THE GBCSA MOVEMENT Happy Birthday GBCSA

THE GBCSA MOVEMENT

GBCSA celebrates its 15th anniversary. Its pioneering transformation of the South African property sector has yielded significant results that have driven measurable impact not only in terms of certifications but also in training, accreditation, job creation and climate change mitigation.

15

The GBCSA Green Star rating system was launched in 2008 and the first certification of Phase Two of Nedbank’s Head Office in Sandton, Johannesburg, was awarded in 2009.

Current CEO of GBCSA, Lisa Reynolds, says

that in its time the organisation has reached 905 certifications in Africa. The impact of 905 certifications can be illustrated through the energy and water savings as well as the carbon reductions achieved from the measures required to achieve certification. A total of 91 500 households worth of annual energy and 1220-million litres of potable water will be saved, equating to 1 672 800 people’s daily drinking water needs every year. The 1 590-million kgCO2/annum that will be saved is the same as 395 400 cars off the road each year in terms of kgCO2 equivalent.

“In the last year alone 165 buildings were certified which reflects the exponential growth in the adoption of more sustainable building practices – the first 50 certifications took over five years, but as the environmental and financial benefits of green building became more apparent, we saw a greater buy-in across the board and the industry has shifted. Our role in education and training is an important part of achieving this shift and supports a just transition to low-carbon green building, ensuring the future and livelihoods of workers by creating new jobs within a green economy.”

GBCSA is one of 70 members of the World Green Building Council (WGBC) and collaborates with Green Building Councils across the globe, enabling access to a community of experts and creating a platform for advocacy, catalysing a number of regulatory changes. GBCSA’s Annual Green Building Convention has become the South African property industry’s premier gathering of experts and leaders in the field of sustainable building.

Through the development of a host of certification tools and the development of professionals in the field of green building, the adoption of environmentally responsible practice in the property sector has become mainstream, and the vision of being a driving force in the mitigation of climate change has become a reality. To date, 2 265 professionals have been accredited through GBCSA’s training and accreditation initiatives with 325 students going through the candidate programme.

Guests were invited for a day of celebration with GBCSA CEO, Lisa Reynolds. A guided V&A Waterfront green walk was followed by lunch at the Radisson RED Hotel.

In 2007, when green building was the exception rather than the rule, Bruce Kerswill, managing director of Spire Property Group, saw the need for an industry body to facilitate the growth and adoption of green principles in the property sector in South Africa. He says: “We received much valuable support from the Australian Green Building Council and assistance with the development of South Africa’s own Green Star tool. Neil Gopal from South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA) was instrumental in our initial efforts, and Nicola Douglas as our CEO was a driving force in getting the organisation off the ground.”

The GBCSA rating system was launched in 2008 and the first certification of Phase Two of Nedbank’s Head Office in Sandton, Johannesburg, was awarded in 2009. In 2011, the Energy Water Performance tool (EWP) was

(From left) Cassim Mansoor, Kirwan Daniels and Jenni Lombard from GBCSA. Above: (Left) Nicola Milne, previous GBCSA CEO and Jaci Harrison, GBCSA HR manager. Left: Mike Munnik, Agama Energy and Mary Haw, City of Cape Town. Below: Mokena Makeka, Dalberg, and Lisa Reynolds, GBCSA CEO.

introduced for existing buildings, starting with office buildings. In 2015, GBCSA announced its partnership with the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, to launch the EDGE rating system, a green building certification programme for the residential property market in South Africa. The EDGE Local Licencing Agreement was signed in August 2015. Net-zero certification assists building projects to completely neutralise or positively redress their impacts in carbon, water, waste and ecology. GBCSA released the net zero technical manual in March 2019.

This is market transformation.

Zoë Rushin, senior facilities manager at Old Mutual and Jenni Lombard, technical manager at GBCSA.

Afterwards, guests were taken on a guided bus trip to highlight some Green Star and net-zero rated Cape Town landmarks along the way and the day ended with a building tour and afternoon drink at the Ridge Building. Lisa Reynolds, Georgina Smit and Michelle de Nysschen from GBCSA.

(Front left) Kevin James, CEO, GCX, and Bruce Kerswill, Spire Property Group. (Back) Lisa Reynolds, CEO, and Georgina Smit, head of technical, from GBCSA. (Left) Manti Seleka, Lynleigh Caulfield and (right) Levinia Palmer from GBCSA.

