The lead Officer at the International Finance Corporation, Dennis Papa Odenyi Quansah, has highlighted the importance of green building to the environment. According to him, adopting green methods of building is an effective way to minimize costs while saving energy. Speaking to GhanaWeb at the EDGE Green Building Awards, Odenyi Quansah said even though every building has a negative impact on the environment, green projects lessen these impacts. He said: “When we talk about green buildings, we are talking about buildings that have minimized impact or negative impacts on the environment. Whatever project is done will definitely have an impact on the environment, but the green building [aims] at reducing that negative impact. He emphasized that green buildings must pass certain criteria according to IFC’s definition. “We at IFC have come up with our own definition of what a green building is. First of all, it has to be certified, it should save at least 20% on energy, water, and materials, and it should be able to report what the savings are,” he said. The EDGE Green Ghana Building Competition sought to engage students on the idea of green building and give them access to tools that will help them practicalize the concept of green building. Meanwhile, a senior country officer at the IFC Ghana, Cemile Hacbeyoglu, stated that less than 1% of new buildings in Ghana are built using green methods. According to her, green buildings matter because they use less energy and less precious water, which protects owners from high utility bills. SSD/BOG