He leads projects and consulting services under LEED, EDGE, and FITWEL standards, integrating facade optimization strategies, life cycle assessments, and energy modeling to develop high-performance buildings.
Learn how EDGE certification in Colombia helps mid-sized developers reduce costs, differentiate projects, and access sustainable finance.
A mid-sized residential project in Bogotá, Medellín, Barranquilla, or Cali often faces a familiar tension: buyers want better finishes, financial institutions are paying closer attention to environmental risks, and construction costs leave little room for decorative decisions. In this context, sustainability only works when it translates into technical decisions that the project can finance, build, and sell. EDGE has gained traction precisely because of this approach.
For many mid-sized developers in Colombia, this certification represents a first structured path toward sustainable construction. It does not require turning a building into a technology laboratory or pursuing credits that do not fit the budget. Instead, it starts with a much more useful question: what combinations of design, building envelope, equipment, water strategies, and materials can measurably reduce consumption compared with a conventional building?
For years, environmental certifications appeared to be the exclusive domain of corporations, luxury hotels, or large-scale developments. The issue was not only financial. There was also a perception that certification required specialized in-house teams, overly lengthy processes, and solutions that were difficult to replicate.
EDGE—Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies—was developed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to simplify the analysis and certification of green buildings in emerging markets. Its approach is based on three indicators compared against a local baseline: energy, water, and embodied energy in materials. To obtain EDGE certification, a project must demonstrate, at a minimum, 20% energy savings, 20% water savings, and a 20% reduction in embodied energy in materials compared with the baseline case defined by the tool.
This threshold turns a broad conversation about sustainability into a verifiable design objective. A multifamily building does not need to incorporate every technology available. It needs to select measures that work for its climate, building type, construction system, buyer profile, and intended operation.
In Colombia, where humid tropical, dry tropical, temperate, and cold mountain climates coexist, this precision matters. A solution that adds value in Cartagena—for example, solar control, efficient air-conditioning equipment, and strategies to reduce heat gain—is not identical to what suits a project in Bogotá, where building-envelope performance, lighting, domestic hot water, or material selection may carry different weight.
A common misconception is that achieving EDGE certification means buying water-saving fixtures, installing LED lighting, and adding solar panels. These measures may contribute, but they do not guarantee the result. Certification is structured around modeling on the EDGE platform and documentation proving that the planned measures were actually incorporated into the building.
The tool allows teams to compare the proposed building with a reference building applicable to its location and use. On that basis, the team can review the impact of specific decisions: glazing percentage, roof type, insulation, shading, pumping equipment, ventilation, plumbing fixtures, landscaping, concrete, steel, brick, or prefabricated systems.
For a developer, this changes when the conversation should take place. Certification should not be introduced after specifications have been finalized and permitting is already well underway. Its greatest value appears during the preliminary and basic design stages, when a façade, finish schedule, or HVAC solution can still be adjusted without turning every improvement into a change order.
Verification generally takes place at two points:
The difference may seem administrative, but it is decisive. Promising a sustainable building and later replacing the specifications with lower-performance alternatives can jeopardize certification and, in turn, damage the project's credibility with buyers and investors.
The legitimate question is not whether a sustainable project costs more in the abstract. The right questions are: which measures involve a cost premium, which replace conventional decisions, which reduce operating costs, and which improve the asset's marketability or financing potential?
EDGE offers a practical advantage: it allows teams to review scenarios before committing the budget. If a façade specification does not deliver enough savings to justify its cost, the team can evaluate another combination of measures. This iteration avoids the classic problem of adding sustainability at the end, when options are more expensive and room to maneuver has nearly disappeared.
In housing, operating savings have a clear commercial meaning, although they must be communicated rigorously. Buyers may not compare thermal transmittance coefficients, but they do understand reduced exposure to heat, common areas with more controlled consumption, and equipment that uses less water. Communications should avoid generic promises of “guaranteed savings”: final consumption depends on occupancy, habits, maintenance, and weather conditions. The responsible approach is to explain which measures were incorporated and what performance was modeled under EDGE.
For offices, hotels, warehouses, or retail properties, the connection to operations can be even more direct. Institutional owners and corporate tenants review utility costs, comfort, maintenance, and ESG commitments. A building with verified measures has a stronger story than a brochure containing unsupported environmental claims.
Sustainable construction in Colombia is no longer a marginal conversation. The country has a significant track record in green building, public policies, and financial-sector participants that have incorporated environmental criteria into some of their decisions. However, this does not mean there is a single formula for certification.
Bogotá presents different challenges and opportunities from those of the Caribbean coast. In the capital, an efficient strategy may focus on the building envelope, common-area lighting, water consumption, materials, and domestic hot-water systems. In warm cities such as Barranquilla or Cartagena, controlling solar radiation, reducing unwanted infiltration, and properly selecting HVAC systems can determine much of the building's energy performance.
Medellín and the Aburrá Valley require careful consideration of ventilation, humidity, thermal behavior, and site-specific conditions. In mid-sized municipalities, where the local availability of certain equipment or materials may vary, specifications must balance performance, traceability, and actual supply capacity. Pursuing certification with hard-to-source products or insufficient technical data sheets adds risk to the construction process.
It is also advisable to review local instruments and market conditions before making decisions. Some cities, banks, funds, or corporate buyers place different values on sustainability attributes. A project should not pursue certification merely because it is a trend; it should understand how that certification aligns with its segment, location, and financial model.
The process can be organized without becoming a bureaucratic burden. The key is to assign clear responsibilities and connect certification milestones with the project's normal milestones.
This methodology does more than help obtain a certification mark. It requires coordination among decisions that are often scattered across architecture, engineering, procurement, and construction. That discipline can reduce improvisation and improve the quality of the information used to hand over the asset.
EDGE does not necessarily compete with other certifications; it addresses a different need. For a developer seeking a clear pathway focused on quantifiable efficiencies and applicable to a mid-sized residential or commercial portfolio, EDGE may be the right starting point.
LEED can offer a broader framework incorporating location, site, water, energy, materials, indoor environmental quality, innovation, and other dimensions. WELL and Fitwel, meanwhile, focus more deeply on occupant health and well-being. The choice depends on the asset strategy, target market, investor requirements, and desired level of differentiation.
In some cases, EDGE can be the first step in a more ambitious agenda. A developer can standardize efficiencies across its portfolio, build internal capabilities, and then move toward complementary certifications or carbon targets. The important thing is to avoid treating certification as an isolated badge: it should support a product and business strategy.
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