Green Building Council SA honours 2013 green building innovators

Romily Madew and Green Building Council Australia were awarded the Green Building Council of South Africa Chairman’s Award.

Leaders in green design and innovation were honoured and recognised at the 6th annual 2013 Green Building Council of South Africa Convention and Exhibition which took place at the CTICC from 16 – 18 October.

The sustainability event, revitalised with the thought-provoking theme “ReWire” – Connecting Minds. Building Value is one of the highlights on the South African sustainability calendar.

This year the event was integrated with the WorldGBC Congress - the largest international network influencing the green building marketplace, comprising 92 global councils – making this the most distinctive sustainable building gathering ever hosted on the continent.

Amongst the activities that took place over the course of the well-subscribed Convention was the launch of the latest Green Star SA PILOT Tool for Interiors and the much anticipated Existing Building Performance tool. Furthermore the global gathering saw the launch of the world-first PILOT Socio-Economic Category for suite of Green Star SA rating tools and the announcement of the Green Star SA Leadership Awards winners for 2013.

Green Star SA Leadership Awards
These awards were launched in 2012 in recognition of the significant transformation that has taken place in South Africa and to acknowledge green building champions who have demonstrated their unwavering commitment to the green building movement.

In the project and organisation award category the winner of the 2013 Green Star SA Leadership Award for the highest rated building is the Department of Environmental Affairs building which received a 6 Star Green Star SA Office Design v1 certification from the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA).

This is the first government building in South Africa to achieve a 6 Star Green Star SA rating, as well as being the first 6 Star rated green building in the City of Tshwane. A further stellar accomplishment was that it achieved a total of 82 points - the highest score for a large commercial office space of this magnitude awarded by the GBCSA to date.

The Accredited Professional on the building was Michael Aldous of Green Building & Sustainability Services, Mott MacDonald PDNA and the award was received by the DEA project manager, Mbulaheni Edwin Maseda.

The winner of the 2013 Green Star SA Leadership Award for the Best Quality Submission is Marloes Reinink from Solid Green for the Grahamstown National English Literary Museum (NELM)which achieved 45points of the 69 targeted in Round 1 submission.

In the individual awards category the award for the Established Green Star leader for 2012/2013 went to Marloes Reinink from Solid Green, whilst the award for the Rising Green Star went to Georgina Smit of Arup, honouring them for their significant contribution to the green building movement and the commendable leadership they have demonstrated.

Eric Noir from WSP received the Chairman’s Award for his tireless passion and enthusiasm in promoting green building practices.  Special recognition was given to his encouragement and guidance in the establishment of Green Building Councils throughout Africa - these initiatives have been instrumental in the adoption of the Green Star South Africa rating system by 5 African countries.

The Green Building Council Australia received the Chairman’s Award for their generous support and guidance in the establishment and continued success of the GBCSA and the award was received by Romily Madew, CEO Green Building Council Australia. “It is unquestionable that without their generosity of spirit and collaboration, the GBCSA would not have been in a position to achieve the milestones nor the market impact that it has in such a short period,” says Brian Wilkinson, CEO of the GBCSA.

“We are inspired by the bold leadership that has been demonstrated in South Africa –and want to continue to acknowledge and commend the market leaders on the transformation exhibited so far. Whilst we believe that all Green Star SA certified projects are, by definition, very special and demonstrate leadership and commitment, we use this opportunity to recognise those that have really pushed the limits and achieved world class excellence,” concludes Wilkinson.