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Sep 12, 2007:
Following the announcement in May at the 2007 South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA) convention about the establishment of a South African Green Building Council (GBCSA), this non-profit initiative is starting to get off the ground.
"As a vital first step we have assembled a board of directors who will oversee the GBCSA in its establishment phase. These people all hold influential positions in organisations that have expressed a commitment to green building or have large constituencies that could promote green building practices. The first board meeting will be held in September," says Bruce Kerswill, who has been facilitating the establishment of the GBCSA.
"In addition, a CEO has been appointed in the form of Nicola Douglas. Douglas is a chartered accountant by training and has been involved, amongst other things, in setting up various projects with Old Mutual's property division," says Kerswill.
The GBCSA now has offices, which have been set up in Rondebosch, Cape Town.
"In addition to this the GBCSA has been made possible through a start-up grant from SAPOA. We will also shortly be looking for sponsors and will be opening for formal membership later in the year."
Kerswill notes that the GBCSA has arranged for a member of the Australian Green Building Council (GBCA) to come to South Africa to conduct a series of workshops and courses, which will be presented in conjunction with SAPOA.
Breakfast presentations on green building will be held on Monday 17 September at the Vineyard Hotel in Newlands, Cape Town, and on Friday 21 September in Sandton at the Michelangelo Hotel.
The Green Star Accredited Professional Course, a full-day course on the Australian Greenstar green building rating system, will be held on Tuesday 18 September at Jonkershuis Restaurant in Constantia, Cape Town, and on Thursday 20 September at the Indaba Hotel in Fourways, Gauteng.
The Greenstar course explores the Greenstar green building rating system in detail, and is particularly useful in getting to understand the nuts and bolts of green building and how a rating system works."
"In addition we will be holding a technical workshop in Johannesburg on Friday 21 September," says Kerswill.
"This is the first step in a process that will ultimately arrive at a green building rating system that is appropriate to South Africa, and which has the support of the property industry. The workshop is limited to people who have some level of experience in rating systems such as LEED or Greenstar, or are actively considering using one of the systems."
"As we move forward, the GBCSA will be setting up technical working committees and liaison committees, and we will be looking for volunteers to assist - we will send out notices to our database and via SAPOA when the time comes.
"The GBCSA is still in its infancy and it will be a couple of months before we are fully up and running. However, there has been enthusiastic buy-in, with well over 100 people contacting us in the last three months, looking for some way to get involved. We believe the market is picking up the concept and is starting to run with it," concludes Kerswill.
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