With seven large-scale office developments pursuing formal Green Star SA certification, and the second Green Star SA tool (for retail buildings) having been launched in April, the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) has made significant progress since its formation.
The GBCSA is now in its third year of operation and has experienced unprecedented support and growth in this short time.
According to chief executive Nicola Douglas, the council, which opened for membership in May 2008, has reached a milestone of 606 members. In addition, the council has four platinum founder sponsors, four gold founder sponsors and 16 silver founder sponsors.
“This sponsorship has allowed us to get up and running and promote green building in the South African property industry. Our most recent platinum sponsor is Capicol, with the other three being Growthpoint Properties, Old Mutual Investment Group Property Investments and Grome Marketing (Pty) Ltd (GROHE). We are looking for one more platinum sponsor.”
GBCSA gold sponsors are WSP Consulting Engineers SA, Group Five Building, Grinaker LTA and Boogertman and Partners Architects, with Vodacom recently joining the fold.
Silver sponsors include Amdec Investments Pty Ltd, Arup (Pty) Ltd, Davis Langdon Africa (Pty) Ltd, Desiccant Rotors International, Investec Property Limited, Otis (Pty) Ltd, PD Naidoo & Associates (Pty) Ltd, Perpetual Power Systems (PTY) LTD, ICI Dulux (Pty) Ltd, MTN, the Standard Electrical Company 2000, SAFAL Steel (Pty) Ltd and the Saint-Gobain Gyproc South Africa (Pty) Ltd group comprising Gyproc, Isover, Sagex and Weber Tylon.
More than 1 500 people have attended the Green Star SA Accredited Professional course since the council launched its educational programme in 2008. Over 168 of the participants have gone on to become accredited professionals after writing an optional exam.
“The one-day course provides a detailed overview of the Green Star SA building rating system and is an excellent introduction to green building. The response from the broader property industry has been overwhelming and demonstrates the desire for green building education,” says Dougals.
“In April we offered a course on greening existing buildings, which was well supported. It teaches participants how to understand a building’s performance and green its operations and will assist owners and managers to manage their buildings in a more efficient and sustainable way.”
These workshops were presented by experienced green building consultants from Green Building Services, Inc in Oregon, US – Elaine Aye and Ted Spear – who regularly run similar courses on behalf of the US Green Building Council.
GBCSA has increased its staff complement. New additions to the technical team are Nick Mulvaney, a mechanical engineer and sustainability consultant from Umowlai Australia, and Francois Retief a mechanical engineer who completed a stint in the UK as a senior technical coordinator and technical coordinator. Later this year Jason Buch, the current technical manager, will be leaving the council to explore a career in consulting. Douglas says the council welcomes applicants for this position.
Visit www.gbcsa.org.za or call 021 659 5990.
