EDGE v3.0 now available

The Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE) App Version 3.0 opened for project registration and certification in March 2021. Version 3.0 has made the EDGE App more streamlined and intuitive, while providing users with tools for more precise results.

The Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA) uses the Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE) rating tool in the residential sector to certify new homes. Since 2015, this has gone a long way to facilitate the development of green housing in South Africa.

As we transition more fully to version 3.0, there will be a grace period to initiate certification for projects in either Version 2.1.5 or 3.0. Starting in October 2021, all new projects must be registered with Version 3.0. If your project is registered with Version 2.1.5, you will have until December 2025 to complete EDGE certification.

For those certifying EDGE projects through the Green Building Council South Africa, please take note of the following timelines:

• March 2021: v3.0 registration and certification available
• July 2021: v3.0 becomes the default EDGE version, i.e. the version will need to be manually changed from v3.0 to v2.1.5. All v2.1.5 projects submitted for registration, must be fully registered [signed CA and full payment received] by September
• October 2021: v3.0 becomes mandatory for new registrations, i.e. registration under v2.1.5 is no longer available. All v2.1.5 projects not fully registered [signed CA and full payment received] will need to re-register under v3.0.
• December 2025: All projects registered under v2.1.5 must achieve Final EDGE Certification

All current v2 projects will be certified (Preliminary & Post-construction) to December 2025.

Where a project is Preliminary certified before December 2025, and provided the 3-year validity is confirmed (i.e. the Preliminary certification has not expired), the project will need to proceed with the Post-construction certification under V3. The project team will need to assess the risk of having to change the benchmark in between Preliminary and Post-construction and may opt to change to V3 as part of the Preliminary certification.

For more technical information on v.3 and the update, click here.

The GBCSA is part of a global network of EDGE certifiers and also provides training for people wishing to become accredited EDGE Experts or EDGE Auditors.