Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa November 2019 | Page 48

RETAIL
Shopping centers and safari
lodges reach for the sun
The real benefits of going off-grid
SIDIMA MFEKU
Property developers are starting to sway towards sourcing self-efficient energy
sources for their developments and are doing so to save the environment, while
also saving money. With the increasing energy rates and recent load shedding
in South Africa, it is an undoubtedly wiser and crucial change within the
hospitality and retail sector.
O
ften when the concept of being energy efficient
is brought up, many in the estate sector are left
thinking of only going green inside residential
properties. Their focus is immediately shifted to the interior
design element of being ecofriendly and energy conscious.
While that does add value towards building an ecofriendly
global environment and helps in fighting global warming,
energy saving is not limited to the interior.
The amount of heat produced by domestic appliances like
washing machines, stoves, refrigerators, cleaning appliances,
pumps and others increase the carbon footprint released
into the atmosphere. These appliances are, of course, found
in individual homes, but are used on a much larger scale
within the hospitality and retail sectors. Therefore, besides
just turning the design of your property green, the source
of energy used domestically is a huge factor to consider and
should be implemented on a larger scale.
Using approximately 40% of Africa's electricity, South Africa
falls within the world’s least energy efficient nations, while
also being the highest contributing nation to the emission
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine
of greenhouse gasses in the world. Within the property and
estate investment sector, change effected in the industry
would make a great impact and some of the developers in the
country and throughout Africa are working towards making
this a success.
There are various other options to tackling the scourge of
global warming in a bid to build an ecofriendly environment.
One of the most common options is the installation of solar
panels. Over the years solar panels have become quite
affordable. As a result many property owners have invested in
this system that saves about 60% to 80% on an electricity bill –
while simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas emissions and
reducing the continent’s carbon footprint.
The rhetoric here is that it is not only in homes that the
carbon footprint should be regulated, but at established
restaurants, lodges and shopping centers as well. As a
means to effect change in sustainable energy, developers
are taking responsibility and initiative towards building
an ecofriendly environment by taking their developments
completely off-grid.