Menlyn Maine, a huge mixed-use property development near the Menlyn shopping centre, is to pay for a new rating tool for mixed-used developments for the Green Building Council of South Africa. There are already rating tools for commercial office blocks and retail centres.
The developers, Menlyn Maine Investment Holdings, say that by co-sponsoring the development of this rating tool they are demonstrating “a clear commitment to green building practices in South Africa.”
Using figures from a 2006 study by the United Nations Environment Programme, Menlyn Maine’s developers say that the residential building sector consumed 17% of all electrical energy generated by Eskom and at a level equivalent to the mining sector.
“The residential building sector was responsible for the direct and indirect emission of 45-million tons of carbon dioxide into the South African atmosphere and represents 13% of South Africa’s total emissions of 347-million tons of carbon dioxide in that year,” says Justin Bowen, project developer of the new centre.
He claims that Menlyn Maine is pioneering the future and is aiming to achieve carbon neutrality with this development. “The new rating tool will help us to get a buy-in from prospective residential tenants as well as the industry itself,” he says.
The Green Star Mixed-Use Residential rating tool is based on the Green Building Council of Australia’s criteria that have been adapted for South Africa’s climatic, regulatory and commercial environments.
The system identifies key areas that have an impact on the environment and then assigns a score to the reduction of the impact that the building has on the areas. The key areas include:
- The natural environment
- Ecologically sustainable design
- Passive design strategies
- Orientation
- Building form
- Wind and ventilation
- Adaptability and flexibility of the design
The scores are then factored together to achieve a rating classified by four stars for best practice, five stars for South African excellence and six stars for World Leadership.
