The District building in Woodstock is Growthpoint Properties’ first commercial property in Cape Town to certify Net Zero Water and no longer rely on the municipal water grid.
What Qualifies as a Net Zero Water Building?
A Net Zero Water building is one which is designed, constructed and operated to greatly reduce its water consumption and then offset its remaining water demand with harvested, recycled and reused water such that the volume of water consumed is the same as that produced, or even Net Positive where the water recycled/harvested is greater than that consumed.
We, as Ecolution Consulting, are proud to have been the Net Zero certification consultants on the project to assist the team in reaching the Net Zero Water certification.
The District is the first of a number of buildings that Growthpoint intends to certify Net Zero Water. “Net-zero water initiatives are an important part of Growthpoint’s journey as it strives to make all its new developments net-zero by 2030,” said Growthpoint regional asset manager for the Western Cape Timothy Irvine.
The building has a water filtration plant installed that can generate 140kL/day from 4 sumps in the basement supplying 100% of the building’s water needs. The seven story building is built on top of a naturally occurring spring that flows into the basement and is collected by the plant.
To prevent flooding, spring water such as this has traditionally been pumped back into the city’s stormwater system. Instead, The District uses the sump water for all uses including drinking water and toilet flushing. “We challenged ourselves to find a way to use the sump to provide drinking water that is completely safe for human consumption for the entire building,” added Irvine.
For more information on the Net Zero certification contact us on