Efficacy of integrated green design strategies in meeting green building criteria: A South Africa Study

Abstract

Two studies were done by the CSIR on proposed private developments with the objective of determining the benefits, if any, of applying an integrated green-based design approach to maximise the rating for a green building using the South African Green Star Office Design v1 9GBCSA 2008 rating tool. The first study was performed on a proposed new building in Groenkloof in Pretoria, while the second study was performed on a proposed new office building in Lynnwood Pretoria. Both buildings are offices located on the fringes of a residential area, comprise floors totalling less that 5000 square meters, and have basement and external parking. The Groenkloof building has fully utilised developable footprint while the Lynwood building has utilised only 50% due to it being located on a larger land portion. The design and layout of both buildings represent typical office building development in South Africa. In the case of the Groenkloof building the design of the building was substantially complete, base drawings had been submitted to the Local Authority for building approval, and civil works had already commenced on the site by the time the Green Star SA Office Design v1(GBCSA 2008) assessment study commenced. On the Lynnwood building the client put out a tender for architectural submissions based on price, competence and a Statement of Intent with regard to the 'greening' of the project and invited the CSIR to assist in evaluation the submissions. A similar call was made to mechanical and electrical professional services. The Green Star SA Office v1 (GBCSA 2008) rating tool was applied to both projects after a full round of consultation with the full professional team and the client. In the case of the first study only minor design amendments could be made while in the case of the second study a green design workshop was held based on preliminary concept drawings. In the second study considerable design development was possible across the range of professional disciplines.