Real estate investment trust Growthpoint Properties is the sponsor of a new Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA) rating tool – the pilot Green Star Existing Building Performance (EBP) rating tool for existing industrial buildings.

The EBP tool is a first for the industry and the country and has the potential to radically improve sustainability in the industrial property sector.

The pilot industrial EBP tool is being launched a decade after the GBCSA’s well-recognised and adopted Office EBP rating tool, which Growthpoint also sponsored.

Green rating tools are proven to have a direct impact on increasing the number of certified new and existing green buildings and delivering positive environmental impacts for the country, especially considering that there are no government regulations requiring green building certification in South Africa, and that it is voluntary.

Development of the new tool started after three years of preliminary work in light of the complexity that characterises the industrial property sector.

In a statement on November 8, Growthpoint explained that industrial properties often have a single tenant whose operations significantly impact how their buildings function.

This can vary widely from heavy manufacturing to high-tech pharmaceutical and logistics warehousing to showrooms and the tool can be used by businesses from massive multinationals to small local operators.

The tool’s application to existing buildings makes it particularly high-impact – for each new development, there are thousands of existing ones.

“Growthpoint is proud to partner with the GBCSA and the property sector once again in creating this valuable green building certification tool. As a founding member of the GBCSA, Growthpoint is a committed advocate for a more sustainable built environment.

"We believe this tool will add tremendous value for industrial properties,” says Growthpoint sustainability and utilities head Grahame Cruickshanks.

Certification criteria for the new rating tool will include energy, water and waste efficiency. Greenhouse-gas emissions will play a key role in linking climate change to green building certification, which adopts a holistic approach that includes indoor environmental quality, building management criteria for industrial building operations and innovative solutions. 

Growthpoint is also contributing datasets from its portfolio of industrial buildings for the process of establishing a baseline performance for the tool, which is currently under way.

Cruickshanks says Growthpoint continues to receive demand from tenants for cost-optimised, green space that supports their own carbon neutral targets.

The new tool is considered a benchmarking tool that supports its asset management team in improving and optimising industrial properties. Added to that, typical industrial buildings are well suited for rooftop solar photovoltaic installations, and this new industrial rating tool “points to the buildings where this can be done for the biggest impacts”.

Additionally, Growthpoint industrial asset management head Errol Taylor notes that there is growing demand from tenants, especially international businesses, for green buildings with a net-zero carbon impact.

“We work closely with them to achieve their environmental objectives, and the new GBCSA Industrial EBP tool will certainly support Growthpoint and our tenants in demonstrating our commitment to sustainability,” he remarks.

Growthpoint has, so far, registered five of its industrial buildings for Green Star EBP certification, a process that should be completed by end-2022.

“Once certified, our intention is to offer a portfolio of industrial buildings that meet best practice benchmarks across a range of categories. Clients can be assured that their facilities are compliant, sustainable, and efficient,” Taylor concluded.