Johannesburg, Cape Town, eThekwini and Tshwane – as part of the C40 South Africa Buildings Programme – aim to accelerate the development and implementation of transformational building energy efficiency policies and programmes. This approach is fundamentally rooted in the country’s international and national climate change commitments; complementing existing policies, strategies and frameworks.

Cross-departmental City teams were set up to guide and manage the process. A technical officer was deployed in each City (until June 2021) to provide additional capacity and drive the work. The technical officers worked with their City teams, and external stakeholders, to drive transformational policy and programmes towards net zero carbon building energy performance.

Sustainable Energy Africa (SEA) was appointed by C40 as the local implementing partner and manager of the Buildings Programme; providing additional technical support and facilitating programme outreach. SEA built the capacity of the four Cities and shared knowledge and best practice learning with other South African and international Cities.

The pathway envisaged will include the strict enforcement of existing and updated national regulations (SANS 10400-XA) and require the progressive application of reduced energy intensities and increased contribution of renewable energy (as articulated within the IRP1 2018) to meet the remaining energy needs of the building or development

Case study on the SA-Buildings-Programme

Resource website: Smart Buildings