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In a milestone achievement, Waterfall City’s Nexus 1 building in Gauteng has become South Africa’s first dual-certified development in the sustainable building arena. Development partner and real-estate investment trust Attacq collaborated with Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) to achieve – through the Green Building Council South Africa – an Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE) certification for the commercial building, further augmenting its 5-Star Green Star rating (see +Impact issue 24 for more).
Introduced by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in 2014, EDGE empowers developers to assess environmental impact and make informed design decisions, globally championing green building practices.
The 7 363m2 Nexus 1 building was Attacq’s first Net-Zero Carbon Level 1 development, which now also meets a global benchmark set by the IFC, achieving an 88% on-site energy saving.
Head of Sustainability at Attacq, Lourens du Toit, says that the Group’s focus on environmental sustainability is at the core of its business strategy:
“Attacq doesn’t see the implementation of a sustainability strategy as ancillary to its business. Rather, we incorporate best practices and principles into our decision-making processes. This certification in particular underscores our steadfast commitment to environmental responsibility, potentially setting a new standard for green building practices in South Africa and beyond.”
Apart from partnering with a developer, the bank took on the role of EDGE expert in the green building certification – a first in the banking industry. Nedbank CIB Property Finance’s involvement dates back to 2021, when it partnered with the IFC to issue a R1-billion green residential development bond, emphasising its commitment to EDGE-certified residential developments – particularly those focused on affordable housing.
Genevieve Naidoo, Divisional Executive for Property Finance Project Management, Valuations, and Sustainability at Nedbank CIB, applauded Attacq’s collaborative approach as a catalyst in the project’s success:
“We are proud to have worked with the Attacq team on the certification of their Nexus 1 building. Nedbank CIB shares Attacq’s vision to promote green building practices and contribute to sustainable development by encouraging environmental sustainability and resource-efficient construction, and our collaboration with Attacq demonstrates our commitment to fostering environmentally responsible practices in the real estate sector.” www.attacq.co.za; https://cib.nedbank.co.za/home.html
Despite the availability of traditional energy management courses, a critical skills shortage persists in specialised utility management education. To help bridge this gap, utility network manager Remote Metering Solutions (RMS) has initiated a 12-month experiential learning programme that emphasises the regulatory, pricing and financial aspects of utility management.
The RMS Talent Factory is designed to empower young professionals with practical, hands-on experience, equipping them with the requisite skills to work effectively in the rapidly evolving utility management industry.
As global and domestic forces push towards a low-carbon economy, RMS clients are increasingly investing in decarbonisation. “The shifting landscape presents intricate challenges. Utility management service providers are now tasked with navigating these complexities, assisting clients in optimising their utility management activities for financial and environmental sustainability. We believe that our Talent Factory graduates will become highly sought after talent in the utility management sector, ready for deployment at future employers,” says RMS CEO, Chris van der Walt.
To source the most suitable candidates for its Talent Factory, RMS partnered with Graduate World Connect NPC, a company that specialises in incubating and developing young talent. www.remotemetering.net
TRANSFORMING TOMORROW, TOGETHER
The world’s leading green building certification bodies – UK-based Building Research Establishment (BRE), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) – have formed an alliance to create global cohesion in green building standards. This landmark effort bridges the gap between green buildings and the environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting requirements of the finance sector, unlocking sustainable finance at a global scale.
The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) works in partnership with GBCA, which means that the alliance will have a positive impact on sustainable finance and the built environment in South Africa too.
Green building verification and certification schemes play a critical role in supporting ESG reporting. Together, the alliance’s three rating systems – namely Green Star, BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) – help many thousands of buildings and projects push to achieve net zero, ESG and sustainable development goals (SDGs) worldwide. By aligning these systems, investors and stakeholders can have confidence that green buildings fit seamlessly into their ESG reporting processes, reducing climate risks and driving impactful change.
“The Green Building Council of Australia was established in 2002 with the support of BRE and USGBC, so there has always been a long-term global partnership,” explains GBCA CEO Davina Rooney. “Finance is a global language and it’s important that we join the dots to direct more finance to this critically important area.”
The alliance is formed against the backdrop of the global climate crisis. The United Nations’ Global Stocktake report last year sounded the alarm, indicating that the world is not on track to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement. Even if all countries fulfil their current commitments, the UN predicts a rise in global temperatures of 2.5 to 2.9°C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century, exceeding the safe limits established by scientists.
One of the key aims of the alliance is to establish an internationally assured definition of a green building, addressing the challenge of inconsistent green building definitions and the risk of “greenwashing”. Currently, the three existing globally recognised tools share common frameworks and objectives but, for those who aren’t green building experts, their alignment and commonality is not clear.
GBCSA CEO, Lisa Reynolds explains: “The three organisations of the alliance have already put in all the groundwork to create robust, reliable green building certification tools, so it makes sense that we work together and take the lead in guiding the industry. It’s about collaboration, not competition. This alliance will enable a positive impact on sustainable finance globally, and at scale. In any country, if a building is rated with one of these tools, investors and stakeholders can have confidence in what this means for their ESG, and also know that risk is lowered.”
GBCSA Executive Director and Head of Technical, Georgina Smit, adds: “With GBCSA set to launch the new Green Star Transforming Tomorrow Version 2 Tool this year, we want the property and finance sectors to know that we have listened to the market. Our V2 tool will connect more easily into ESG reporting, meaning that it will directly support reporting needs as opposed to adding more work. This tool is credible, relevant and more streamlined than its predecessor.”
The first milestone for the global green alliance will be educating the industry with the creation of a practical guide to explore the sustainable finance instruments currently available to the real estate market, such as green loans and green bonds. The new guide will build on an initial document developed by GBCA and launched to the Australian market in 2023. The upcoming version is set to drive awareness of sustainable finance mechanisms among the real estate sector and demonstrate how rating systems like BREEAM, Green Star and LEED ensure compliance with ESG frameworks. It will be published at London Climate Action Week in June 2024. www.gbcsa.org.za
