Construction World February 2016

CONSTRUCTION WORLD

FEBRUARY

2016

ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY

This is not only the first Six Star

rated green building in Rwanda,

but on the entire continent outside

of South Africa.

The Nobelia Office Tower in Kigali,

Rwanda, will be a 19 storey tower, of which 16

floors will be dedicated to office space. With a

total gross floor area of 11 469 m

the building site is on previously developed

land, to prevent urban sprawl. The building

is also located within close proximity to

commercial, residential, recreational and

retail zones. The final assessment for the

design of the building is completed, where

the project owner is lobbying for funding to

go ahead with construction.

WSP’s Green by Design team was

appointed to this project based on the

company’s expertise and reputation as

sustainability consultants, as well as its

working relationships within the broader

industry. Eloshan Naicker, sustainability

consultant with the company says, “We

are extremely proud of this Six Star rating

achievement. At the onset of the project the

owner’s brief was to produce a design that

would set the bar for green buildings in the

country – and we have certainly met the

client’s brief.”

According to Eudes Kayumba, Green

Building Council of Rwanda, “We are so

impressed with the Six Star Green Star

rating of this project that we are aiming

to use the design of the Nobelia Office Tower

as the benchmark for all future green build-

ings in Rwanda and the wider Central East

African region.”

The design phase of the project

commenced in 2014 and was completed in

October 2015 where WSP Green by Design

was involved from conceptualisation through

every phase of design – finding ways to be

innovative and delivering consultation to the

project team around Green Star require-

ments. Additionally, the consultants devel-

oped a high level strategy for the project team

and facilitated the implementation, to ensure

quality of services could be maintained.

“The Six Star rating was not easily

achieved, as we had a number of challenges

on this project – not least of all developing

the rating standards, which first had to be

established for a Green Star rating to be

possible in Rwanda,” adds Naicker.

As the Green Building Council in Rwanda

is in its infancy, a local context report had to

be developed so as to establish the ground-

work for the Green Star and set the appro-

priate standards for the climate and environ-

ment in Rwanda, as this is to be the standard

to which all building projects will be rated.

This process required a significant amount

of research and assessment, all undertaken

by WSP Green by Design, and submitted for

assessment by the Green Building Council

governing body.

However, Naicker comments that under-

taking this process also provided the Green

by Design team with invaluable insights on

the local environment, which was influential

to key innovations within this project. Some

of the innovative and significant sustainable

features of this building include:

• Offsetting the importation of building

products and related carbon emissions for

changing cement, which would normally

have been imported from South Africa.

Rather these products were substituted for

volcanic ash, which is a natural substance

and widely available within Rwanda.

• The façade of the building contains

no glass and rather is made of a

polycarbonate material mesh structure

that allows plants to grow under it. The

objective was to ensure vegetation could

grow all over the mesh, thus creating

natural shading. In addition to this, the

entire façade is manufactured for 100%

disassembly – for reuse or recycling.

• A sophisticated HVAC system had to be

incorporated to dehumidify the fresh air,

which will be distributed through hollow

core floor slabs, where the air is fed at

floor level, displacing the air in the room

and extracting it higher up at ceiling level.

• Onsite waste management needed to

address as all organic waste will be

used to create compost onsite – adding

ecological value by improving soil, plant

growth and biodiversity.

• An onsite water treatment system that

resulted in a 90% total reduction of water

discharge by treating black and grey water

for reuse onsite (in irrigation, etc.).

• A 430 panel PV installation generating 198

804 kWh/year, which will reduce the peak

energy demand of the building by 53,4%.

• All usable areas have 100% LED fittings,

with intuitive daylight sensors, which can

detect how much natural light is available

and compensate for the difference, as well

as occupancy sensors.

• Further recommendations were made

that no formaldehyde products, or

ozone depleting products, be used in the

construction of this building, improving

the quality of the indoor environment.

“Overall, during the design assessment the

building achieved a high score for its energy

performance potential. This score can be

attributed to the reduced carbon footprint

and CO

emissions that the design was able

to achieve.

“To achieve a Six Star rating you need

to be prepared to push previously conceived

boundaries. And, through the collective

and dedicated efforts of the project team,

not only were we able to achieve the best

possible outcome on this project, but we

have certainly set the benchmark high for

future green building projects in Rwanda,”

concludes Naicker.

RWANDA’S FIRST

six star rated green building

WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff Africa, one of the largest

multi-disciplinary engineering consultancies in Africa,

has achieved a six star rating for its Nobelia Office

Tower in Kigali, Rwanda.