IFC Collaborates with KsTU to Equip Students with Green Building Design Skills

A brief ceremony has been held to award certificates to fifty-one students of Kumasi Technical University (KsTU) who have been successfully trained for the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiency (EDGE) green building course. These students from KsTU becomes the first batch in Ghana and second in Africa to get this certification.

In August 2020, a License and Cooperation Agreement was signed between the World Bank Group (IFC) and KsTU for delivering university-level training to “Licensees” students of KsTU in the green building course component (EDGE).

The first training has been implemented and the course completed in August 2021. Fifty-one students from the University out of initial students of over 300 who expressed interest, were successful given the certification after the training. The Licensees are in the Faculties of Engineering and Technology (FET) and Faculty of Built and Natural Environment (FBNE). It is expected that further training sessions will be held before the expiration of the agreement. Surv. Dr.Ing. Collins Ameyaw, Arc. Dr. Emmanuel Eyiah-Botwe, Engr. Surv. Dr. Sarfo Mensah and Engr. Dr. Benard Effah were the facilitators licensed by the IFC to train the students. The facilitators are all from the Faculty of Built and Natural Environment.

In his brief remarks, the Vice-Chancellor, Ing. Prof. Osei-Wusu Achaw expressed his appreciation to IFC’s support to introduce this new course. He said that this course will further help students to familiarize themselves with green building modelling software and present ideas clearly and quantitatively in the future.

The focus of the course is to introduce the concept of green buildings to students at a very early stage, so it becomes a part of their professional life after they have left school.