FEATURES
Safari Green Building Index In its 2021 Annual Convention, the Architectural Association of Kenya, AAK, launched the region’s first sustainable building rating tool. The Safari Green Building Index, SGBI, has been 10 years in the making. The event’s theme “The Built Environment and Climate Action: An Impactful Way forward” sought to bring to fore the urgency of actionbased solutions going forward. AAK describes the Index as a national rating system suitable for all kinds of buildings in different climatic zones in Kenya and East Africa. Because buildings deplete natural resources during construction and operation, the Association aims to encourage its members to start designing green buildings to minimize demand on nonrenewable resources and maximize use, reuse, and recycling of renewable building materials. Members have also been urged to adopt efficient bio-climatic construction practices and optimization of locally available materials. The SGBI team, made up of the Environmental Design Consultants chapter of AAK, also emphasized on the need for low and renewable energy based architectural designs that employed good water management systems. The expected results are no less than comfortable hygienic indoor environments.
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The SGB Index is an indigenous tool developed to aid in assessing the environmental performance of East African built environment projects whilst providing sustainability leadership in energy loads, ecological footprints and carbon emissions. It is a guiding and performance-oriented system where each criterion is assigned a number of points. New building works, extensions to existing buildings, building works which involve major retrofitting to existing buildings, as well as building conservation/ heritage works are all covered in the tool’s application. As an application and certification tool that prescribes categories, characteristics and ratings for green architectural design, the Index will award all types and sizes of successful buildings.
By George Arabbu Projects that observe the specified requirements shall be eligible for certification at the classification of Class A (80 to 100 points), Class B (70 to 79 points), Class C (60 to 69 points), or Class D (50 to 59 points). SGBI’s scoring methodology employs localized benchmarks and guidelines to address climate change and environmental degradation through buildings. Best practices in construction, operation and maintenance are emphasised to reduce or eliminate adverse impacts on the natural environment and its occupants. The scoring system is based on the following 7 performance categories: 0% prerequisite requirements, 5% building landscape, 45% passive design strategies, 10% energy efficiency, 30% resource efficiency, 5% noise control and acoustics, and 5% Innovation.
AAK describes the Index as a national rating system suitable for all kinds of buildings in different climatic zones in Kenya and East Africa. Issue 004 | December 2021
