The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) said on Friday that South Africa now boasted 50 certified green buildings – as the nation embraced a greener future.

The built environment globally was responsible for one-third of all carbon emissions, said GBCSA CEO Brian Wilkinson, adding that a “shift in focus” to green building should be a priority for all, including government, developers and citizens.

However, he pointed out in a statement that 51% of South Africa’s firms expected to be building green by 2015, as South Africa’s tenants demanded the healthier and more productive indoor environment provided by green buildings and developers recognised that green buildings were “future-proofed” and could fetch lease premiums and retain tenants for longer than conventional buildings.

“They also reduce the consumption of energy and other resources, which is becoming more and more important,” Wilkinson added.

The financial sector had also acknowledged that investing in green buildings could produce “measureable financial value”, such as increased rental rates and asset value, reduced risk of depreciation and higher tenant attraction and retention rates.

“The support has been widespread but of most significance is the take-up of Green Star South Africa (SA) by government bodies and big businesses from banks and property developers,” Wilkinson noted.

GBCSA’s Green Star SA was a voluntary certification system rating potential buildings using a sliding scale, from the six-star Green Star SA certification, which indicated ‘world leadership’, to the five-star Green Star SA certification, showing ‘South African excellence’ and the four-star Green Star SA certification, revealing ‘best practice’.

Wilkinson said, currently, there were nine government buildings certified, including the four-star South African National Roads Agency corporate head office, in Pretoria, Gauteng, the five-star Sisonke district offices, in Ixopo, KwaZulu-Natal, and the four-star Government Communications and Information Services head office, in Pretoria.

A government building, the Department of Environmental Affairs head office, in Pretoria, was also one of the only three six-star buildings to be certified, to date, in South Africa.

“As the largest owner and operator of property,  government plays an influential leadership role in accelerating sustainability in the built environment and it is very exciting to see this impressive line-up of Green Star SA-rated buildings which clearly indicate government's buy-in to green building practises,” Wilkinson said.

Organisations within the financial sector were also embracing green buildings.

Nedbank had positioned itself as a leader in the green building movement with three buildings having received a total of five Green Star SA ratings to date.

The Nedbank Menlyn Maine Falcon Building, in the Menlyn Maine Precinct, in Pretoria, achieved a four-star Green Star SA Design rating and a five-star Green Star SA As Built rating, the Nedbank Ridgeside Office Development, in Umhlanga Rocks, in KwaZulu-Natal, achieved a four-star Green Star SA rating, while the Nedbank Phase II building, in Johannesburg, Gauteng, achieved a four-star Green Star SA Design rating and a four-star Green Star SA As Built rating.

“Among the other groundbreaking buildings to have achieved Green Star SA ratings within the banking sector are the Portside Building, situated in Cape Town’s Foreshore, which achieved a five-star Green Star SA rating and is a joint initiative between Old Mutual and Firstrand Bank, as well as Standard Bank’s office development in Rosebank which achieved a five-star Green Star SA rating,” Wilkinson said.

Several commercial property developers’ buildings have also achieved Green Star SA status, including Shepstone & Wylie’s four-star Green Star SA office, in the Ridgeside Office Park, in Umhlanga, and Group Five’s head office in the Atterbury Property-owned Waterfall Business Estate, in Johannesburg.

Growthpoint Properties had two four-star Green Star SA-certified developments, namely Lincoln on the Lake and Mayfair on the Lake, in KwaZulu-Natal.

“We are absolutely thrilled by the uptake of green building in South Africa. In the past few months, the number of buildings that have been certified, or which have applied for certification, has increased exponentially – with 20 buildings being certified in 2013 alone,” Wilkinson said.

GBCSA was confident of a continuing “upward spike” as increased market demand and financial rewards, coupled with mounting government regulations and shareholder pressures, provided multiple incentives to own and occupy high-performance green buildings.