The Green Building Council South Africa works in collaboration with emerging Green Building Councils throughout Africa and allows the adaptation of the Green Star tools for certification in the respective countries. The project is thus an industry leader, demonstrating market transformation and serves as a precedent study for African projects to follow. The project achieved a 4 Star Green Star- Africa -Retail v1 Design certifications recognised as “Best Practice in Africa”.

Sustainable building features include

Energy Saving Initiatives

• Sub-metering of major energy consuming systems is in place. Gathering information is key to understanding and managing building systems and to assess opportunities for energy savings.
• Minimisation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions associated with operational energy consumption is reduced. An energy model of the building was generated and in the design stages of the building compared to a notional building model. The building design showed an improvement over a SANS 10400 notional building.
• A high level of thermal comfort is ensured by addressing the internal operative temperatures through modelling and ensuring they are within the ASHRAE Standard 55-2004 Acceptability Limits for at least 98% of occupied hours

Environmental Initiatives

• Tobacco smoke is prohibited inside the building to ensure air quality benefits to the building occupants.
• All selected gaseous and fire suppression systems and thermal insulants used for the development have an Ozone Depleting Potential (ODP) of zero, to eliminate any contributions to long-term damage to the earth’s stratospheric ozone layer.
• A project specific Environmental Management Plan was developed and implemented throughout the duration of construction to establish guidelines to follow to minimise the environmental impact associated with construction activities.
• A project specific Waste Management Plan was developed and implemented to minimise the contribution of waste going to landfill. And reduce the environmental impact of the project.

Water Saving Initiatives

• The building achieves a savings through the use of water efficient fittings that limit the occupant water usage and rainwater harvesting for irrigation and flushing of toilets.
• Sub-metering of major water consuming systems is in place. Gathering information is key to understanding and managing building systems and to assess opportunities for water savings.
• The building is designed to reduce the consumption of potable water for the building’s fire protection and essential water storage systems

Building Information

Address: LRV 4215 folio 18, Plots 41-45, Nsambya Road, Kampala, Uganda
Total gross floor area: 20607 m²
Total commercial retail area: 20607 m²
Tenant usable area:  12870 m²
External Area (including external Car Parking):  15963 m²

Project Team

OWNER: Chestnut Uganda Limited (CUL) a subsidiary of the STANLIB Africa Direct Property Development Fund (SAPDF)
ARCHITECT: Bowman Associates
ELECTRICAL ENGINEER: Loadline Engineering
FIRE ENGINEER: Loadline Engineering
MECHANICAL ENGINEER: Loadline Engineering
QUANTITY SURVEYORS: Integrated YMR Partnership
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS: Ngasi Consultants Ltd
SUSTAINABLE DESIGN REVIEW: WEB Limited
& Solid Green Consulting CC
SUSTAINABLE BUILDING CONSULTANT: WEB Limited
& Solid Green Consulting CC
WET SERVICES: Loadline Engineering
MAIN CONTRACTOR: Seyani Brothers & CO
PROJECT MANAGER: Betts Townsend

Case Study

Certificate