The R130 million five-star Green Star Aurecon building at Century City was developed by Rabie Property Group and designed by Mac Architects.
In response to industry demand, the Green Building Council of South Africa in partnership with local and international industry experts have expanded on two of the training courses that will be offered in Johannesburg and Cape Town in September and October.
The Green Star SA Simulations and Submissions Seminar is a specialised but essential training for professionals and project team leaders involved in any aspect of Green Star submissions that require simulations of building design. These simulations generated through the use of computer modelling software demonstrate a project’s strategy for achieving improved energy performance and indoor environment quality for assessment of a Green Star SA rating and ultimately a better building.
With the green building movement fast gaining momentum in South Africa – as highlighted by the recent awarding of the first five star Green Star SA rating for the Aurecon office building in Century City, Cape Town – it has become increasingly important for professionals in the built environment to understand what constitutes best practice in SA and how to go about achieving it.
“The Aurecon building is a physical manifestation of an excellent Green Star submission and collaboration in the project team,” says Brian Wilkinson, chief executive of the GBCSA. “Anyone considering a Green Star submission, now or at any stage in the future, should attend this invaluable one day course that provides clear information on the support documentation expected for Green Star SA submissions, for those credits in which simulation can be used to demonstrate compliance.”
The course offers guidance and clarity on the individual credit topics – energy conditional requirements and greenhouse gas emissions, air change effectiveness, thermal comfort, daylight and daylight glare control. Also covered is the requisite documentation required for design and as built projects, with demonstrations and energy modelling reports being used as examples of what should be included in the documentation submitted to assessors.
The GreenStar SA Simulations and Submissions Seminar is taking place in Johannesburg this weekend and will be repeated in Cape Town on October 26.
The other course that has been further developed by the GBCSA is the Greening Existing Buildings workshop, that addresses a crucial topic in the South African context.
“Going green is not just about the environment. The benefits of building and operating green buildings include reduced operating costs – which are especially important considering SA’s rising energy costs and water scarcity – as well as lower risks, healthier and more productive people and ultimately, better investment returns and higher property valuations.
“All over the world, developers and owners are looking to ‘future proof’ their buildings against increasing energy prices and costly retrofits and even obsolescence. There is a clear cut business case for building green as well as greening our existing buildings,” says Wilkinson.
The Greening Existing Buildings course will provide professionals with a good understanding of the issues associated with long term sustainability of buildings and it proposes a methodology for the improvement of a building’s performance through low and no cost improvements, optimisation of energy and water efficiency, management policies and improved indoor environment quality.
This workshop will take place in Johannesburg on September 29 and in Cape Town on the October 26. The course includes a free copy of the publication entitled Existing Buildings: Survival Strategies, which was drawn up by Arup on behalf of the GBCSA.
“The GBCSA has developed the training seminars in response to its members’ and industry demands and, together with selected expert external consultants, will now be able to lead SA one step further towards a green built environment,” says Wilkinson.
Visit www.GBCSA.org.za/events.
