Sustainable design is a ‘green’ light for long-term cost-savings.
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 Preview | Alexander Forbes 115 West Street, Sandton has 4 Star Green Star SA Office v1 Design and As-Built certifications. | 137.6 KB | Download |
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Tenants are now demanding that buildings are either Green Star rated, or at least designed according to sustainable design principles. “We are moving from a period of ‘nice-to-have’ to ‘non-negotiable’ sustainable design,” Paragon Media Manager Hugh Fraser comments. “Fortunately, this mindset is changing fairly quickly.”
South Africa shares the Green Star rating tool with Australia and New Zealand, while a few other African countries use it as well. This is one of a number of tools used globally, including US-based LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), and UK-based BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method).
However, these operate in the same basic way, namely attaching points for sustainable design, construction, and performance. Essentially both these systems seek to standardise the evaluation of buildings for more accurate assessments. “In future it is hoped that ‘green-rated’ buildings are not designed simply to accumulate points, but rather because it is the correct thing to do,” Fraser predicts.
There are a number of design interventions that can be made early on with minimal cost that will have immediate benefits. These include motion detectors on lights, LED lighting, improved waster recovery, and recycled grey water consumption, either through rainwater recovery or showers, basins, and sinks.
However, Fraser cautions that ‘green’ design can be “a law of diminishing return as one approaches high-cost benefits for perhaps a reduced recovery, as for example with high-performance glazing. Every aspect requires input from a specialised designer.”
Another factor that clients need to consider is that a ‘green’ rating, in fact, increases a building’s value. “Certainly, a Green Star rated building, or at least a sustainably-designed building, would increase its value, because running costs are likely to be lower. It is more difficult to convince a client to covert from 4 Green Star to 6 Green Star, but fortunately there are enlightened clients out there,” Fraser points out.
With regard to retrofitting or refurbishing existing buildings in order for them to be sustainable, this poses a particular challenge due to some elements being integral to the actual construction, such as floor and wall insulation. However, lighting can be changed to LED with monitors, water can be harvested, and waste can be better channelled. Glass can be changed to coated or double-glazed, so there are some practical changes that can be made.
Ends
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Notes to the Editor
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About Paragon
Paragon, established in October 1997, is an internationally-active design business, based in Johannesburg. We deliver commercial architecture, masterplanning, interior design, and space planning to visionary clients in all property sectors, from retail to residential and education.
We are committed to global urban development. We are able and agile. Paragon is flexible and diverse in its approach to design. Each project is unique and not driven by style, but by lifestyle and a response to user needs. Elegant and efficient planning form the core of our designs. We understand the needs of our clients, and know how to generate ever new architectural forms in a competitive property market.
We are known for hands-on engagement with all opportunities present in the modern global building industry. The true measure of our skill is our ability to engage at all levels and with all players that make up the colourful world of construction and property development. Our buildings look forward. We embrace the future, because we will be a part of it – part of its problems and responsibilities, and part of its great freedoms and achievements.
Media Contact
Renay Tandy
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Email: renay [at] ngage [dot] co [dot] za
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