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CONSTRUCTION WORLD
JULY
2015
ENVIRONMENT
The eight buildings at Black River
Park office precinct in Observatory,
offering a combined 75 000 m
2
of
office space, have earned unpar-
alleled green building credentials. Besides
being the first full office park to have all
buildings Green Star SA rated, it is also home
to the first Green Star SA Existing Building
Performance (EBP) certified building and the
first buildings to receive a 6 Star Green Star
SA Existing Building Performance rating.
Brian Wilkinson, CEO of GBCSA,
comments: “This is a major achievement,
both for Black River Park and for GBCSA.
Certifying all eight of Black River Park’s
existing buildings is quite a feat, especially
for a precinct of this size. It is an exciting
example of outstanding sustainable innova-
tion, and confirms the vision of its manage-
ment team and their outstanding commit-
ment to sustainability.”
He adds: “We would like to see more
business parks following this leading
example. All the buildings at Black River Park
were certified using the EBP rating tool.
The EBP tool means that South Africa’s
many existing buildings in established office
parks can now be retrofitted with green
innovations and certified. This has huge
potential for positive impacts to our envi-
ronment, our businesses and our economy.”
Nedbank Corporate Property Finance spon-
sored the EBP tool.
Black River Park is home to more than
110 companies, including the GBCSA’s head
office and South African Property Owners
Association’s Western Cape offices. It is now
owned by JSE-listed Redefine Properties.
Redefine acquired the landmark green office
precinct as part of its Leaf Capital deal earlier
this year.
Redefine CEO, Andrew Konig, comments:
“The Black River Park complex has set itself
apart with pioneering green initiatives and
sustainable building management. We are
exceptionally pleased to acquire this prop-
erty, which perfectly supports our commit-
ment to sustainability.”
The Black River Park buildings received
maximum points on all credits targeted in
their Green Star SA submissions. Three build-
ings received a 6-Star Green Star SA rating,
three received 5-Star certifications and two
earned 4-Star ratings.
Sally Misplon of Misplon Green Building
Consulting, the Green Star Accredited Profes-
sional and principal participant in the green
project team, guided Black River Park right
from the very start in its certification project.
Some of the green initiatives under-
taken by the office precinct to secure its
ratings include:
• The largest roof-mounted photovoltaic
system in Southern Africa.
• Feeding electricity back into the grid.
• A high-performance green
cleaning programme.
• 68% of the tenants in the office park
signed a Green Lease. These leases
encourages collaboration and govern
the relationship between the building
owner and the tenant to manage
and operate the building along
environmentally sustainable principles,
to the benefit of both.
• For comfort and well-being, the building
features performance glass and balcony
overhangs, to reduce heat and shield
harsh sunlight.
• All lights in common areas were replaced
with LEDs, with owners and tenants both
benefiting from cost savings achieved as a
result. A financing option was also offered
to tenants to enable them to retrofit to
LED in their own premises.
• Indoor air quality testing and
management.
• All 6 Star rated buildings stood out for
water and energy performance. They
outperformed the Green Star benchmarks
and achieved significant improvement on
their baselines.
• Sustainable management and
operations that optimise the buildings’
environmental performance.
• A green travel plan to encourage
alternative modes of transport to and
from work.
• Sustainable procurement and purchasing
practices. For every
product or consumable purchased by
Black River Park, the most sustainable
one is selected.
• All waste at the park is sorted into
recyclable and non-recyclable materials.
It also correctly disposes of fluorescent
tubing, batteries and e-waste. Garden
waste is recycled and reused as mulch.
• Ecological gardens, including a vegetable
garden and fruit orchard, are maintained
with borehole water pumped on site.
Perhaps some of the most exciting green
innovations at Black River Park are those
involving the park’s tenants. These include
holding a ‘cycle to work’ day, a clean-up of
the Liesbeeck River that runs past the park
and other activations with the precinct’s
tenant community. Numerous other pres-
entations and showcase tours are held for
First Green Star SA rated
OFFICE PRECINCT
Black River Park in Cape Town has become the first office precinct
in South Africa to receive Green Building Council of South Africa
(GBCSA) certified Green Star SA ratings for all its buildings.
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