While Nepal is breathtaking, containing eight of the world’s ten tallest mountains, the country is landlocked to the north by China and to the south and east by India. It’s a developing country with a low-income economy, ranked among the poorest of the 187 countries in the U.N. Human Development Index.

Writing this post from Nepal, I think that it seems appropriate to discuss EDGE.

EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) is a green building certification system for new residential and commercial buildings in emerging markets and developing countries. Yes, think “like LEED” for the other 70% of the world.

EDGE certification is available in over 120 countries around the globe, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. The list includes Nepal, but not developed nations like the U.S.

The photograph above was taken at a popular tea house in Dingboche, Nepal. It shows why LEED-type notions of interior water use reduction (e.g., WaterSense flush toilets) and energy reduction (e.g., LED lighting) have little if any application for the majority of buildings in most developing counties, where squat toilets with a bucket of water are the norm and the only illumination is daylight from a window.

A three-part approach

EDGE was created by the International Finance Corporation, one of five organizations that comprise the World Bank Group. It has three component parts.

First, there is free web-based software that is country and building-type specific (ranking a project against typical similar buildings). It recommends measures to reduce energy and water use, and includes sophisticated databases and calculations that make separate energy modeling obsolete. The software even projects the dollar return on investment for specific contemplated design features.

Second, EDGE creates a new pass-or-fail green building standard for projects that are able to demonstrate 20% less energy use (from efficient HVAC systems, superior glazing, low-energy lighting, solar solutions, etc.) than the city-specific prototype; 20% less water (from low-flow faucets, efficient water closets, recycled water systems, etc.); and 20% less embodied energy in materials (from floor, roof, wall, and window construction approaches that have low embodied energy).

Third, EDGE provides a third-party certification system geared toward greater marketability. EDGE is new, so there are few auditors today. However, Green Building Certification Inc. is a global certification partner for EDGE and the exclusive certification partner for EDGE projects in India. Certification will vary from country to country and is intended to be available at affordable rates.

It is not yet clear that certification costs are low enough to encourage marketplace acceptance of EDGE certification.

Even 20% reductions could be significant

Green building can save the planet, or at least the people on the planet. Today, significantly less than 1% of buildings in the U.S. are LEED-certified and that percentage obviously is much smaller across the globe. Maybe the answer outside of the U.S. is EDGE. And while it is premature to reach grand conclusions with the small number of completed EDGE projects, possibly there is much to be learned from the EDGE web-based software about how to expand the green building market within the U.S.

Twenty percent less energy, 20% less water, and 20% less embodied energy in materials, in a large enough number of buildings, will save the planet.

Stuart Kaplow is an attorney concentrating in real estate and environmental law. This post originally appeared at his website, Green Building Law Update.