He says the extent of any savings will depend on landlords' willingness to engage in the initiatives. Eskom has indicated it wants to save 180 megawatts on the national grid over the daily domestic peak consumption period of 6-9pm and 6-8am and will fund approved projects that contribute to that overall saving.

"A study we have conducted shows that 3.5 megawatts can be saved at its head office in Pinelands through an emergency generating system powering the site without taking a supply from the mains at the Eskom peaks. The emergency system is needed in any event to power the site under emergency conditions. If approved as a project, the property owner could enjoy a 65% subsidy on the capital cost of the system," says Murphy.

More savings in property operating costs could flow from the introduction of regional electrical distributors.

End users will have an option to buy their electricity from the regional distributors at discount rates.

Murphy says tenants are benefiting from reductions in operating costs achieved through a combination of initiatives in facilities management.

"The main initiatives centre on benchmarking of costs, simplifying procurement channels through, for instance, introduction of national purchasing of consumables, from light bulbs and cleaning materials to major components of centralised airconditioning and electrical systems, as well as close monitoring of service levels agreements which specified penalties for any non-conformance.

"In the case of Old Mutual Properties, R10 million will be saved over 10 years on escalator contracts through benchmarking of costs and the development of what is now a standard escalator agreement. By reducing procurement channels from 25 entities to three, a further R6.23m has been saved in the last two years in the area of soft services such as cleaning, landscaping and security," Murphy says.