06 December 2010

Green Star rating tool for multi-unit residential buildings

The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) is calling on multi-unit residential property developers to put forward projects for the new Green Star SA – Multi Unit Residential Pilot rating tool.

 

Expanding its suite of green building rating tools, the GBCSA is set to release the pilot version of the Green Star SA Multi Unit Residential rating tool on 10 December – inviting public comment and feedback. Applications for pilot projects proposed for the programme must be forwarded to the GBCSA by close of business on 31 December 2010. A maximum of four projects will be selected for the pilot programme.

 

Property developers participating could be the first to achieve Green Star SA certification in terms of the new pilot rating tool and they would be recognised as industry leaders – ‘walking the talk’ on sustainable development.

 

In addition, for the selected pilot projects, the GBCSA is offering significant cost savings on GBCSA certification fees as well as assistance from its technical department with unlimited technical clarifications (TCs) and credit interpretation requests (CIRs). The pilot projects would also gain valuable marketing exposure in the Green Star SA Multi Unit Residential Technical Manual and at the 2011 GBCSA Convention and Exhibition.

 

Further details on the eligibility requirements for pilot projects, the desired project design team attributes and the desired pilot project programme are available from the GBCSA.

 

It is anticipated that the finalised Version 1 of the Green Star SA - Multi Unit Residential rating tool will be released during the fourth quarter of 2011.

Like the existing Green Star SA - Office v1 and Green Star SA - Retail Centre v1 rating tools, the Green Star SA - Multi Unit Residential pilot rating tool will serve to assess the environmental attributes of new multi-unit residential developments as well as major refurbishments of existing multi-unit residential developments or conversions across South Africa. The tool assigns a Green Star SA rating to the accommodation units, common property and shared services and infrastructure on the basis of design potential.

For the purposes of Green Star SA, multi-unit residential developments are considered as residential developments that include three or more dwelling units, have common property, shared services and infrastructure serving all dwellings, and are run by a governance scheme or management entity – such as a body corporate, home owners association, or management operator.

Associate sponsors of the development of the Green Star SA - Multi Unit Residential pilot tool are Menlyn Maine and the Clay Brick Association.