What is a Green Building?
The World Green Building Council defines green building as follows:
A green building is a building that, in its design, construction, or operation reduces or eliminates negative impact and can create positive impacts on our climate and natural environment. They preserve precious natural resources and improve our quality of life.
In simple terms:
Green buildings are purposefully designed to benefit both the environment and the people who inhabit them. These structures prioritise energy efficiency, resource conservation, and the use of eco-friendly and sustainable materials. They are also commonly referred to as high-performance buildings because their design pursues excellence in various aspects, such as the building’s economic viability, functionality, longevity, resilience, and occupant comfort. A green building can be at any scale, from a high-performance high-rise to a sustainable single-family home.
Green buildings embody the principles of sustainable development, prioritising the present while safeguarding the future.
What makes a Green Building?
Green buildings connect building users to public and mass transport easily, and support walking, cycling, and other types of movement that don’t use fossil fuels, to reduce emissions from vehicle use.
Materials
Green materials used for green buildings are sourced as locally and ethically as possible, used and re-used efficiently and have low embodied carbon, while still performing excellently as construction components.
Water
Aims to reduce overall water used by a project, and make sure that different water needs are supplied by sensible sources, such as efficient re-use and rainwater harvesting for non-potable requirements. Reducing the use of potable water can be achieved through the design of efficient systems, rainwater collection and water reuse.
Innovation
Green Innovation writes the sustainability script of the future. This is about implementing new techniques and technologies, and reaching new heights of industry best-practice.
Indoor Environment
Quality (IEQ)
Encourage the well-being of the occupants through addressing heating, cooling, lighting and indoor air pollutants. They are a comfortable temperature, well-lit, with daylight where possible, and well ventilated.
Energy
Aims to reduce overall energy consumption from centralised energy generation, without decreasing building functionality. This results in reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
Socio-Economic
Greening is for everyone, and sustainable projects are ultimately projects that benefit people. The Socio-Economic lens for green building is about improving some element of the socio-economic conditions around, or in some way connected to a project.
Emissions
Green emissions control recognises that both new and existing buildings are responsible for significant contributions to climate change and pollution, through the greenhouse gases and other contaminants they release. Green emissions control seeks to reduce that contribution as much as possible, to do the least harm.
Land Use & Ecology
Promote initiatives that improve or reduce the building’s impact on ecological systems and biodiversity.
Management
Promotes the adoption of environmental principles from project inception, through design and construction, right through to the ongoing operation of the building. This also applies to the users and how they interact with the building.
Transport
Connects building users to public and mass transport easily, and supports walking, cycling and other types of movement that don’t use fossil fuels, to reduce emissions from private vehicle use.
A green building is characterised by:
High energy efficiency
Green buildings are designed to minimise energy consumption by incorporating features like advanced insulation, and energy-efficient systems for lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. This not only reduces energy bills but also lessens the carbon footprint. Some include renewable energy sources like solar panels, further lowering their impact on the environment.
Efficient resource utilisation
These buildings make efficient use of resources, both during construction and operation. They often use recycled or locally sourced materials, reducing the environmental impact of production and transportation. Additionally, they may feature rainwater harvesting systems to reduce water consumption.
Commitment to environmental responsibility
Green buildings adhere to strict environmental standards aiming to reduce or eliminate harmful emissions, waste, and pollutants. They are mindful of their impact on natural systems and some even act as stewards of local habitats and species.
Integration of sustainable practices
A hallmark of green building is the seamless integration of sustainability practices throughout the building's life cycle. This encompasses design, construction, and operation. Sustainable design elements include natural lighting, passive heating and cooling systems, and green spaces that promote biodiversity.
Health and well-being
Green buildings are not only eco-friendly but also beneficial to the people who occupy them. They provide a healthier indoor environment by ensuring proper ventilation, reducing volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and enhancing thermal comfort. The resulting increase in well-being and productivity can have far-reaching positive effects.
A green building can be:
Any size
from an individual family home to an industrial warehouse
Any age
From a brand-new construction to a structure built a century ago
Any typology
GBCSA hosts green building rating tools for residential, commercial, and a range of other building typologies
Anywhere
from remote education centres deep in the bush to skyscrapers in the centre of bustling cities
Case Studies
Lapala Wilderness Education Centre
Jewel City
Simple and cost-effective to build
Contrary to popular belief, and backed by the Cost of Green Research Report, green buildings are simple and cost-efficient to build.
Different Shades of Green:
Are all green projects the same?
The difference between Net Zero, green buildings, and Green-certified buildings
Green can mean many different things in different spaces and to different speakers – a good example is the concept of Net Zero buildings, which is sometimes used interchangeably with green buildings.
A Net Zero building is, by definition, green but it is also something more. Net Zero simply means that when the resources used by a building are subtracted from the resources created by a building, the answer to the sum is zero. This means that a building can generate or harvest all the resources of a particular type (say energy or water) that it needs to function.
Net Zero buildings are by definition green, but a green building isn’t guaranteed to be Net Zero. This can generate some confusion in the dialogue about green buildings, and what we mean when we use that term. Certification under a green building rating tool or system can bring some clarity.
Green building rating tools are very specific and are checked and endorsed by an industry authority. We can be confident that if a building is certified for a specific rating, we know exactly how green that building is, and in what ways that building is green.
One example of a Green Building Rating Tool is Green Star.
What is Green Star South Africa?
Green Star has been developed by GBCSA to cover a wider variety of South African buildings, and South African ways of greening those buildings, and allows us to know with confidence what green means for each building certified with this collection of tools.
Green Star is South Africa’s trusted mark of quality for the design, construction and operation of sustainable buildings, fit-outs and communities.
