Mashatu Terrace Green Rating-Plaque Unveiling
Time Projects and Wheki (Pty) Ltd celebrated the unveiling of the Net Zero carbon and 5-Star As-Built rating plaques awarded to Mashatu Terrace by the Green Building Council of South Africa.
We were joined by the contractor, consultants, owners and tenants of Mashatu Terrace, BERA, Botswana Green Building Council and the Department of Energy to celebrate this incredible milestone. Mashatu Terrace is among the few certified Green Buildings in Botswana and is the only 5-Star AsBuilt rated green building in Botswana. It is also the first and only Net-Zero Carbon certified building in the country.
A green building is not so far off from a building as we know it. So often when we hear about green buildings, we imagine something out of the ordinary, and then we are a bit puzzled when we see that it doesn’t look ‘more special’. Green buildings are nothing more than going back to the basics of designing, building and operating buildings in a way that is healthy for the environment and the occupants and in a manner that is efficient. It is almost impossible to say by just looking at a building to say that it is not a green building. In fact, most buildings, if not all, have something green about them - even your own home.
A green building is characterised by:
Minimal impact on the environment
Efficiency in water and energy consumption
Healthy indoor and outdoor environment for occupants In one way or another, all buildings live up to the characteristics of a green building - unless of course they are completely flawed. The question is therefore not, ‘is this a green building?’ but rather, ‘how green is this building?’ This leads to the following questions:
(i) How is the ‘greenness’ of building measured?
(ii) Who measures the ‘greenness’ of a building?
The ‘greenness’ or environmental performance of buildings is measured using rating or certification tools. These are facilitated by
Green Building Councils within their respective countries. Botswana has a green building council which does not yet have a green rating tool. We look forward to being part of the development of Green Rating tool for Botswana. In the meantime, Time and Primetime are using the South African rating tool known as Green Star South Africa. And the certification is therefore awarded by the Green Building Council of South Africa.
Through the Green Star SA rating tool, one can get a Design rating, As Built rating, Net Zero certifications and a few more. To demonstrate the measured environmental performance of a building, a project can be awarded 4-, 5- or 6-Star ratings. Mashatu Terrace is celebrating the award of a 5-Star As-Built Rating and a Net Zero-Carbon Level 1 rating. The As-Built rating means that the completed building was assessed against a set of criteria and scored above the minimum requirement for a 5-star rating. The criteria include the procurement and waste management process during the construction phase, the greenhouse gas emissions associated with operational energy consumption, indoor environment quality and other environmental factors. The Net Zero-Carbon, Level 1 means that the building is energy efficient, and the installed solar photovoltaic system can meet the modelled demand of the base building.
Time and Primetime are pioneering the green building space in Botswana and as a result we encounter challenges along the way. Among these are the risks of the ‘Green Label Syndrome’. We are so aware of the importance of ensuring that it doesn’t end with getting the certification but that operational performance monitoring continues after construction. We look forward to working the end-users to ensure optimisation of our green buildings throughout their lifecycle. Thank you to our contractor Red East, our consultants and owners of Mashatu Terrace - First Capital Bank, Winchester Properties, and CC Projects in partnership with Time. We also extend our appreciation to the tenants of Mashatu Terrace - SADC, Bank Gaborone, Huawei, Africa Lighthouse and TLS.