Energy efficient commercial buildings in South Africa delivered better returns than non-energy efficient buildings, a new study by the Investment Property Databank and the Green Building Council of South Africa has shown.

The study, which investigated 461 commercial buildings, found that the top-quartile energy efficient properties delivered a 15.9% total return, 170 basis points higher than the remainder of the sample buildings, which delivered a total return of 14.2%.

In addition, while the income returns generated by the two samples of properties were identical, at 7.8%, the energy efficient properties achieved a higher capital growth of 8.1%.

Energy solutions provider Energy Partners head of engineering Dawie Kriel explained that the energy-saving potential of a building was dependent on the financial return on investment that the owner would require.

“With a long-term investment view, a saving of 50% is quite achievable. There are also innovative financial support instruments available to make the initial investment into energy efficient solutions easier,” he said.

He added that, in most cases, initial interventions could have minimal investment requirements, with savings of up to 15% having been achieved through interventions such as behaviour improvements and the corrective maintenance of existing systems.

Kriel noted that, when addressing energy efficiency, it was important for business and property owners to focus on the areas that had the greatest impact on energy use at the best return on investment.

To achieve this, an energy consumption baseline had to be created and evaluated by an experienced energy adviser to identify key saving opportunities, he stated.

Kriel said that, often, the interventions needed could be as simple as reinstating existing systems to full functionality.

“However, in some cases the building envelope must be altered to reduce energy intensity. The functionality of most systems deteriorates over time due to poor maintenance and ageing components. 

“As a result, a strategy must be designed to implement the changes to the building and monitor and maintain its continued efficiency from implementation onwards,” he explained.