Inner-city densification, rapidly rising electricity costs and proposed penalties for excessive electricity consumption are forcing owners of older buildings to modernise them.
INNER-city densification, rapidly rising electricity costs and proposed penalties for excessive electricity consumption are forcing owners of older buildings to modernise them.
Andrew Schaefer, MD of residential letting, insurance and property management group Trafalgar, says reconciling energy demands placed on investments with supply and cost constraints is challenging.
But there is a growing need to develop energy-efficient, green friendly buildings from overcrowded and inadequately maintained inner city buildings.
“Older buildings are becoming increasingly energy-inefficient due to maintenance gaps, with mounting pressure to use water and electricity resources more sparingly,” he says.
Schaefer says options include installing prepaid electricity meters, which have been effective in halving consumption by empowering residents to manage consumption.
Other measures include “replacing outdated incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient ones; introducing heat-pump technology to replace old boilers, considering solar energy opportunities where feasible and managing water consumption in bathrooms”, Schaefer says.
While the capital cost of installing solar energy panels is relatively high, there is a “relatively” short repayment period for creating a building that does not rely wholly on the national electricity grid.
Capital subsidies for green- friendly technologies are increasingly available, and financiers are buying into funding the capital costs of green friendly projects that have attractive savings and pay-off profiles.
Trafalgar is also investigating opportunities for recycling grey water in its buildings, where water consumed in washing and bathing or showering is captured for toilet systems that often operate on an independent reticulation system.
“However, building managers and owners must plan for these repayment costs in the short term to avoid cash-flow issues that can affect the long-term operation and maintenance of the building,” Schaefer says.
He says there are sophisticated measurement tools to quantify the savings that can be achieved by applying green principles to building maintenance and sustainability, but the essential element is “coming to grips with upgrading old buildings in line with modern technologies”.
Schaefer says SA’s inner cities are experiencing increasing pressure on occupancy, and this leads to overcrowding of units.
This has a corresponding negative effect on service delivery.
Bachelor units, which typically cannot be sublet, are relatively more expensive as an accommodation option and have experienced higher vacancy rates than the average.
Agents are being more lenient in applying rental conditions for bachelor units in a bid to lower vacancies. The concessions they are making include spreading deposits over three months or waiving some or all of the administration fees.
Source: Business Day
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