“Being at the helm of the GBCSA from 2017 to 2020 and prior to that as a non-executive director since 2009, meant that I was able to observe and be in the middle of its fast-paced growth. The level of ambition in transforming the built environment has always meant we were punching above our own weight – at times in the scariest possible ways, but the movement always emerged victorious,” says where the uptake in formal certifications increased exponentially,” says

Dorah Modise, former GBCSA

CEO. She says that GBCSA is a movement, not an organisation.”

Grahame Cruickshanks, head of sustainability and

utilities at Growthpoint Properties, a founding member of the GBCSA that has led the way in implementing green building practices says that the biggest impact of GBCSA is the introduction of green building as an active movement in the local private and public property sectors. “The introduction of third-party verified certification systems to ensure the legitimacy of green building initiatives has provided benchmarks and targets for the South African property sector and achieved continuity for the green building movement.”

GBCSA’s Annual Green Building Convention has become the South African property industry’s premier gathering of experts and leaders in the field of sustainable building.

Meanwhile in Johannesburg, GBCSA chair, Brian Unsted, marked the noteworthy achievement by inviting valued partners in the South African green building story for a lunch at Radisson RED Hotel in Rosebank.

(Left) Mischa Tessendorf, GBCSA, and Ingo Hammann, managing director of Stiebel Eltron. (From left) Zanengcebo Mthembu, Emira Property Fund, Hlologelo Manthose, WSP, and Yvonne Pelser, Inside Out Consulting. Mthobisi Masinga, GBCSA, and Zanengcebo Mthembu, Emira, the winner of the lucky draw sponsored by Delish Coffee Roasters.

Afterwards, a building tour of the 5-Star Green Star rated Radission RED Hotel Johannesburg Rosebank took place.

Manfred Braune, director of environmental

sustainability at the University of Cape Town, says that to have established a national standard for green buildings that is aligned with international best practice for green buildings, through which almost a thousand buildings have been certified, is incredible, and a fantastic achievement for the first 15 years. “GBCSA has also trained hundreds of people on green buildings, transforming people and equipping them to design, construct and operate green buildings.”

Brian Wilkinson, GBCSA CEO from 2011 to 2017, says: “I was incredibly fortunate to see a huge uptake of green building principles and practices by not only the commercial property industry and professionals in the built environment, but also by corporate South Africa and even ordinary homeowners. The built environment offers an almost unique ability to really do something about climate change in a meaningful way, both in terms of mitigation impact as well as making commercial sense.”

GREEN PROPERTY TRAILBLAZER

Reynolds says that the work of GBCSA has been driven by many partnerships in the public and private sectors and

(From left to right) Mthobisi Masinga, GBCSA, Brian Unsted, Liberty Two Degrees, Anja Thompson, Dash Coville and Mischa Tessendort, all from GBCSA. “GBCSA has been the green property industry’s most significant trailblazer and advocate – indeed, without GBCSA holding and consistently driving the narrative in South Africa and on the continent, we would not be where we are now, where green buildings are not only commonplace but are becoming standard practice,” says Jutta Berns, founder and director at Ecocentric.

“We now have a shared vision and a shared language that straddles the interests of the investor, developer, designer, operator and construction community, which is essential in harnessing the opportunities that the green property sector offers in reversing climate change. Another key achievement is that we as green building professionals have managed to create an entirely new industry and are able to bring along others on the path to ensuring that all jobs are climate jobs. This is market transformation.”

collaboration is crucial to its continued success, “Support from government bodies, the private sector role-players and institutions driving sustainability efforts remains one of the cornerstones of our programmes and we look forward to growing these important relationships in order to extend the green building economy.”

A SHARED VISION

Kerswill reflects on the GBCSA legacy: “For me, the Convention is one of the most important and most enjoyable of GBCSA’s activities. It inspires the industry, promotes networking with local and global leaders and shares technical knowledge. The training courses are also inspiring, running through the different categories and the multitude of interventions that can be made to achieve a significant environmental impact. I am extremely proud of GBCSA and what it has achieved – and the fact that it has reached 15 years and is still going stronger than ever. I believe there are few other organisations that have such a direct, practical and extensive impact on climate change and so many aspects of sustainability.”

SBS PARTNERING TO HELP PREVENT ‘DAY ZERO’ FOR WATER IN SOUTH AFRICA

“As 2022 draws to a close, the municipal and private sector need to work hand-in-hand to ensure that we protect our water resources,” says Chester Foster, General Manager of the SBS Group. “South Africa is a water-scarce country, we don’t have a choice. We must all act to conserve water and manage demand.”

