Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa November 2015 | Page 50

STRATEGIES

How Green Is Your Workspace?

Modern, green offices are the workplaces of the future

T

he move towards going green in the commercial
property sector is gaining momentum. Since
2009, the total number of green-building
projects certified by the Green Building Council South
Africa (GBCSA) has increased by 121%, with aspects
such as energy, water, waste management, transport,
emissions and indoor-environment quality all taken
into account.
Banks, listed property funds, developers and certain
government departments seem to be leading the charge.
Nedbank was the first, back in 2009, with the launch of
their Sandton head office extension, and FNB, ABSA
and Standard Bank are following suit. Growthpoint
and Redefine have both stated that all their new
buildings will conform with GBCSA’s minimum
Green Star SA rating, with Attacq and Tower also
striving to differentiate themselves in terms of green.
Rabie has had many of their Century City buildings
certified green, and key government departments
are following suit, including the departments of
Environmental Affairs and Public Works, the Western
Cape Government, the City of Cape Town and
Ethekweni Municipality.
Anthony Manas, Chief Executive for Cube
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NOVEMBER 2015 SA Real Estate Investor

Workspace, is enthusiastically pro-green. “In May this
year, we launched our fourth serviced-office-space
building in two years,” he says, referring to a private
home renovated into a R40-million office facility in
Bryanston. “Each property is designed and furnished
with some practical, easy-to-apply green thinking, with
roofs solar panelled, insulation in the concrete, LED
lighting throughout, gas cooking in the communal
café-dining space, and recycled materials for the tables,
chairs, desks and carpets.”
Oftentimes green measures are easy and quick
to implement at both design and building stages.
Photovoltaic (PV) panels can be used for solar power,
LED lights and light-switch timers can be installed,
insulation can be incorporated into floor slabs and
roofs, and double-glazing can be used for windows;
recycled material should be considered for furniture
and finishes such as carpets.
A business’s choice of suppliers can aid an
organisation in becoming more environmentally
friendly. Cube Workspace recently appointed a bottlerecycling company to provide branded bottled water
throughout their properties. “The beauty of a supplier
like Bottleworx is that not only do they use the PET
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