JSE-listed real estate investment trust (Reit) Growthpoint Properties has embarked on its two largest rooftop solar installations, each with a capa- city of nearly 1.2 MW, on the rooftops of Northgate Mall, in Johannesburg, and the Brooklyn Mall, in Pretoria.

“Growthpoint has passed the halfway mark in achieving its goal to install rooftop solar farms capable of generating an impressive 6 MW . . . enough solar energy to power nearly 2 500 average South African homes,” Growthpoint Properties head of sustainability Werner van Antwerpen said in a state- ment late last month.

The Reit has another four projects under way, which are expected to generate about 2.7 MW of renewable-energy. It is also establishing solar farms at the Kolonnade shopping centre, in Pretoria, and at its office property at 33 Bree and De Waterkant, in Cape Town.

Further, Growthpoint has completed the installation of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels with the capacity to generate more than 3.2 MW at seven of its office, retail and industrial properties at its landmark assets, including Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront, Constantia Village, Bayside Mall and Airport Industria, in the Western Cape.

The company’s InfoTech building, in Pretoria, Waterfall Mall, in Rustenburg, and the Lincoln on the Lake office building, in Umhlanga, also benefit from solar-power- generating installations.

The Reit has also identified more than 70 buildings across its portfolio for possible future solar PV installations.

Growthpoint office sector divisional direc- tor Rudolf Pienaar noted that the solar farms were one way through which the company could create a more sustainable built environ- ment for South Africa.

They also deliver on the company’s commitment to sustainability, energy efficiency and green building, made on Buildings Day at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as the Conference of the Parties, which took place in Paris, France, in December.

Pienaar added that the Reit was com- mitted to increasing solar energy genera- tion, making all its 185 office buildings energy and water efficient, and ensuring all its long-term office investments and new developments were certified green buildings.

Growthpoint, a platinum founding member of the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA), either owns or co-owns the largest portfolio of certified green buildings of any company in South Africa.

While one of its goals is to develop office buildings that will achieve at least a 4-Star Green Star SA rating from the GBCSA, it has broadened its focus to include the green performance of all office buildings in its portfolio.

Growthpoint has committed to all its office investments being above the GBCSA Energy and Water Performance Rating Tool benchmark by 2020.

The company owned and managed a diversified portfolio of 474 properties in South Africa, 57 properties in Australia, through its investment in Growthpoint Properties Australia, and a 50% interest in the properties at the V&A Waterfront, in Cape Town.

The company’s consolidated property assets are valued at more than R110-billion. A R4.2-billion acquisition and development pipeline is driving its immediate growth, in addition to a strategy to invest in commercial real estate in certain other African countries, thereby creating a new growth area.

Growthpoint has been included in the FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment Index for seven consecutive years.