Resource-efficient design and technology have earned green-building certification for the new Ghana Infectious Disease Centre (GIDC), developed to help fight the spread of COVID-19.

The Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE) certification is an innovation by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and was awarded to the new centre based on the facility’s insulation of its roof and external walls, energy-saving lighting and air conditioning, low-flow plumbing and water-wise landscaping, all of which lower the hospital’s utility costs. According to the IFC, the operational savings achieved through the green measures will enable a simple pay-back period of less than a year. Additional savings will be redirected to improve patient care.

A partnership between Thinkstep, a global sustainability software developer, and SGS, an inspection, verification, testing and certification company, was also involved in the certification process. To receive the EDGE standard, a building must achieve at least a 20% reduction in energy and water use, as well as a 20% decrease in the energy used to make construction materials.

Work on the 100-bed facility in the Ga East municipality in Accra was completed in July, and developed by the Ghana COVID-19 Private Sector Fund.

25 August 2020
Image: Ghana Infectious Disease Centre