Mentor Management gets Kenya’s first ‘green’ commercial building ratings

 – increasing investment value and saving tenants 20 per cent plus

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.

MM partnered with Web Limited, a sustainable construction consultancy, to design the commercial buildings to meet international green building standards. The move comes beside a parallel drive by Web Limited to launch the Kenya Green Building Society (KGBS) in late 2014 and create Kenya’s own environmental standards system for property.

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.

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 ingenuity in design of the commercial ‘green’ buildings will save tenants up to 30 per cent in electricity costs and 40 per cent in water use, as well as leading to long-term savings of over 20 per cent in maintenance and service charges,” said Elizabeth Chege, LEED accredited professional for building design and construction, and CEO of Web Limited.

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.

Developed countries have moved to primarily ‘green’ building, with countries like the US and the UK offering grants, tax breaks and expedited permits for buildings rated as ‘green’. The culture of environmental conservation is, likewise, reflected in foreign investors’ preference for ‘green’ buildings. Also playing a role in influencing the uptake of green building in Kenya is the higher leasing uptake and premium fees due to the associated health benefits for the tenants.

“In the US and Europe we are seeing a significant premium being paid by institutional investors for certified buildings”, says Hoddell, “It is not unusual to see a 0.25% to 0.5% reduction in exit yield for green buildings which leads to millions of dollars of additional value being created for the developer.”

“There are remarkable findings from studies of green buildings indicating between 20 and 25 per cent improvement in tenant productivity. This is as a result of reduced sick time, based on studies carried out in various schools and call centres,” said Elizabeth Chege.

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.