Why Certify
Green Certification adds value to people, planet, and profitability of projects.
Discover how green certification can transform your project, adding value to people, the planet, and profitability. Whether it’s a fit-out, new building, precinct, or retrofit, certification is proof of rigorous technical assessment and meeting robust benchmarks.
GBCSA offers independent, trusted certification using Green Star, Net Zero, or EDGE systems, with over 1000 projects certified to date. Demystify the process and explore the benefits of green certification for developers, owners, corporates, and anyone eager to learn more about this impactful journey. Join us on one of the most successful tools dedicated to making sustainable development a reality.
Why certify your building?
Better health & well-being
Green certified projects must be designed to be healthy and comfortable spaces, aware of the community in and around them, and promote the wellbeing and productivity of their users.
Better resilience
Certified green projects use less vital resources like electricity and water, resulting in lower operating costs, and contributing their part to climate change mitigation in South Africa.
Better investments
Certified green buildings are an excellent addition to any portfolio, typically having lower vacancy rates and attracting and retaining quality tenants.
Certifying your project makes a difference
Certification by GBCSA means that a project has
- quantified and verified environmental performance
- undergone a rigorous technical assessment
- met robust benchmarks
- been certified by the leader in green building certification in South Africa
Any globally recognised green buildings rating certification brings many benefits to a project. GBCSA’s locally created and optimised tool, Green Star, is used below as an example to demonstrate some of these benefits.
Green Star means better outcomes for
Green Star puts you ahead in a changing world
Shrink your environmental footprint
Green buildings typically use less energy, water, and emit less carbon, amongst other environmental benefits.
Galvanise your team
Certification means better team alignment around clear sustainability goals, with a shared language and framework to ensure your team can achieve the best possible outcome.
Enhance asset financial value
Certification can play a key role in increasing rental value and reducing vacancy rates. The MSCI SA Green Annual Property Index tracks this annually. [ Link to MSCI report post]
Reduce operating costs
Green Star buildings use less vital resources like electricity and water, resulting in lower operating costs.
Meet reporting and ESG targets
More and more organisations are required to report on their ESG performance and climate-related risk, or to show how they are meeting their own carbon reduction goals. Certification provides data points that speak to these requirements.
Attract finance
Certified green buildings offer recognised benchmarking that can be used for green and other sustainability-linked loans.
Attract top tenants
Tenants increasingly demand Green Star-rated buildings not only to ‘future proof’ their businesses against escalating energy and water prices, but to attract and retain the best employees.
Future proof your assets
Obtaining a Green Star rating now future proofs assets ahead of regulatory changes and reduces risks of buildings becoming stranded assets – or at the very least uncompetitive in a sector that is responding to the climate change challenge.
Demonstrate excellence in environmental sustainability
Certifying your building with GBCSA demonstrates your commitment to sustainability and showcases your environmental leadership within industry and for customers.
Occupying a Green Star Building is better for your employees, your organisation’s brand reputation and your ESG targets.
Shrink your environmental footprint
Green buildings typically use less energy, water, and emit less carbon, amongst other environmental benefits.
Reduce operating costs
Green Star buildings use less vital resources like electricity and water, resulting in lower operating costs.
Meet reporting and ESG targets
More and more organisations are required to report on their ESG performance and climate-related risk, or to show how they are meeting their own carbon reduction goals. Certification provides data points that speak to these requirements.
Boost health and wellbeing
Green-rated buildings designed to enhance occupant health and wellbeing report lower rates of absenteeism and higher rates of productivity (World Green Building Council study). Whether a residential or commercial building, green ratings are better for occupants.
Recruit and retain the best people
Green buildings enhance productivity as well as support health and wellbeing, so it’s little wonder that top talent is increasingly expecting nothing less from their office environments. A recent survey from the US Green Building Council found 79% of employees would choose a job in a green-rated building over a non-green building.
Lease with peace of mind
With Green Star you can be assured that all sustainability claims have been independently verified. Obtaining a Green Star rating now future proofs assets ahead of regulatory changes in a sector that is responding to the climate change challenge.
Demonstrate excellence in environmental sustainability
Certifying your building with GBCSA demonstrates your commitment to sustainability and showcases your environmental leadership within industry and for customers.
Be part of creating a sustainable future to be proud of
Galvanise your team
Certification means better team alignment around clear sustainability goals, with a shared language and framework to ensure your team can achieve the best possible outcome.
Demonstrate excellence in environmental sustainability
Delivering a certified building project demonstrates your commitment to sustainability and showcases your environmental leadership within industry and for customers.
Leave a legacy
Certification means a lasting positive impact on the environment. Be part of making a tangible mark that future generations will thank you for.
Internationally recognised rating tools optimised for local contexts
Green Star, discussed above, is not the only tool that GBCSA can offer projects. Our suite of rating systems offers tools for almost any type of building and across different scales of development, from interior fit-out to urban precinct; from existing building to greenfield development.
Green Star certification
The gold standard in sustainability measurement. Broad and deep scope. Green Star can be applied to multiple building typologies.
Net Zero & Net Positive certification
Focuses deeply on carbon, water, waste or ecology.
EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) certification
Focuses on savings in energy, water, and embodied carbon energy in materials in construction.
Different green building rating tools focus on different scales of building, and different aspects of the building life cycle.
How do you trust that something is green and not greenwash?
A certification from the GBCSA, like a Green Star rating, translates good intentions into real-world outcomes. It shows that your project is:
- Contributing to climate change mitigation
- Supporting better quality of life for occupants, and promoting their wellbeing
- Restoring and protecting our planet’s environmental services and ecological systems
- Leading market transformation and a sustainable economy
The Certification Process
1
Decide which rating tool to use to certify your project with
2
Appoint an Accredited Professional (AP) who is qualified in your rating tool.
3
Register your project with GBCSA through our online platform.
4
Submit your documentation: Your AP will do this. Depending on the tool, submission stages and information requirements will vary.
5
Get your project certified: Our independent panel of sustainability experts will assess your submission and/or confirm certification.
6
Promote your achievement: Once certified you will receive your certificate and building plaque, and be ready to celebrate your achievement!
About Accredited Professionals (APs)
An Accredited Professional (AP) is a project professional who has been trained and professionally qualified to submit green building certifications. An AP might be qualified in different green building certification tools, including Green Star or Net Zero.
APs are:
- Qualified through a recognised industry body, such as GBCSA
- Your guide and partner in the process of greening and certifying your project. APs are equipped with the knowledge and expertise to lead projects and project teams through the certification process
- Responsible for the collation and submission of documentation for the certification application
- External to GBCSA, although GBCSA can train and support them professionally
