Three of the City of Cape Town’s buildings have received Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), a first in South Africa.
Last year, National Government gazetted regulations requiring all government buildings over 1 000m2 within specific occupancy classes to publicly display an EPC within two years.
The buildings, a municipal block at 44 Wale Street in the CBD (Grade C); the Omni Forum municipal office block in Kuils River (Grade B) and the Belville Civic Centre (Grade B – pictured), form part of over 100 municipal buildings that require an EPC in the Cape Town metro.
“Apart from being the first municipality in South Africa to achieve this, these City facilities are also the first non-school government buildings to receive certificates. Energy Performance Certificates indicate the amount of energy used in a building in kilowatt hour per square meter per year (kWh/m2/annum). It is then measured against a nationally regulated benchmark. This allows building owners to not only know how much energy their building uses, but also to compare this performance against other buildings of a similar type”, commented the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy and Climate Change, Councillor Phindile Maxiti.
“Establishing this energy baseline is the first step to identifying how energy performance can be improved; leading to cost savings and a reduction of harmful carbon emissions associated with a building’s operation. It is therefore a valuable step towards achieving the Net Zero Carbon Municipal Buildings Target by 2030 and the broader city-wide ambition to be Carbon Neutral by 2050”.
“Successful climate action is to the benefit of our communities, our health and personal wellbeing. We encourage all residents, organisations, businesses, and stakeholders to join the movement for climate action by taking steps in our operations and daily lives to reduce harmful emissions. Small actions can lead to big results. The City’s climate change response and resilience campaign, Let’s ACT. For a Stronger Cape Town aims to encourage residents, communities, businesses and organisations to take urgent climate action” he concluded.
Photo caption: Rebecca Cameron, Senior Professional Officer: Net Zero Carbon Built Environment, Sustainable Energy Markets Department and Vernon Erasmus, Facility Manager: Buildings, Facilities Management Department.