According to the National Infrastructure Plan: 2050, water supplied through municipalmanaged systems to the domestic, industrial and commercial sectors accounts for about 30% of water use. “While the municipal sector can act by increasing desalination efforts, improving wastewater treatment output and infrastructure and delivering water storage solutions that do not utilise excessive amounts of water in the construction process, the business and private sector can play their part too, through reducing water consumption and their reliance on municipal supply.” Foster says there are many ways the private sector can do this. These include: • Harvesting rainwater off building roof structures or accessing and storing groundwater in reliable water storage tanks, such as SBS Tanks; • Recycling process water from factories and homes for reuse instead of releasing into stormwater drains; • Checking for water leaks and repairing quickly; JOB 0124 SBS TANK IMPACT HALF PAGE AD copy.pdf 1 2022/09/19 2:29 PM • Educating employees and family on wise water usage. SBS Tanks has partnered with the public and private sector in South Africa for over 24 years and offers a

Businesses can play their part in reducing water consumption with rainwater harvesting tanks. comprehensive range of over 500 tank sizes suitable for the storage of harvested rainwater, recycled water, raw seawater, potable water, groundwater, process water, effluent and wastewater and many other liquids.

Are you ready to play your part and equip your business or residence with rainwater harvesting and recycled water storage solutions? Call SBS Tanks today: 086 048 2657, email: info@sbstanks.co.za or visit: www.thesbsgroup.com for more information.

UV-C: CHOOSING HEALTH, GOING GREEN AND SAVING COSTS

As commercial property owners and managers look for every available competitive edge to attract and retain good tenants, great indoor air quality (IAQ) has become more than just a compelling sales point. UV-C disinfection systems are not only delivering cleaner, healthier air, but can reduce energy costs in HVAC system by 25%.

We are all familiar with the harmful effects of sunlight’s UV-A and UV-B radiation which can result in painful sunburns. But the UV-C wavelength has more than twice their energy and it is easily absorbed by organic substances, rapidly destroying molecular bonds.

This means UV-C can be used to safely eliminate and prevent the build-up of organic material on coils, drain pans, and interior air-handling surfaces. It improves airflow and can maintain and even return heat-transfer levels to ‘as-built’ capacity, delivering solid improvements on HVAC system efficiencies.

Clean systems reduce odours, as well as allergens or pathogens in airstreams. Clean systems also help sustain design temperatures and airflow, ensuring buildings meet all required IAQ codes and standards. The green technology can also eliminate chemical and mechanical (water) cleaning required for the regular cleaning of coils, helping to reduce waste disposal issues.

“This cleaner environment means less energy is needed to provide the necessary amount of cooling and airflow to maintain system energy efficiency. We have found that UV-C installed, even in older systems, reduces energy use by 10-25 percent on average. What’s more, efficient air-handling units not only save energy, but they also reduce carbon footprints which has a big impact when it comes to accreditation and environmental reporting ,” says Edward Hector, MD of air-conditioning and related maintenance services provider, SFI Group.

QUANTIFIABLE RESULTS INVESTORS WILL LOVE

Green technologies, such as UV-C, have quickly demonstrated their business worth, with a proven clear link between green-certified buildings and investment performance as well as lower vacancy rates, lower operating costs, and higher net operating income.

“When it comes to UV-C’s benefits, one way of measuring the effectiveness of UVC is based on various case studies using what is called the U-value. We use U-values to measure a cooling coil’s thermal performance. The higher the value, the more efficient the operation. In a recent case study of an office block, we saw annual chilled water volume reduced from 28,849 to 18,507 tonnes – a reduction of 35.85 percent. Our client saw an annual savings of R10 000 for a single coil,” Hector shares.

FUTUREPROOFING INVESTMENTS IN AN UNCERTAIN WORLD

More than just the hard cost savings, UV-C also offers compelling health benefits which can greatly add to a building’s competitive offering.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 30% of all commercial buildings have significant IAQ problems. In particular, ventilation systems have been implicated in the spread of infections and pollutants. In addition WHO analysis finds zoonotic outbreaks on the African continent have increased by 63% from 2012 to 2022 compared to the previous decade.

“Offering companies the highest grade of protection from highly transmissible influenzas, tuberculosis and other airborne diseases is a winning sales point in an environment where employers are trying to coax workers back to the office. Employers have enormous choice right now and so decisions can turn on features like air quality and other health benefits. We are all more sensitive to what we put in our bodies and the air we breathe has the biggest impact. Disinfectant technologies, like UV-C, deliver great unique selling points as well as real cost savings, making the immediate return on investment genuinely compelling,” Hector advises.