Three more office developments certified under Green Star SA

The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) certified three new green office developments under the Green Star South Africa (SA) rating system in September, bringing the number of certified ratings in the country up to nine.

The three latest buildings to achieve their Green Star SA ratings were Aurecon’s Tshwane offices in the Lynnwood Bridge Office Park, which received a four-star Green Star SA - Office Design rating; 24 Richefond Circle, in the Ridgeside Office Park in Umhlanga, which received a four-star Green Star SA - Office As-Built rating; and Nedbank’s Menlyn Maine Falcon Building in Tshwane, which got a four-star Green Star SA - Office Design rating.

A single building can receive two ratings – one for the design and an ‘as-built’ rating, which can only be conferred once construction is complete, and specified targets have been met.

For 24 Richefond Circle, this was the second rating, after having achieved a four-star office design rating in late 2010.

Aurecon’s Tshwane office was the company’s second office to achieve a rating, with Aurecon’s Cape Town office at Century City, having received the first ever five-star rating in South Africa.

The Nedbank Falcon Building in Tshwane is also the third Nedbank building in South Africa to achieve a rating.

“These buildings set the standard for commercial green buildings and there are many more in the pipeline which have submitted applications for certification under the Green Star SA system,” said GBCSA CEO Brian Wilkinson.

Other rated developments were Nedbank’s Ridgeside office development in Umhlanga Rocks (office design); the Villa Mall in Pretoria (retail centre design); Nedbank Phase 2 in Johannesburg (office design and as-built); and Aurecon’s Century City Office in Cape Town (office design).

“It is a significant task for developers to put together a submission – something not done lightly – and the fact that we are seeing such an increase in certified buildings as well as so many submissions coming in, shows that the local property industry is embracing global best practices in green building and following in the footsteps of international trends,” added Wilkinson.