Karachi, May 19, 2022 (PPI-OT):The Aga Khan University Centre in Nairobi has achieved EDGE Advanced certification for its multiple sustainability features. The certification was made possible through verification by independent EDGE auditors, Sintali. EDGE Advanced requires that at least 40 percent energy is saved in the building operation in contrast to an average new construction in the respective area, and at least 20 percent savings in both water and embodied energy in materials.
From inception, the University Centre has considered sustainability aspects while designing with the user in mind and making the most of the very small site of less than two acres. “The certification of the University Centre is exemplary for its holistic approach, taking sustainability and energy reduction right into the building design, not something added on later. Similarly, designing spaces that allow students and educators to nourish their learning is something other institutions in the region can learn from,” said AKU President Dr Sulaiman Shahabuddin.
The building is exceptional in how it responds to real estate pressures in the city while also creating very humane spaces for people. The Parklands district has high-rise buildings coming up all over to become denser and urban in character, whereas the University Centre design resists the temptation to maximize real estate by simply going vertical with a single footprint.
Mark Careaga, the Project Representative for the Lead Consultant, Payette, reflects on the design experience: “This unique ‘inside-out’ building, which creates an urban experience in miniature within a small, constrained site, shows how architecture, landscape, urban design, and sustainability can be woven together into a coherent composition, creating a highly functional academic building with a distinctive campus life experience.”
Nairobi has a very temperate climate, with warm days and cool nights. Being closely situated to the equator allows for very high sun angles from both the north and the south. The Centre takes full advantage of this, with numerous open-air spaces and verandas that serve as the primary corridors on each floor.
Learning spaces were designed to serve various learning interactions outside of classrooms, including wide corridors for huddles or the central courtyard, which functions like a town square including a grid of Meru oak trees, where students can easily crisscross. Views onto the exterior greenery enables mental health benefits for users of the 22,200 square meters of above-ground building space.
The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), and with it AKU, has set itself the ambition to attain net zero carbon operations by 2030. Detailed greenhouse gas accounting of AKU’s operations has found that over 80 percent of energy is consumed by and in buildings. The AKDN’s Green Building Policy mandates a number of measures, including new buildings to achieve at EDGE Advanced or even EDGE Zero standards, regular energy audits, or that each year five percent of existing building space becomes carbon neutral to operate.
EDGE, Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies, is the International Finance Corporation’s innovation to mainstream green buildings and thus help fight climate change. EDGE was created to respond to the need for a measurable and credible solution to prove the business case for building green and is currently available in more than 170 countries.
For more information, contact:
Media Executive
Department of Public Affairs
Aga Khan University (AKU)
Stadium Road, Karachi
Tel: +92-21-34930051
Fax: +92-21-34934294, +92-21-34932095
Cell: +92-301-8258028
Email: rasool.sarang@aku.edu, public.affairs@aku.edu
Website: www.aku.edu