Green buildings take root
New research reveals South Africa has highest percentage of projects in world
SOUTH Africa is fast becoming the green hub of the world with the highest percentage of green building projects, while the Western Cape is doing well with the second highest number of green buildings behind Gauteng.
This is according to new research which showcased South Africa as one of the top performers worldwide, reporting the highest percentage of green building projects under way.
Dodge Data & Analytics and United Technologies published World Green Building Trends 2016 recently, in which the World Green Building Council was a research partner.
Green Building Council of South Africa chief executive Brian Wilkinson, said the country will continue to outperform, with almost two-thirds of respondents in the survey expecting more than 60 percent of their projects to be green by 2018.
“In South Africa there is an absence of regulatory requirements, which in countries like the UK, Australia and Singapore are in fact the trigger for green building.”
He said Gauteng led the country with the highest number of green building certificates with the Western Cape second.
Wilkinson said last year the council certified its 100th building project since it was founded in 2007, and there were 167 projects.
“It’s a clear sign that green building practices are gaining significant momentum in South Africa, along with an acknowledgment that Green Star-certified projects are not only world-class and innovative, but benefit people, the planet and profits.”
In the Western Cape, Century City has 10 Green Star-rated buildings and six have achieved a 5-star Green Star rating.
Recently, the Green Building Council of South Africa awarded a 5-Star Green Star Office v1 Design rating to global engineering firm, Aurecon for its second office block at Century City.
The 3 300m2 building has been built next to Aurecon’s 7000m2 premises which was the first office building in South Africa to receive a 5-Star Green Star rating.
Aurecon was responsible for the design of the engineering services of the project and also the Green Star-rating application, with assistance from Ludwig Design Consulting.
The building was developed by the Rabie Property Group for listed property development and investment group Ingenuity Property Investments.
Other buildings to achieve five stars are Bridge Park East and West, also developed by Rabie Property Group, and No 17 Park Lane, which houses the provincial offices of the Auditor-General, developed by Asset Matrix.
The sixth 5- star rated building is Chevron.
All the other Green Star-rated building at Century City achieved four stars including The Business Centre and No 3 Bridgeways. Ibis House in The Estuaries Office Park and Estuaries Plaza have both also achieved 4-Star Green Star-ratings, the former in the design category and the later in the As Built category.
Rabie director, Colin Anderson, said their vision was to have the biggest concentration of green buildings in one precinct.
“We firmly believe that by building green buildings, coupled with the roll out of Century City Connect, the high speed fibre optic network which are enabling the fastest connectivity speeds in Africa, we are ‘future proofing’ our buildings.”
During the switch-on of the rooftop solar system at the V&A Waterfront last year, Economic Opportunities MEC Alan Winde said the Western Cape government had set itself the goal of becoming the greenest region in South Africa.
“It is one of our game-changers and is being driven by a special unit in the premier’s office. At municipal level, we’re looking at including solar PV as part of the energy mix. We’re also making it easier to get renewable energy projects going.”
Winde said it is estimated that over 2 000 jobs could be created in the local manufacturing and installation of solar PV componentry over the next three to five years.
He said according to a study released last year, renewable energy saved the national economy more than R5.3 billion.
Wilkinson added that with increased dependency on power plants to handle the pressure on the grid, Eskom’s cost of generation had skyrocketed.
“We’re already seeing a very significant increase in the cost of electricity. This is really bad news for both business and ordinary South Africans.”
However, he said the electricity crisis was an opportunity.
“It illustrates now more than ever before the crucial need for going green and greater energy efficiency.
“By doing so, both business and consumers will cut down on electricity costs, which will help mitigate the impact of the electricity crisis.”
Wilkinson said the average green office building saved 34 percent in electricity consumption compared to a standard building.