PROPERTY & INVESTMENT
GOING
GREEN
COULD YOU QUALIFY FOR AN ECO-FRIENDLY HOME LOAN ?
The demand for eco-friendly homes presents a unique opportunity to leap into a low-carbon and resource-efficient future by building responsibly and incorporating energyefficient design and construction strategies .
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Eco-friendly buildings typically don ’ t consume as much energy as conventional homes and therefore help to meet climate change targets . In counties like China , Canada , Switzerland and the UK , green homes are becoming the new norm , and as a result , new financial products like green mortgages are being offered by lenders . In South Africa , green homes have been in limited supply across the country , but we are quickly catching up .
Grappling with the green market
For a home to be deemed ‘ green ’ in South Africa , it needs to be awarded EDGE certification by the Green Building Council of South Africa ( GBCSA ). The certification confirms that the unit has been built to save no less than 20 % on energy consumption , energy embodiment and water consumption , and has sustainability embedded into all its construction processes . All of this leads to long-term financial and environmental savings .
Over the last few decades , the process of obtaining EDGE certification has been prohibitively costly and , as a result , property developers have been reluctant to venture down the green development road . However , there ’ s an increasing call for governments , businesses , and civil society to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and apply creativity and innovation to solve sustainable development challenges . The ongoing loadshedding saga by Eskom has also forced the GBCSA to take progressive strides towards lowering these costs .
The start of the green revolution
Over the last two years , a greater number of property developers have been diversifying their offering to go green , but despite this shift , the South African green home loan market is still in its infancy , with only two banks currently playing in this space .