Abstract:
The South African green building industry is growing
towards maturity. Stakeholders need to observe,
document, and be informed about trends and
development of the industry. This article evaluates
whether application trends have emerged of often
achieved and seldom achieved Green Star SA
credits by all new office buildings that received
a Green Star SA rating between 2009 and 2015
in South Africa. Any observed trends are further
described by aspects such as the categories of the
Green Star SA tool and the Green Star SA rating
achieved. The article considers the data of 95 office
buildings, made available by the Green Building
Council of South Africa (GBCSA). A quantatitive
research approach is used to investigate the use
frequency of every credit in the Green Star SA tool
and to identify trends in credit use. The study finds
that 21 of the 67 credits are achieved on average
by >80% of the certified projects. Another 14 credits
have an average achievement rate of <20%. The
nine categories of the Green Star SA tool also varies
from average achievements of 84% for Water to only
19% for Innovation. The Green Star SA rating level
is also found to be positively correlated to often used
credits and negatively correlated to seldom used
credits. This article observes industry-wide trends with the potential to negatively affect the ability of green buildings to deliver the required
sustainability outcomes expected of them. This finding and the potential outcome thereof
need to be monitored and managed by stakeholders such as the GBCSA.
