SA Affordable Housing July / August 2017 // Issue: 65 | Page 36

PROJECTS
Fourleaf Estate.
Similan creates Africa’s
first green estate
Located in the ‘windy city’ of Port Elizabeth in South Africa,
the Fourleaf Estate is the first affordable housing project in
Africa to achieve a green rating.
By Ntsako Khosa | Images by Similan
A
warded by the Green Building Council of South Africa
(GBCSA), the residential development is Africa’s
greenest residential development by achieving a
Final Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE)
certification. EDGE is a software, standard and green
building certification system developed by the
International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the
World Bank Group.
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JULY - AUGUST 2017
AFFORDABLE
SA HOUSING
For Similan, the developers behind Fourleaf Estate,
developing in a sustainable manner while creating more
opportunities for South Africans to own homes, is key.
“Although not easy, our philosophy around sustainable
development is simple. If we want to offer buyers an
affordable investment, we should develop in ways that will
save them money in the long term,” says development
manager Pieter du Toit.