V&A Waterfront shopping centre achieves five-star green rating

5th August 2019 By: Simone Liedtke - Creamer Media Social Media Editor & Senior Writer

V&A Waterfront shopping centre achieves five-star green rating

The V&A Waterfront’s waste management and recycling practices have earned the property a five-star Green Buildings Council of South Africa (GBCSA) Green Star Existing Building Performance (EBP) v1 certification for its Victoria Wharf shopping centre.

This is the highest rating for any existing shopping centre in South Africa.

The shopping centre, which attracts almost 24-million visitors a year, previously achieved a four-star EBP award in 2015. To attain the new five-star rating, it had to demonstrate that its operations and maintenance consistently achieved the same high standard over a three-year period.

Energy and water monitoring, as well as management policies and plans are required to achieve the five-star rating. The EBP measurement tool also addresses the relationship between landlord and tenants, setting up a “win-win situation”.

V&A Waterfront operations manager Petro Myburgh says the centre has done a lot to lower its water consumption since 2015.

“We have further improved our waste management systems and implemented a Wildlife Management Programme. With the four-star rating, we committed to implementing the Green Lease toolkit and we now have just below a quarter of our tenants signed. This is quite an achievement given the size and complexity of the area,” she highlights.

The future focus for waste and recycling initiatives at the V&A Waterfront includes an “intensified separation at source” campaign to further improve organic waste diversion and investigating further on-site solutions towards zero waste to landfill in the future.

In addition to the Victoria Wharf shopping centre’s five-star rating, the V&A Waterfront has amassed a total of 12 GBCSA awards, making it one of the greenest precincts in the country.

The V&A Waterfront has also recently retained its platinum status through the Heritage Environmental Rating Programme.