Do You Know Your Commercial Building's Green Rating?

In efforts to address the global increase in carbon emissions and carve out a pathway to reach the Net Zero carbon emission targets set for 2030 and 2050, we've seen a rapid rise in the adoption of green construction in South Africa over recent years. Despite being one of the largest current contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in the world, in our adoption of green building practices, South Africa is currently ahead of established sustainability building regions, a recent World Green Building Trends survey stated. With government regulations in place and local initiatives working hard at providing practical solutions to improve on antiquated construction and facility management practices in the commercial building sector, South Africa is primed to step into the green building revolution.

Regulations under the National Energy Act apply to government buildings of more than 1,000 sq metres and privately-owned commercial buildings of more than 2,000 sq metres. Tasked with maintaining this on behalf of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) is the South African National Energy Development Institute (Sanedi), urging compliance based not only on the large range of benefits provided to owners themselves, but for the country as well. Commercial building owners who haven't yet addressed their green building rating still have time to apply for their Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for Buildings, and would be prudent to do so as a failure to comply by December 7th, 2022 may result in hefty fines and potential jail time.

The World Green Building Council defines the concept of a green building under the criteria

of design, construction, and building operational practices - a holistic approach that considers pre-construction and impact-reducing practices once the building is constructed and in operation.

Francois Retief, founder of Sow & Reap Consulting, a home-grown company that provides green building solutions, offers in depth insight into the complexities of green construction and redesign in the South African building landscape, as well as some much-needed clarity into the supporting legislation.

"There's the design aspect [of a green building] which is very important because so many of the decisions made during the designing phase lock in and commit that building to a certain energy or water performance. Even factors such as failing to make it pedestrian friendly to reduce the car impact in the area, or using large glazed west-facades that will increase the need forair conditioning, need consideration during the designing phase of building better buildings."

Having developed his career in South Africa using his mechanical engineering background to specialise in building services, Francois then moved to the United Kingdom where he began to notice the trend of sustainability in the built environment. Becoming involved in some small-scale renewables and energy efficiency projects was an exciting and fulfilling launchpad to his current venture, Sow & Reap.

"The building codes in the UK in terms of energy were ahead of South Africa's at the time and I enjoyed developing my passion there for energy sustainability. I then returned to South Africa and attempted to continue in the still niche, local industry, but the market was fairly small aside from load shedding initiatives. I then joined the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA) between 2010 to 2014, where we developed and managed a number of Green Building rating tools and guidelines."

Francois emphasises the importance of looking at a building holistically when undergoing an assessment of its general performance and where to make improvements.

"You can design a really good building and still receive really terrible performance from it if you don't manage it properly. So the facility management of a building ties into its overall performance rating in a big way. The Green Star ratings are therefore split into the New Construction rating and the Existing Building Performance rating tools to address each scenario."

Where new construction is considered, Francois and the Sow & Reap Consulting assist clients to follow procedures set out by the SANS 10400-XA regulation which was initiated in 2011 and updated last year in 2021.

"We help clients do rational assessments relating to constructing a new building. But redesigning an existing building is a completely different set of procedures, so there is a regulation for existing buildings called the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), which is a game changer in the existing building space. By the end of December this year, it will be mandatory for commercial buildings larger than 2,000 sq meters to display their EPCs prominently in front of the building. The intention is to inform tenants so they can make smarter decisions when considering renting at a particular building and whether it will fit to their ESG targets."

The GBCSA has been leading the charge in the transformation of the South African property industry, and developed their suite of rating tools to provide a framework for owners to construct, design or redesign, and operate buildings in an environmentally responsible way. These tools, along with the EPC initiative, assist building owners in identifying their building's weak points. Building owners then submit their findings in the form of building data to the GBCSA, which is compiled by a Green Star Accredited Professional (AP), and then independently assessed and evaluated by a third party professional assessor. The GBCSA then provides a rating for the building in question. Ratings are either 4-Star, meaning "Best practice", 5-Star, which stands for "South African Excellence" or a 6-Star rating, which means "World Leadership".

