Gauteng Business 2016 edition

OVERVIEW
will feed a new MTN generation
plant as well as other customers in
Lakeview and Constantia.
Green building
Increasingly, new building developments
aim to become more
environmentally friendly in order
to comply with new legislation,
reduce costs and ensure the sustainability
of buildings in a time of
diminishing resources. According
to the Green Building Council of
South Africa (GBCSA), a green
building is a building which is ‘energy
efficient, resource efficient
and environmentally responsible’
– it incorporates design, construction
and operational practices.
According to the MasterCard
Insights Report on Urbanisation
and Environmental Challenges,
Johannesburg ranked second
among countries from Asia/
Pacific, Middle East and Africa in
dealing with urbanisation and
environmental challenges. One
example of a newly erected envi-
ronmentally friendly building in Gauteng is the Nedbank head office
in Sandton. This is the first building in South Africa to win a four-star
rating from the Green Building Council of South Africa.
The rating encompasses key elements such as energy-efficient
lighting, an excellent waste recycling system and a full- economy airconditioning
system. Altogether the building is set to use 30 percent
less energy than a conventional building. Another ‘green’ building is
Absa’s huge new office complex in downtown Johannesburg — Absa
Towers West. The building has incorporated green design elements
including the largest grey-water system ever installed in South Africa
with a capacity of 43 000 litres of water per day.
In terms of national support, the Industrial Development Corporation
has pledged to spend R25-billion on the green economy in the five
years to 2016, with a major focus on solar panels, technology to extract
carbon from the smoke emitted by power stations, and other technologies.
Furthermore, the National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC-SA),
which is funded through the National Treasury and hosted by the CSIR,
aims to boost the competitiveness and productive capacity of industry
in South Africa through cleaner production methods.
Investment opportunities
• Development of environmentally friendly infrastructure.
• R&D into more efficient environmentally friendly practices and
technology.
• Establishment of appropriate waste management and waste
disposal.
• Production of fertilisers from chemical waste.
• Recycling (bottles, tyres, etc).
97 GAUTENG BUSINESS 2016