When Aurecon’s Century City office building in Cape Town was built in 2011, it was the first building in South Africa to be awarded a 5-star Green Star SA Office Design v1 rating by the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA).
The company is rapidly outgrowing this space and will be developing a second building that will be adjoined to the first one via a sky-bridge. The existing building will be renamed Aurecon East and the new building will be called Aurecon West.
Rabie Property is to develop the second building and it will be owned by Ingenuity Properties. It will comprise 3,280 m2 of premium office space on two levels, as well as three parking levels to accommodate 152 undercover parking bays.
Construction of the R88-million green office building will start early in 2015, with completion scheduled for November 2015. The project team is also targeting a Green Star SA rating for this building.
As with the first building, Aurecon has been appointed for the engineering services and will also be responsible for the Green Star rating application for the new building.
MaC Architects will be assisting with the design of the building, while Ludwig Design Consulting will assist with the Green Star rating process.
Aurecon’s Cape Town Office Manager, Ferdi Nell, says a decision to pursue a Green Star SA rating was not only one that fulfils the group’s aim to reduce its carbon footprint but also made business sense: “Profit aside, it’s the right thing to do for our planet,” he commented.
“The sustainable design practices that will be applied to Aurecon West align with our global strategy to continually improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our business operations.
Green buildings give a positive return on investment and contribute to Aurecon’s reputation as a leading, vibrant, global brand,” added Nell.
The new building will incorporate the following environmentally conscious features:
•A centralised water cooled chiller plant has been installed which uses treated effluent water in its cooling towers – this dramatically reduces overall energy consumption as well as potable water consumption.
•The lighting system controls the lighting to ensure that energy is only consumed for lighting when and as required. When there is sufficient ambient light entering the building during the daylight hours, the lighting system automatically dims down to save energy while providing just the right amount of light for the building’s occupants.
•The BMS system controls the HVAC system to ensure that sufficient fresh air is circulated in the building and that the building is not over cooled or over heated.
•All light fittings in the office areas are equipped with electronic control gear to ensure maximum energy efficiency and to lremove any flicker from the fluorescent light fittings.
•In certain areas, LED lighting is used to take advantage of their low energy requirements.
•The standby generators are Tier 3 emissions standard engines which have the lowest emissions of all classes of back-up generators.
•An atrium as well as light well has been included in the design of the building. This will ensure that the core of the building is penetrated by natural daylight, reducing the energy required for illumination.
•Facilities have been installed to encourage the use of energy-efficient transport systems such as bicycles motorcycles and car pooling.
•A metering and monitoring system has been installed to monitor all water and electricity meters. This information is used to identify areas of high consumption and thus potential energy / water saving.
Aurecon’s investment in Century City has inspired a number of other large corporates to relocate to the area.
About Aurecon
Aurecon provides engineering, management and specialist technical services for public and private sector clients globally.
With an office network extending across 26 countries, Aurecon has been involved in projects in over 80 countries across Africa, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and the Americas and employs around 7,500 people throughout 12 industry groups.
Aurecon has been verified as a Level 2 BBBEE contributor.
More information from Jody Boshoff, Tel:+27(0)12 427 / www.aurecongroup.com
