The International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, and HOK, a global design, architecture, engineering and planning firm, have signed a one-year partnership agreement that will enable HOK to use IFC’s EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) green building software and certification system. After determining the most cost-effective options to reach the EDGE standard of 20 percent less water, energy and embodied energy in materials, project teams can use the certification system for verification. HOK has committed to using the EDGE software and exploring the potential for certification on at least five projects in emerging markets over the agreement’s first year. One of these projects will be the 214,000 square-metre mixed-use World Trade Centre being developed by Bengalurubased Brigade Group in Chennai, India.
