The new , the old and the green-urbanism
Sustainability has become integral in the design and construction of buildings in many parts of the world and in South Africa . Over the last six years , in particular , there has been significant uptake of green buildings . In fact , “ building green ” or building for sustainability and climate change mitigation is becoming an industry standard in the local commercial market . The industry ’ s shift to embrace sustainable practices has a proven and significant economic business case , which largely is being driven by continuous and growing pressure being placed on the ‘ built ’ space to address inadequate energy resources , carbon reduction targets and , revised building energy efficiency standards for the country .
In line with this , there are three notable trends in the green building space . These include :
# 1 Expect a big drive towards “ building green ” In the commercial property market – particularly - smart developers have begun to realise that “ building green ” and building for sustainability not only better enables the development to leverage on the power and water resources that are available , but it makes good business sense . Previously it may have been thought costly to make the upfront capital investments to go green , however , volatility in both the cost and availability of power and water is influencing a mind-set change ; in that savvier consumers are realising the benefits of being more “ green ” and , for example , offsetting as much of their energy consumption as possible .
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In the long-term , not only do green buildings enable the consumer to reduce their consumption , but building green also increases the propensity to reduce the carbon emissions emitted by these developments and provides increased resilience to uncertain service delivery . These are significant value adds to the consumer – and what benefits the consumer also benefits the developer / owner . As a result , we can expect that architects and consulting engineers will continue to be tasked with coming up with alternative and cost-efficient building designs to offset energy consumption , reduce carbon emissions and improve the overall operational efficiencies of new building projects .
# 2 Growing business opportunity in urban renewal While demand for green buildings continues to grow , these will not replace the importance of our existing urban and city centres . In fact , new building projects possibly represent about 5 % of the entire built stock from 2010 , which means there is an even greater opportunity in refurbishing the existing built stock with green principles – keeping energy efficiency top of mind . This form of urban renewal can take place in different forms such as – but not excluded to - corporates establishing campuses around their head offices , or retro-future proofing old city centres – and through the inclusion of renewable energies and biological processes .
Some cynics might argue that refurbishments are costly and do not make economic sense . Yet , there is actually a strong business case for implementing energy efficiency measures . It is important to evaluate the full life cycle costs of any intervention . If specified and installed correctly , systems and structures can produce a sustainable return on investment ( ROI ) that can amount to between 20 % - 70 % of energy and gain revenue through this investment .
# 3 Green urbanism - a global driver towards smarter , greener precincts and cities Out of the box , a green city is a complex undertaking for any economy – whether developed or emerging . In fact , we can expect that the urban form will not rapidly and materially transform itself towards more efficient and compact cities , as this is a serious ambition and may take the better
“ The industry ’ s shift to embrace sustainable practices has a proven and significant economic business case ”