Abstract:
PURPOSE : Greening the existing stock of non-green office buildings in
South Africa is a significant challenge faced by the local green
industry. This study evaluated the opinions of tenants of nongreen
office buildings in Gauteng, South Africa on renting green
office space in existing office buildings.
METHODOLOGY : This report builds on a previous study by Hoffman & Pedregal1 on
the opinions and believes of Gauteng office tenants on converting
existing office buildings into Green Star SA certified buildings.
Data was acquired with a Likert-scale based questionnaire
completed by 32 randomly selected commercial office tenants
from A-rated office buildings in Sandton, Rosebank and
Centurion.
FINDINGS : The study indicated that 81% of office tenants support knowledge
about environmental sustainability but only 50% have green
building strategies and only 22% are considering renting space
in a converted Green Star SA certified office building soon. Small
firms and recently established firms were much less supportive
of green building practices.
LIMITATIONS : A larger, more representative follow-up study is necessary to
provide industry stakeholders with more authoritative findings. More specific information is required on what will persuade
tenants to actively pursue green office space.
VALUE : This study described the views of commercial office tenants
regarding renting green office space offered in existing office
buildings. Evidence was provided that supplying focussed
information and education to office tenants may be an efficient
way to stimulate demand for green office space
