DEMAR targets IFC EDGE Advanced certification on every project. Targets and methodology are published before the work begins; results are published whether we hit them or not.
Sustainability should feel hedonistic, not sacrificial. A home that works with Nairobi's climate — not against it — is cooler, quieter, brighter, and cheaper to run. Certification is a process, not a sticker. We register early, publish targets, and publish results — including any item where we missed the target.
The target
The brand does not declare its own excellence — it creates conditions where authoritative third parties do. EDGE — Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies — is the International Finance Corporation’s green-building standard, developed for emerging markets and now in use across more than 175 countries. Three certification tiers: EDGE Certified (≥ 20% improvement across each of energy, water, and embodied carbon), EDGE Advanced (≥ 40% energy plus baselines on the others), and EDGE Zero Carbon (the operational top tier).
Our target on The Dagaz is EDGE Advanced. Registration number EDGE-KE-2025-00148, filed Q3 2025. The certifying auditor is GEcon Africa — IFC EDGE registered, engaged through the certification body, not by DEMAR. Of 89 buildings in Kenya assessed against IFC EDGE criteria, only two residential developments have achieved certification. We intend to be the third.
The three dimensions
Versus a Kenya-baseline residential building. Achieved through passive cooling, deep balcony shading, Schüco AWS 75 SI+ low-iron triple-glazing, low-flow fixtures, and an envelope tuned to local climate rather than imported plans.
Rainwater harvesting from rooftop and balcony catchments, low-flow sanitaryware (Catalano basins, Geberit cisterns), drought-tolerant indigenous landscaping, and greywater reuse where the building services support it.
Versus baseline materials, through locally sourced stone, lower-carbon cement blends, and a structural design that minimises material waste rather than chasing minimum spec.
The audit cadence
Registration number EDGE-KE-2025-00148, lodged with the certification body in Q3 2025. Targets, methodology, and baseline assumptions are published on the Standards page from the day of registration — not retrofitted to the result.
GEcon Africa conducts a preliminary on-site audit at façade-completion stage — verifying envelope, glazing, and shading against the registered design. Findings published whether or not we are on track.
GEcon Africa issues the final EDGE Advanced certification audit at handover, against measured rather than modelled data. Operating energy and water from the building's metering are published in the Journal for the first three years of occupation.
In 1973, the Kenyatta International Conference Centre — the building on Kenya's 100-shilling note — was co-designed by a Norwegian architect and a Kenyan architect. Its most innovative feature was not its height. It was a ventilation system that worked with Nairobi's climate rather than against it — fifty years ahead of its time. We build in that lineage. Passive cooling, deep balcony shading, cross-ventilation, and an envelope tuned to local climate rather than imported plans.
The garden does work the building cannot. Indigenous East African plants, retained jacarandas, layered understorey, water-permeable paving, and reflecting pools that double as evaporative cooling for the lobby. The garden is not a decorative perimeter; it is part of the environmental system of the building. We do not import grass species that need three times the water of the climate. We do not pave the ground plane in impermeable concrete. We do not buy a sustainability badge while doing the opposite outside the door.
What we will not claim
A 45-minute private session — by video or in our Westlands sales gallery — covering the EDGE methodology and the project's environmental targets in detail.