What does the growth of green building in South Africa look like in practice? GBCSA’s 2025 Annual Report provides a useful snapshot – from the organisation’s financial and operational performance to the steady expansion of green building certification, its work in advocacy and education, and its increasingly important role in connecting sustainability with investment, resilience and market confidence.
For Georgina Smit, who started as CEO in May 2026, transitioning from the Head of Technical position, 2025 was a year of managing change while continuing to deliver the value members have come to expect after nearly two decades of progress.
The year also demonstrated continued demand for credible tools to measure and improve building performance. GBCSA awarded 220 certifications across Green Star, Net Zero and EDGE during 2025, an annual record for the organisation. The number of registered projects entering the future certification pipeline also increased significantly.
That growth has taken cumulative certification beyond 1 500 projects, across 12 countries in Africa. Since its first certification in 2009, GBCSA’s journey shows how substantially the green building movement has grown, and how certification has evolved from a relatively new concept into an established market tool.
The report also highlights the changing investment case for green buildings. Smit points to the MSCI South Africa Green Annual Property Index, together with updated research undertaken with the University of Pretoria on the cost of green building, as evidence that certified green buildings can be both “technically credible and commercially compelling”.
This connection between environmental performance and financial value is central to GBCSA’s next phase.
For Board Chair Phil Bartram, the organisation has moved “from survival to growth” and is now entering a stage where it can genuinely talk about scale. He describes a shift in investment thinking from a traditional two-dimensional model of risk and a return towards a “more nuanced, three-dimensional framework of risk, return, and impact” – with important implications for the built environment.
Scaling GBCSA’s impact will be a key priority over the next three to five years. Bartram notes that the organisation currently certifies around 200–300 buildings a year, but says that meaningful transformation will require this figure to continue to grow exponentially, supported by a stronger digital foundation and the ability to operate effectively in an environment increasingly shaped by AI.
Underlying this ambition is a strong emphasis on credibility and good governance. The report sets out GBCSA’s financial stability, governance structures and assurance processes, while reaffirming its position as a neutral, independent NPO funded by members and special-project funders. The financial statements were prepared in accordance with IFRS Accounting Standards, independently compiled and independently audited by Forvis Mazars.
Read the 2025 Annual Report to explore GBCSA’s performance, growth, impact and strategic direction – and to see how the organisation is preparing to take green building in South Africa into its next phase.
Download the report here