner of Design2Occupancy. His skills include Energy Audits & Commissioning, Energy Efficiency, Green Building Facilitation, MEPF Services, Solar Installation, HVAC Controls, and more. He is a BEE Certified ECBC Master Trainer, GEM Certified Professional, Pearl Qualified Professional, IGBC Accredited Professional, and AEE Certified Water Efficiency Professional.

Peter is CAA Immediate Past President and is a member of the UN Habitat Stakeholder Advisory Group. He is former RIBA Vice President International and UIA Council Member, was lead author of the Survey of the Built Environment Professions in the Commonwealth, and has been an active contributor to the Call to Action on Sustainable Urbanisation across the Commonwealth.

Launched in 2020 by Tom Saunders and Eleni Polychroniadou, Sintali was born from a passion and care for planet and people, with the motivation to create a company that genuinely does good for the world and brings ethics into business. Focused on decarbonising the built environment as a key impact area in the climate crisis, Sintali recognizes that with buildings contributing over a third of all global greenhouse gas emissions, ensuring green buildings are rolled out in the most simple and scalable way possible is essential to achieving maximum impact.

Sintali’s purpose as an organisation is to make sure that every piece of infrastructure across the world—whether it’s an individual building or part of the broader built environment—is green. Sintali aims to catalyse this effort through improved education, reducing barriers to entry for stakeholders, and ensuring these efforts are done in a credible and verified way. The name “Sintali” combines “sin” and “tally,” meaning “ever accounting”—reflecting our dedication to transparency and accountability as we encourage progress towards environmental goals for ourselves and those around us.

For more information on Sintali and their education and training programmes, including how to become an EDGE Expert, please follow this link: https://www.sintali.com/

EDGE Certification is a green building certification system developed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, designed to help emerging markets scale up resource-efficient buildings in a fast, easy, and affordable way. The certification enables developers and builders to identify the most cost-effective strategies to reduce energy use, water use, and embodied carbon in materials by requiring a minimum projected reduction of 20% in each category compared to standard local buildings. Using the free web-based EDGE App, projects can quickly determine optimal building design strategies for the best return on investment, with efficiency simulations built into the platform and certification achieved through existing documentation. EDGE certification is administered globally by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) and provides internationally recognized validation of green building achievements at a modest cost for both new and existing buildings across nearly all building types.

For More Information on EDGE Certification, please follow this link:  https://edge.gbci.org/