Construction World May 2015

PROJECTS AND CONTRACTS

EXCITING INITIAL RESULTS FOR CAPE QUARTER The Cape Quarter now features a bank of highly efficient solar panels on its roof. This flagship property within the Tower Property Funds portfolio recently received an extensive PV solar system installation as part of the funds greening and occupancy cost reduction strategy.

A total of 702 solar panels have been installed on the roof of the Cape Quarter Square and so far initial results show that the installation is outperforming its expected cost savings – by 20%. The project, which was managed by Spire Property Management, took several months of research and due diligence before a contractor was selected who could effectively deliver on the required results. “Sola Future Energy were selected to conduct the Cape Quarter PV solar installation,” explains Simon Penso, head of sustainability for Spire. “Once the project was given the final green light it took only a month, from mid-November to mid-December, to complete the onsite installation of the panels.” “Sola Future Energy used specially manu- factured mounting structures and modular systems that allowed for this speedy installa- tion time. Sola have also given us an energy production guarantee on the predetermined amount of energy promised.” The Cape Quarter PV Solar installation is being monitored through a roof top weather >

station that feeds results through to an online portal that allows Spire Property Management to check how the system is performing at any time. Initial results indicate that the solar panels on the roof of the Cape Quarter will allow for an electricity saving of approximately R400 000 per annum. “These figures mean that the solar installation will pay for itself within eight years,” says Penso. The lifespan of the system is 25 years. Marc Edwards, CEO of the Tower Property Fund explains that the Cape Quarter has also undergone lighting and other retrofits which will save the centre an impressive R1-million per annum in energy costs for the property. According to Edwards, there are additional exciting plans on the cards for even greater future energy savings at the Cape Quarter. “Recent global research has shown that green buildings outperform normal buildings significantly – on average achieving rental premiums of 6%, capital value improvement of 12%, while reducing operating costs by

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30%. Tower has set a clear strategy of occupancy cost reduction across the board for all the buildings within the fund’s portfolio, with a strong focus on ‘greening’, and as the funds flagship building we rolled out this solar retrofit at Cape Quarter first, but this will soon be followed by similar initiatives in other properties within the portfolio,” says Edwards.

CONSTRUCTION WORLD MAY 2015