In our webinar event, we explore the downward cost-trends of a maturing green industry and discuss with leading industry experts what these trends truly mean for how we think about certification as good for business, as well as planet and people.
For World Green Building Week 2025, GBCSA is hosting an online event to launch the 4th Edition of the internationally acclaimed research study: Green Building South Africa: A Guide to Costs and Trends.
Since 2014, the GBCSA has partnered with the Association of South African Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS) and the Department of Construction Economics at the University of Pretoria (UP). This has produced Southern Africa’s definitive study on the cost of green-certified buildings, using empirical building costing data to understand how little going green truly costs, and the ways in which the market for sustainable properties is changing.
This year, for the first time, these costs are connected to the investment performance of certified buildings delivering a clear ‘Green Building Business Case’.
Lisa Reynolds, CEO of GBCSA says they are excited to share the findings of the study, answering the question: “What is the real cost of green?” and making the strongest business case to date for building sustainably.
She says: “Property owners need to understand that certification isn’t the end goal. It’s how you prove that a building is actually performing in practice and on paper. It gives owners, investors, and tenants confidence that a building will deliver environmental and financial value over time.”
About the report: Green Building in South Africa: A Guide to Costs & Trends
The 4th edition of Green Building in South Africa: A Guide to Costs & Trends builds on prior research and begins to explore the data around green investment returns as well as green costs. This impressive partnership spanning almost 10 years, continues the collaboration between GBCSA, ASAQS, and UP, and is now generously supported by data from the MSCI South Africa Green Annual Property Index. It expands on the subject matter of previous editions to bring both green cost and green returns together into the flagship Business Case for Green Buildings.
The report is based on empirical costing data from 199 Green Star certified office buildings, that has been analysed to distil the specific green cost from each project’s overall spending. The projects studied cover a range of certification levels, project sizes, and project locations. The result is that the 4th edition of Green Building in South Africa: A guide to costs and trends provides the best set of information on the green building business case currently available.
Read the full report here.
Watch the webinar recording below.
About the webinar recording
The report launch event was recorded live as a webinar on Wednesday, 10th September, 2025. Dr Danie Hoffman, Lead Researcher, Department of Construction Economics at the University of Pretoria, presented the findings of the 4th Edition, setting the scene for our panel of experts to unpack the trends in the green construction cost premium, and what that means for a green building business case.
The session concluded with an expert line-up of panellists:
- Julie Emmrich, Sustainable Finance Lead, World Green Building Council
- Eileen Andrew, Vice President, MSCI SA
- Georgina Smit, Head of Technical and Executive Director, GBCSA
The event was facilitated by Anelisa Keke, Sustainability Consultant.
More about the report: Green Building in South Africa: A Guide to Costs & Trends
The report is produced in collaboration with Dr Danie Hoffman, and Karl Trusler of ASAQS. By using the bills of quantities for the certified buildings, the study produces robust and useful results for the industry that clearly demonstrate a reduction in cost premiums as efficient technologies come down in price and are more widely adopted. Now in its fourth iteration, the study remains a touchpoint for local decision-makers around sustainability spending and has achieved international acclaim from the Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors.
The research continues to be conducted as a joint venture between the Association of South African Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS) and the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA), supported by the University of Pretoria (UP), and MSCI.