We are a leading Kenyan sustainability consultancy specializing in green high performing buildings.

Urban Green Consultants Ltd (UGC) is a 100% Kenyan-owned and managed sustainability consulting firm founded in 2015. UGC specializes in ‘green’ or ‘high performing’ buildings.

Rapid building development coupled with exponential population growth and over consumption of resources has placed significant pressure on our environments. Through green building and sustainable urban design, UGC aims to address these issues and create a more sustainable future for the world.

UGC’s vision is to become a world class consultancy effective at providing sustainable solutions that are cost efficient and practical to implement.

Buildings Consume

20% of potable water

39% of primary energy

40% of raw materials

48% of Carbon emissions

70% of Electricity

Green Buildings Save

30-50% of energy

35% of carbon emissions

40% of water

70% of solid waste

Green Building User Productivity

Workers are 18% more productive

Students achieve 5-14%

Higher test scores

Hospital stays 8.5% shorter

Retail sales 15-40% higher

Our Services

Green Building Certifications (LEED, GREEN STAR, EDGE)

LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) is an internationally recognized green building certification system created by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).

Green Star is an internationally recognized green building certification created in Australia and adopted in South Africa and most recently Kenya.

EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) is a green building standard and certification system for emerging countries developed by the World Bank as a cost effective tool for developing and rating green/efficient buildings.

UGC are qualified LEED, Green Star and EDGE accredited professionals and are authorized to undertake these certifications of building developments.

Energy, Daylight and Natural Ventilation Modelling

Building simulation modeling works are often required for most green certification rating tools to assist in analyzing the building performance and identifying areas for improvement. UGC has a range of advanced software tools capable of precisely analyzing various elements of building functions such as daylighting, ventilation, lighting, acoustics, smoke extraction modeling and solar pv sizing. These services are often requested from clients independent of certification needs purely with the aim of reducing operating costs and increasing the life cycle of the building.

Through energy modelling and other building simulation modeling tools we estimate to be able to reduce the energy consumption of a building by at least 12-16% compared to an ASHRAE baseline buildings of similar design. The savings compared to a typical Kenyan building can be much higher (20-30%).

Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs)

EIAs are legal requirement and part of the project development process usually done at the initial stages of a project development. It is a decision making tool and should guide whether a project should be implemented, abandoned or modified prior to implementation. The goal of an EIA is to ensure that decisions on proposed projects and activities are environmentally sustainable. UGC Consultants have extensive experience undertaking EIAs both locally and internationally. Several projects in Nairobi include the French Embassy, ICRC Red Cross, Taita Sisal Estates and Voi Village Complex.

Energy Audits

The goal of an energy audit is of course to identify energy-saving opportunities, but also to increase asset values, lower ownership costs and promote environmental stewardship, human comfort, health and safety. UGC has carried out several energy audits in Nairobi including for I&M Bank.

Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety Management

The local construction industry often falls significantly short of international best management practices and legal requirements set within the country for both occupational health and safety and environmental management. UGC has acquired extensive experience managing on-site environmental and health and safety issues on mining and construction sites throughout Australian and Kenyan industries and is able to provide the necessary advice and assistance on developing occupational health and safety procedures and environmental management plans specific to individual site contexts. A notable project was that of The Hub Shopping Centre, Karen where Amrish led a team carrying out the Health & Safety Audits on a bi-monthly basis for two years.

Environmental Audits

Environmental audits are the systematic documented, periodic and objective evaluations of how activities and processes of an ongoing project to determine how far these activities and programs conform to the approved environmental management plan of that specific project and sound environmental management practices.

Our Projects

All 22 /LEED Certifications 7 /EDGE Certifications 7 /EDGE Auditing 2 /Building Simulation Modeling 13 /Offices 9 /Residential 6 /Healthcare 1 /Hospitality 4 /Warehousing 1 /Masterplan 1 /Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) 4

Principal Team

Amrish Shah

Founding Director, Sustainability Consultant

Amrish Shah is the founder and Managing Director of UGC. Amrish holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia and a Masters of Environmental Management majoring in Sustainable Development from the University of Queensland, Australia. He is a LEED Green Associate, Green Star Accredited Professional, EDGE Expert and EDGE Auditor. Amrish is also the Board Secretary of the Kenya Green Building Society (KGBS)

Amrish formerly worked as an environmental consultant for three years in Australia with some of the largest mining and construction organisations worldwide (Bechtel, BP, Shell, Oracle) acquiring extensive experience in sustainable construction practices, environmental impact assessments, environmental management plans, environmental and development approvals, contaminated land management, land rehabilitation and environmental monitoring for a diverse range of projects.

Mike Barker

Associate Engineer

Mike Barker is the founder of Building Physics, South Africa. Mike is a highly specialised electrical engineer with over 30 years of industry experience. Mike specialises in Electronics Building Services, Building Control Systems and Building Management Systems. Mike was a key member of the team undertaking the LEED certification of the Coca Cola building in Johannesburg as well as the majority of South Africa’s convention centre’s including the Durban International Conventional Centre, Cape Town International Convention Centre, Polokwane Convention & Exhibition Centre and the Nelson Mandela Bay Convention Centre.

Mike is a member of numerous professional organizations including the Green Building Council of South Africa, the United States Green Building Council, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in SA, ASHRAE and the National Fenestration Rating Council. Mike offers support to Building Services Engineering and IAQ with regards to Energy Modelling, Building Modelling, Daylighting, Energy Consumption and Solar Heat Gain. He is involved in ongoing research into Smart Buildings, Energy Conservation, Green Buildings, Sustainable Buildings and Intelligent Buildings which includes technologies such as oBIX, XML, LONworks.