Abstract
The study focused on the nature of current sustainable real estate developments practices
adopted in the completion of projects in the South African construction sector. The main
purpose of the study was to determine how real estate developers incorporate sustainable
features into their designs. This study assessed the sustainable real estate development as a
feature of sustainable construction and assessed the designs of the projects, the construction
processes, and the end-user benefits. A qualitative case study research approach was employed
and data was collected through interviews. A Qualitative Content Analysis was used for
analysis and interpretation of the data. The study findings revealed that the adoption of SC in
the public sector is slow, and this is due to political influences, stakeholders’ unwillingness to
participate, and the perception that SC is expensive to implement. However, the findings
showed the private sector readily adopt the SC practices as a way of attracting investors and
customers. The findings for this study further revealed that SC in South Africa is perceived as
being difficult to traverse due to lack of government sustainable building codes and regulations.
The study highlighted the main features of SC in South Africa include the use of solar panels,
heat pumps and energy saving appliances . Moreover, beyond the adoption of sustainable
construction practices namely social sustainable practices, sustainability in health and build
design the study also revealed that very little environmentally sustainable practises are
incorporated in South Africa. There is a need for government and stakeholder participation
when it comes to sustainable building codes and regulations as well as the need for construction
to change from conventional building methods to sustainable construction practices and
technology which will aid the adoption of SC in South Africa. In essence, the study
recommended that future studies must provide guidelines and precise frameworks on how
project stakeholders can effectively participate and implement SC.
Keywords: Construction practices, Developers, South African construction sector, Sustainable
construction, Sustainable real estate developments.