The University of Cape Town has embedded water-efficient building standards in its sustainability and infrastructure frameworks. UCT’s “water-sensitive campus” initiative underpins its Sustainable Water Management Strategy, which supports the design and retrofitting of buildings with water-saving measures such as grey-water reuse, storm-water harvesting, and low-flow fixtures.

 A 2024 project converting waste to energy and-water resources at UCT further illustrates how new-build and retrofit planning tie directly into water resource efficiency and building operations. The result is that UCT’s property and services department align building design and maintenance practices with institutional sustainability goals, resulting in buildings that meet or exceed water-efficiency benchmarks and support the university’s wider objective of a water-sensitive campus.

UCT has embedded green-building standards, including the adoption of the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) Green Star certification regime, as a core component of its sustainability and infrastructure framework. As of 2020, UCT’s Avenue Road Student Residence achieved a 4-Star Green Star – Custom Design rating, which specified low-flow taps and showers, dual-flush toilets, grey-water systems and on-site boreholes to mitigate drought risk.

UCT’s institutional policy mandates that all new buildings must meet minimum 4-Star Green Star certification, ensuring that water-efficiency measures—such as rainwater harvesting, grey-water reuse and water-wise landscaping—are built into design and construction.

Through these certified buildings and UCT’s water-sensitive campus initiative, the institution systematically applies building standards that reduce potable water demand, minimise wastewater discharge, and support the campus-wide target of significantly lowering water use.