The green building movement is gaining ground in South Africa as developers and progressive businesses increasingly embrace sustainable building practices, according to report in eProp.

June produced a bumper crop of green building certifications with six new buildings receiving a Green Star SA rating from Green Building Council South Africa for a total of 36.

Among them is South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs. Its head office scored a six star green rating – the highest possible and a first for a South African government-owned building, the report said.

Hyundai’s new main office in Bedfordview received a four star rating, a first for a large motor corporation buying into sustainable practices in South Africa, the report said. The Hyundai building will accommodate 200 full-time employees.

Chevron South Africa’s 96,000-square-foot Chevron Project CORE building in Century City, Cape Town, achieved a five star green star design rating. This indicates a shift in mindset towards green business practices from one of the leading refiners and marketers of petroleum products in South Africa, according to eProp.

The Portside building, which achieved a five star green star SA Design rating, is a joint initiative between Old Mutual and FNB Bank and is set to become a landmark tower in the Foreshore area of Cape Town, the report said. The building has 32 floors, more than 550,000 square feet of office space and 13,000 square feet of retail and banking space.

The Lakeside Office Park in Centurion, which is a redevelopment of the Meerlus building, not only scored a four star SA design rating but also recently won the Innovative Excellence Award for Green and Industrial Property Development. Located opposite the Centurion Gautrain Station with easy access to the national roads network, the building has more than 53,000 square feet of rentable space for tenants seeking proximity to major transportation hubs. The building is the first of three to be developed in the Lakeside Office Park.

Nedbank Menlyn Maine Falcon Building scored a five star rating in a live-work-play neighborhood where the buildings and urban planning design strongly subscribe to environmentally sustainable principles. All buildings in the precinct will be required to achieve a minimum four star green star rating. This is the first project in Africa to be registered with the Clinton Climate Initiative, a stringent rating mechanism evaluating the carbon neutrality of a project, according to eProp.

“The Green Building Council South Africa is very encouraged to see this spike in the number of buildings achieving Green Star SA ratings,” said CEO Brian Wilkinson.  “We are confident that the green building movement in South Africa will continue this upward trajectory and that we will increasingly see green building practices becoming the norm. The industry is embracing this absolutely necessary shift towards sustainable practices and it is exciting to be part of this change.”