An investigation into the costs and benefits of green building in South Africa

With the global concern about sustainable development, also the South African building industry has engaged in sustainable construction. However, the South African green building market has not reached enough maturity and gained strong support from the industry stakeholders yet. Major barriers to green building development are particularly related to the gap of available data about the financial implications of green buildings in the local market, which creates uncertainty for the investments in building "green". This study aims to provide a contribution towards overcoming these barriers, by investigating the property developers´ perception on green building and its cost implications in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, and by providing a preliminary cost-benefit assessment of an accredited green building in Durban. Findings demonstrated that developers have started to recognize the financial benefits of green buildings and perceived that in the near future they will become the norm. The preliminary cost-benefit analysis showed short payback period and profitability for the investment in green measures. The results of this study may constitute a first step into a more comprehensive understanding of the economic implications of green building in a young green building market such as the South African one, encouraging its development and growth.