“Simply put, the more green buildings a REIT owns,
the more savings and benefits they achieve, and the
lower their impact on the environments. The impacts
are real and significant,” says Wilkinson.
The GBCSA’s achieved a landmark 50 Green
Star SA certified buildings earlier this year. These
buildings were designed to be about 48% more
efficient at saving water, 34% more energy efficient
and save more than 57% of greenhouse gas emissions.
For the 50 buildings combined, this equates to saving
124 million litres of water each year, or enough
drinking water for 34,000 homes a year, which equals
enough drinking water for the entire South African
population for one day. It means saving 76 million
kwh of energy each you, or the energy needed by
5,300 homes per year, or enough energy to boil 1.4
million kettles of water per day for a year. It measures
a saving of 115 million kgCO2 a year, which is the
same as 6,000 full Boeing flights from Joburg to
Cape Town or taking 28,000 cars off the road per
annum.
Wilkinson notes that with Growthpoint’s seven
Green Star SA projects, it alone could potentially be
achieving 20% of these savings.
However, he points out that, at the other extreme,
there are companies that only pay lip service to
greening and, some don’t even bother with that.
“But, they do so at their own peril, and that of their
investors.”
Wilkinson notes that business benefits are driving
green building trends world-wide, both for new
developments and retrofits. Because of this, strong
growth is expected for green building, according
to the McGraw Hill Construction World Green
Building Trends Report. It states: “around the world,
green building is accelerating as it becomes viewed as
a long-term business opportunity.” And, Wilkinson
points out, property investment is a long-term game.
The report notes that foremost among triggers
driving future green building internationally are
client demand and market demand.
Wilkinson puts this in context for the local market,
saying: “It is the strategy of many REITs to attract
and retain quality tenants. It is these exact tenants,
particularly blue-chips and multinationals, that
require green buildings for their environmentallyresponsible business models.”
Leading businesses around the world have
certainly seen the benefit of operating in green
buildings. The same report notes that improved
www.reimag.co.za
health and productivity benefits are driving green
building more today compared to three years ago.
“Some 55% of firms rate greater health and wellbeing as the top social reasons for building green.
This belief is increasing. In 2009, 29% of companies
listed this as a reason.
“Green buildings are proven
to provide better returns
for owners.”
In South Africa, the leading trigger for green
building is doing the right thing. This is followed
by lowering operating costs, which is becoming
increasingly pressing in the local market with
endlessly soaring electricity costs. The third highest
trigger is ensuring a positive public image. Local
social and environmental reasons for green building
are topped by greater health and well-being, followed
by conserving our natural resources. Interesting to
note, South African firms have a much higher than
average expectation of the long-term operating-cost
savings from green building investments.
Wilkinson concedes that the move to green
building isn’t always simple. A lack of political
support and incentives was also widely reported as
constraining green growth in SA.
Despite this, Wilkinson points out that South
Africa is making big strides in green building.
The report notes that green building is rapidly
taking hold in South Africa, with its share of firms
that are highly dedicated to green building growing
at a faster rate than in any other part of the world.
It notes that, overall 16% of South African firms
reported heavy levels of green in 2012, an eightfold
increase in just three years. Moreover, this was
expected to triple by 2015, and this is anticipated to
be concentrated in commercial buildings, both new
and existing.
“As almost all SA REITs own portfolios made up
exclusively of commercial property assets, they are
set to have an important role to play in the future
of green leadership in South Africa,” concludes
Wilkinson.
RESOURCES
The Green Building Council of South Africa
Commercial Handbook 2016
39