Seeking the silver lining in the power crisis, the commercial and industrial property sector, unified by the South African Property Owners Association (Sapoa), has affirmed that power outages "might just provide the push needed for South African businesses to accelerate their green initiatives and catalyse more effective energy management to South Africa".

"Energy management is certainly not a trend that is unique to South Africa, but a very real part of the drive towards green building world-wide," said Sapoa president Marna van der Walt.

Having relied on cheap electricity for so long, South Africa was in fact one of the most inefficient users of electricity, and the retrofitting of existing inefficient buildings could significantly lower demand for electricity.

"Many businesses are realising that back-up generators are simply not a sustainable solution in the longer-term. Apart from the capital outlay, they cost double the Eskom rate to run. We need to find viable, alternative sources of renewable energy - as is being done in Europe and North America - such as solar or wind energy," explained Van der Walt.

Sapoa CEO Neil Gopal added that the organisation was interacting with Eskom and the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME).

"We are working on scheduling workshops with the department to pool our knowledge and ideas. Developers and architects need to understand that the world has moved to more energy efficient design criteria. We need to capitalise on this, and that's one of the reasons we established the Green Buildings Council of South Africa (GBCSA) last year. We need to start thinking more innovatively," he stated.

Green buildings are designed, built, and operated with the climate and environment firmly in mind. They are energy efficient - cutting costs and carbon emissions, and save on water usage, among other benefits.

The recently established GBCSA was focused on finalising a green buildings rating tool for the sector, which could adequately assess green buildings in South Africa. "Our objective is to have a pilot rating system in place during the first half of 2008," GBCSA CEO Nicola Douglas told Engineering News Online in an earlier interview.

Van der Walt also urged industry leaders to read the DME's White Paper on Renewable Energy to understand alternative sources of sustainable energy - and more efficient approaches to energy management.

Further upsides to power crisis for property sector

Analysts have pointed out that the tightening supply that could result from a slowdown in development might even provide a welcome boost for South African property returns.

"We may see a correction to more realistic prices. And with softer prices and a weakening exchange rate, properties will again start to look very appealing for foreign buyers," said Van der Walt.

"In a market that is correcting itself, there are always opportunities and that is how we plan to go forward - to face those challenges - that will make the difference," she concluded.