Sow & Reap Consulting is a member of the GBCSA, and specialises in assisting property industry stakeholders to integrate sustainability practices into their buildings, services and products. Working with a dynamic network of green building industry professionals, Sow & Reap provides sound advice to clients considering the benefits of going green in their portfolio, whether large or small-scale projects. The consulting group provides tailored solutions in green building consulting, training, certification, and SANS 10400-XA Energy Modeling. You may find out further details about their range of services by visiting their website.

Redesigning buildings to be greener may seem complicated and costly, however Francois has seen more focus on improving existing assets than investing in new construction. With the hundreds of thousands of commercial buildings already built, tools that focus on assessing existing properties have been hugely beneficial to clients, and will undoubtedly prompt an increase in job demand and creation to assist the industry to have the necessary EPCs obtained and displayed by the deadline of the 7th of December, 2022.

"Using the Existing Building Performance tool, you can identify whether your building is performing as well as you think it is, thereby having insight into which buildings to focus on in your portfolio. The tool also helps to improve your processes and policies in terms of building facility management."

Sow & Reap has worked with many different clients to achieve green building ratings under the GBCSA's Green Star Existing Performance Rating tool, assisting by conducting surveys and audits, and compiling documents for submission. Working alongside Misplon Green Building Consulting, the team at Sow & Reap assisted Growthpoint Properties in achieving a 4-Star, As-Built Green Star SA certification for Greenfield Industrial Park, a 20 000m² development in Airport Industria. Not only did the development receive its well-deserved four green stars, but it's also the country's first certified green industrial property, being rated recently as one of South Africa's first Net Zero Carbon buildings.

"Industrial properties differ substantially to commercial buildings, and although the Green Star tools help a great deal as they provide a solid framework, albeit not perfect, to give a starting point to building owners, industrial buildings have had challenges applying the Existing Building Tool as they are quite unique. Sow & Reap Consulting, along with Imbue Sustainability, have been employed by GBCSA to develop a specific industrial version of the Existing Building Tool, which is in the works to be launched later this year."

Whether your building is commercial or industrial by nature, sustainability in the way it's operated and maintained is a top priority, especially when making future investment decisions. With clear indicators and legislation at play such as the SANS 10400-XA, the Existing Building Performance tools for commercial and industrial properties, and Net Zero carbon commitments all pointing to constructing in a more environmentally considerate way, greater planning and consideration of these aspects is required for a fruitful long-term asset.

"In time, every building entrance will display their certificate and if yours states a "G" rating while your neighbour has a "B" rating, there are serious knock-on effects for the future of your investment." Francois advises.

A shining example of a holistic approach to greener building, design and operation is the FNB Fairlands Campus building in Johannesburg.

"The FNB Fairland Campus project received an Existing Building Performance rating. This looked at the facilities management of the building, such as the utility and water bills for twelve months of operation, how they managed their waste management, their recycling rates, and the chemicals used in cleaning practices, among other key factors."

Switching to green energy has been significant to the surrounding community, powering approximitaely 1,300 homes with energy deployed from the solar PV installation in the Fairland building parking lot. This ingenious redesign removed the 978 dilapidated shade-cloth parking bays and replaced them with 1010 bays using 7,647 reflective photovoltaic cells. It covers an area of 150,000 square meters and produces enough solar energy to provide all of the campus' electrical needs without drawing from the electricity grid thereby lowering the carbon footprint and reducing dependency on the grid.

The benefits of moving over to renewable sources of energy in the property space far outweigh the costs, provided that industry professionals have the necessary assistance and tools to properly assess property portfolios.

If you require assistance with your property portfolio and its green rating assessment, get in touch with the team at Sow & Reap Consulting who help clients make their portfolios produce cleaner, greener and more valuable properties for a more sustainable future in building. Visit Sow & Reap Consulting for further information and to get in touch.