Economic and regulatory approaches to improve the environmental performance of buildings in South Africa
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Date
2004
Authors
Barker, G.
Hill, R. C.
Bowen, P. A.
Evans, K.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
resisted by industry, government and the public. As such, they were used only
in exceptional circumstances. More recently, there has been a realisation that
economic instruments can be a powerful complement to direct regulations.
Consequently, economic instruments1 are playing an increasingly important
role in the environmental management of buildings. The activities of the con
struction industry are driven by economic forces, so using market mechanisms
is a logical strategy to pursue the objectives of sustainable construction.2 Perhaps
the question is not whether economic mechanisms should be employed to
improve environmental building performance, but rather how this should be
achieved.
This paper suggests that it can be achieved by using the economic instrument
of ecolabelling to create market competition for improved building perform
ance. Ecolabelling has traditionally been associated with household products,
but has more recently been applied to a wider range of products, including
buildings and building materials. The basis for building ecolabels is provided by the results of building environmental assessments, which evaluate building per
formance. In developed countries, these assessments have stimulated market
demand for ‘green’ building developments. Building environmental assessment
methods have used the concept of ecolabelling to provide consumers with
an additional benchmark in renting or purchasing buildings.
Yet, it is unknown whether the South African building market will be similarly
responsive to ‘green’ market incentives. In South Africa, where the majority of
the population are struggling to satisfy their basic needs, and lack proper
education, the environmental ‘ethos’ of the general public has not developed
to an extent where environmental issues are seen as a serious priority.
Building environmental assessment methods in South Africa are evolving from
‘green’ evaluations that were pragmatically developed to respond to imme
diate needs, to the measurement of ‘sustainability’. Ecolabels can now reflect
the performance of building development in terms of all aspects of sustain
ability, including socio economic, technical and environmental dimensions of
sustainable construction. This has been made possible by the development of
a unique South African building environmental assessment method that measures
sustainability, namely the “Sustainable Buildings Assessment Technique.”
Although much has been written about economic mechanisms, practical
guidance on how to implement these mechanisms in building developments
is scarce. This paper outlines some of the opportunities and constraints associ
ated with market driven and environmental performance in buildings. The
limitations of economic approaches in South Africa include a lack of environ
mental awareness, misconceptions of ‘green’ buildings, building industry
constraints and the market dependence of voluntary assessment protocols.
Regulatory approaches are not without their own limitations, the most significant
of which is the acute shortage of resources in South African environmental
authorities, a factor that is likely to restrict the effectiveness of regulatory
approaches.
The paper goes on to examine the particular problems associated with de
veloping world markets (such as South Africa’s). Furthermore, the relationship
between regulatory, ‘command and control’ approaches and economic,
market driven approaches is discussed. It is concluded that the ideals of sustain
able construction can best be achieved by using regulatory approaches in
conjunction with economic instruments.
Description
Keywords
Ecolabelling, Market driven approach, Building environmental assessment methods, Economic instruments, Sustainable construction, Regulatory approach
Citation
Barker, G., Hill, R. C., Bowen, P. A., & Evans, K. (2004). Economic and regulatory approaches to improve the environmental performance of buildings in South Africa. Acta Structilia, 11(1&2), 1-25.