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Cape Town - Tenants are increasingly looking for green rental spaces, according to Nkuli Bogopa, president of the SA Institute of Black Property Practitioners (SAIBPP).
In her view this offers opportunities for SAIBPP to work together with the Green Building Council of SA (GBCSA), she said at an event hosted by the SAIBPP on Friday.
According to Brian Wilkinson, CEO of the Green Building Council of SA (GBCSA), South Africa can be seen as the gateway to green building in Africa. It is forecast by the World Green Building Council that SA could even be a leader in the global green building market in three years' time.
READ: SA's top green building achievements honoured
"There are hard core business reasons why green building makes sense. It costs less to operate and brings higher returns," Wilkinson said at the SAIBPP event. Green building can offer about 30% energy savings and water savings are just as impressive.
Research has also clearly shown that people working in green buildings are more productive.
He is excited about the increased interest expressed about green building in the property sector for so-called gap housing. Gap housing is affordable housing for people who typically earn between R3 500 and R15 000.
"Increasing green building in the residential sector in SA offers big opportunities," said Wilkinson. "Nedbank and Growthpoint were some of the early movers in this sector."
He emphasised that tenants look at the total cost of occupancy and not just rent.
"They are becoming more and more cost savvy. It is not just about designing and green building, but a question of running a green property properly too," he said.
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