While awareness of the need for greener buildings is undoubtedly rising in South Africa, our country still lags significantly behind the rest of the developed world in terms of the application of environmental considerations.
A key contributor to South Africa's poor position on the global green building achievement scale is the fact that the incorporation of environmentally sound building principles – whether to new construction projects or the retro-fitting of older buildings - remains largely a compliance-driven consideration in this country, rather than an environmental and economic sustainability imperative.
Changing this perception of green as a 'scorecard item' is a key requirement if we are to eventually achieve a truly 'green' built environment. Such a paradigm shift requires an understanding that so-called green buildings are not just reputational or environmental sustainability requirements, but also potentially significant contributors to long-term economic sustainability.
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