TECHNOLOGY are expected to be green by 2018— almost double the projected global average of 37 % for that year. And, most interestingly, the right thing to do is the top trigger driving future green activity in South Africa. The country has experienced exponential growth in green certifications: from just one certification in 2009, it took six years to certify 100 buildings, 17 months to certify the next 100 green buildings, and a year to certify 100 more. This is due to several reasons. Firstly, the business case supporting green buildings is now very clear. The Green Building in South Africa: Guide to Costs and Trends Report compiled by the Green Building Council South Africa( GBCSA), the Association of SA Quantity Surveyors( ASAQS), and the University of Pretoria( UP), and released in July 2016, found that the average cost premium of building green over and above the cost of conventional construction— or green cost premium— is a mere 5.0 % and can be as low as 1.1 %. One of the barriers to green building until this point had been the apparent green premium that many developers or building owners thought going green would cost them. In the early 2000s, globally and locally a myth was perpetuated that green buildings cost 20 – 50 % more than conventional buildings. Several international studies were done a few years later that dispelled this myth, but South African data had not yet been collected or reported on, so was not included in the studies. The findings of last year’ s study showed, for the first time, that green buildings can be built for a negligible premium and that this premium is declining. This study, combined with the annual MSCI / GBCSA Sustainability Index that consistently shows that in South Africa green buildings yield a higher return on investment, makes a very strong business case for green buildings to developers, property owners, and corporates. In addition, the Building the Business Case: Health, Wellbeing and Productivity in Green Offices report, released by
the World Green Building Council in October 2016, reveals that investing in greener offices can also have a dramatic impact on a company’ s bottom line by improving employee productivity and reducing absenteeism, staff turnover, and medical costs. Key findings of the report include a 66 % decrease in sick leave at a company in North England and doubling of call centre productivity at Saint-Gobain in the US. A separate study, also undertaken in 2016 by the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and SUNY Upstate Medical University, found that employees who work in certified green buildings have higher cognitive function scores, fewer sick building symptoms, and higher sleep quality scores than those working in noncertified buildings. Locally and internationally, the focus has moved from green buildings to green precincts and cities, so that the positive effect is greater— and faster— than singular buildings. The earth’ s population is set to double by 2050, requiring a staggering 89 billion tons of natural resources per year— more than double the 40 billion tons we currently use. But what if a sustainable growth scenario occurred, where everyone lived in a green building, used bus rapid transit, and were powered by a series of mini-grids connected to renewable energy sources? Experts believe there would be a 40 % saving in the total quantity of resources consumed, almost bringing us back to the resource usage of today. The challenge, however, is not only introducing sustainable technology or systems, but also the reconfiguration of governance necessary to bring about the change. To this end, the GBCSA has established a partnership with
One of the barriers to green building until this point had been the apparent green premium that many developers or building owners thought going green would cost them.
About the author Dorah Modise is the CEO at the Green Building Council of South Africa( GBCSA).
CEC February 2018- 19