With the looming impacts of climate change, every industry is soul searching to see how best to reduce its carbon footprint. The construction industry is no exception. Increasingly, industry thought leaders and practitioners are burning their midnight candles to ensure that construction cuts down its foot mark on the environment.
The construction industry is currently fingered as one of the biggest contributors to damage to the environment. It is estimated that the industry contributes 40 per cent of carbon related energy emissions. For example, buildings alone – heating, cooling, lighting – contribute 28 per cent of the emissions.
Production of construction materials like cement, steel, and glass contributes 11 per cent- with cement production alone contributing 8 per cent. This is not to mention the other activities the construction industry subjects the environment to – like destruction of vegetation, pollution. The industry is also notorious for its huge appetite for resources like water, minerals, timber, sand, and fossil fuels.
Because of the heightened consciousness of the need to conserve the environment, the demand, and expectations on the construction industry to green, from across the value chain –including investors, financiers, tenants, buyers – is growing.
The concept of green construction
One of the important emerging concepts intended to lime construction is green building. This is the idea, and practice, of designing, building, and operating structures in a way that minimizes their environmental impact throughout their lifecycle. This approach focuses on reducing resource consumption, energy use, and pollution while enhancing the health and well-being of occupants of such buildings.
Alvin Lumu, a Kampala based valuation surveyor, says the concept of green building aligns perfectly with the “E” – environmental aspect in ESG (Environment, Social Governance) where green buildings are designed, constructed, and operated to minimize their impact on the environment.
“Green buildings contribute to ESG by reducing a property’s environmental footprint, lowering operational costs, and creating a healthier environment for occupants,” he says.
For example, the design of green buildings focuses on aspects like energy efficiency, which involves utilizing renewable energy sources, maximizing natural light, and employing energy-saving appliances.
The idea of such building is resource conservation – minimizing water use and wastage through efficient gadgets such as self- closing taps. It also involves a choice of healthy materials with recyclable content, low emissions, and responsible sourcing.
Uganda lagging
A quick survey by The Infrastructure Magazine on some ongoing major construction projects in Kampala shows that efforts to green buildings are still conspicuously low, although there are isolated projects that are visibly going green.
Lumu says the Ugandan government has not given much policy direction to ESG in the construction sector. However, a few private sector initiatives are being mooted to streamline compliance in the industry.
He said the Green Building Council Uganda (GBCUG) Uganda Chapter, a not-for-profit membership organization, which is part of the World Green Building Council is working to increase awareness and promote sustainability in the built environment.
Robert Kiggundu, the managing director at Arch Forum Ltd (architects, engineers and project managers) in a recent article on LinkedIn entitled The Case for Sustainable Construction in Uganda opined that “In other parts of the world, in addition to legislation, there are increasing pressures on developers from local communities, pressure groups and national and international concerns to go green in construction. In Uganda that is all absent.”
He wrote: “Just like we do not care about the health and safety of the individuals who work in the (construction) industry, we do not really care if the developments we carry out today will have an adverse effect on the environment tomorrow.”
Ronald Atwine, a civil engineer, said that not much is being done in Uganda on greening construction, “it is being left to such organizations like the United Nations.”
What should be happening?
Knight Frank, a global real estate research, consultancy, and management firm, is perhaps one of the thought leaders on ESG in the construction industry.
According to Knight Frank, ESG is about companies making commitments to deliberately integrate their operations and products with pro-environment and climate solutions, while ensuring human rights and labour protection practices within their organizational culture and overall, building a strong, equitable and transparent governance structure.
In the real estate market, assessments consider factors like the social and community benefits a building possesses, the nature of tenant operations, while assessing environment-based aspects like carbon emissions, energy and utility management, external lighting, waste management, and technology use, among others.
In developed markets, ESG-driven tenants are willing to pay a rental premium for a building that is compliant.
According to Knight Frank, with greening construction still in its infancy in Uganda, property deals are yet to reflect a measurable ESG premium on yields and rentals as is the case in other countries.
While Uganda is still in the nascent stage of the ESG adoption, finance and banking institutions have become the front runners in the adoption of the criteria through strategies to provide financing for sustainability-driven investments and businesses.
Green solution initiatives and environment-based tech innovations have also been earmarked for financing by Stanbic Bank Uganda especially towards young entrepreneurs and Small and Medium Enterprises.
Developers are now including aspects of green buildings in their designs as a result of the growing interest in sustainability and ESG across different real estate submarkets, with features such as solar power, sensor triggered lighting, rainwater harvesting, and enhancing natural light.
Lumu cites the Arena Mall in the Nsambya suburb of Kampala as one of the first retail projects in Uganda to have achieved the ‘4-Star Retail Centre Design Green Star Certification’ from The Green Building Council of South Africa.
The certification recognizes and rewards environmental leadership and is a recognized symbol of achievement of sustainability standards.
The design and the construction of the mall took into consideration the efficient green build requirements for Green 4 Star certification, with 63 per cent improvement in annual energy consumption modeled over the Green Star baseline.
The mall’s sustainable building features include; sub-metering of major energy consuming systems and gathering information to understand and manage building systems and to assess opportunities for energy savings.
Environmental initiatives at the mall include tobacco smoke being prohibited inside the mall to ensure air quality benefits to the building occupants.
The building achieves savings through the use of water efficient fittings that limit the occupant’s water usage and rainwater harvesting for irrigation and flushing of toilets. The sub-metering of major water consuming systems is also in place.
This trend is anticipated to have an impact on future residential developments as the drive towards sustainable and green development gains momentum.
Costs, risks, barriers, and benefits
Lumu says the cost of implementing ESG in construction projects is said to vary depending on the specific strategies adopted. For instance upfront costs such as the purchase of environmentally friendly materials and technologies may have a higher initial cost.
Contractors may face some challenges when implementing green building practices such as lack of expertise, regulatory and compliance challenges, limited market demand for green buildings in certain regions as is the case in Uganda today.
“Addressing these challenges requires collaboration with specialized consultants, education and training for construction teams, and strategic planning to mitigate potential risks,” Lumu notes.
However, long term benefits can lead to energy and water savings throughout the building’s life cycle causing significant operational cost reductions.
To make ESG a reality in construction, he notes that there’s need for financial incentives and tax breaks for green buildings to offset initial costs.
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