Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa September 2013 | Page 15
UPFRONT
The recent World Green Building Trends
SmartMarket Report published by McGraw-Hill
Construction and United Technologies found
that 28% of architects, engineers, contractors,
building owners and building consultants around
the world report that they are focussing their work
on sustainable design and construction, by doing
at least 60% of their projects green. And continued
growth is expected, as 51% of firms report that
they expect to be at high levels of green activity
in just three years. The most notable part of the
results is that this trend is not localised to one
part of the world or to developed countries. From
2012 to 2015 the number of firms anticipating
that more than 60% of their work will be green
will more than triple in South Africa, more than
double in Germany, Norway and Brazil, and
will grow between 33% and 68% in the US, the
UK, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and
Australia.
South Africa in the lead
South Africa features strongly in the report, which
reveals that green building is rapidly taking hold in
the country, 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 certainly is
great news that South Africa is taking its place
among the leaders in green building. Overall, 16%
of South African firms report heavy levels of green
in 2012, an eightfold increase in just three years.
And they expect levels to more than triple in the
next three years. In respect of new commercial
buildings, 60% if firms report that they have future
green plans, while 58% of firms reported plans for
retrofitting existing buildings. Notably, South
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