FAQs
Looking for more information?
Find answers to the most commonly asked questions below related to membership, marketing, learning & events, GBCSA Accredited Professionals and certifications. Can’t find what you are looking for? Help is just a call or email away.
Membership
Set up:
Ensure you get your member certificate and membership logos to be used on your company collateral.
Ensure you also set up your profile (include company logo etc.) as this information is displayed in the Member Directory section of the www.gbcsa.org.za website.
Sign up:
Be sure to sign up for our newsletter. This is how we will communicate the latest community news and give updates on upcoming training and events.
Get social:
Another way that we communicate with our members and a broader audience of green enthusiasts is through our social media channels. Join the conversation on Linkedin, get more visual updates on Instagram, or enjoy our content on YouTube.
Find out more about the benefits of membership in our GBCSA Guide to Membership 2024
Sign in to the GBCSA Hub to verify your subscription options by selecting ‘My Email Subscription Options’.
If you need assistance, please email us.
Organisational Membership
Ideal for companies, government departments and organisations. Organisational Membership has multiple sub-categories to cater for different types of organisations and industries.
ONE Membership
Designed for professionals acting in their individual capacity.
It’s important to select the correct category for your needs. As an organisational member, your benefits will be slightly different, and more suited to a group of people, than ONE membership, which has been created for individuals.
Within the Organisational member categories, you’ll also find benefits targeted for different categories. For example, as a Product member your products may be eligible for publication in our regular Green Pages.
For various reasons, we do not usually encourage associations to become members.
Please contact us to discuss your specific situation.
Find our membership fees here.
There is no joining fee.
As an employee of a member organisation in good standing, you are entitled to the same benefits as the organisation’s members. This means that you can enjoy discounted prices, access to resources, and free attendance of events at member rates. These would be accessed through your employer.
Edit your profile by logging into the GBCSA Hub.
Once in, click on your name in the top right of the menu to find your profile fields to update.
Edit your profile by logging into the GBCSA Hub
Contact us on [email protected] and we’ll help you with that.
Contact us on [email protected] and we’ll help you with that.
If you would like to cancel your membership please send a written confirmation to our accounts team. You can email [email protected]
Use the ‘Forgot Password’ option on the GBCSA Hub.
A temporary password will be emailed to you. If you need further assistance, please email us.
Members are automatically billed for the following year around November. An email with the invoice for the following year will be sent to the listed contact. Payment for this invoice will renew your membership. Your account will be renewed upon receipt of payment.
GBCSA Academy
You can find information on all GBCSA Academy’s courses, including those that are scheduled in the near future, at the GBCSA Academy page of our website.
The Learning Management System (LMS) is compatible with a range of browsers on a Microsoft Windows PC and Mac. Our system is compatible with web browsers including (but not limited to) Firefox, Safari, Chrome (all on PC & Mac) & Edge.
Following successful completion of the full course, attendees will receive a certificate of attendance together with a certificate of achievement – downloadable on the GBCSA website via your personal profile. Please ensure that you have an active profile.
Should you have a question for the presenter, we ask that you email it to us at [email protected]– We will then contact the presenter regarding your enquiry.
Yes, you can view your course purchase history in your GBCSA Hub individual profile under my courses tab.
GBCSA Events
You can find information on all GBCSA events, including those that are scheduled in the near future, at the GBCSA Planet Shapers page of our website.
Yes, you can see your course purchase history in your GBCSA Hub individual profile under “Events”.
If events are CPD Accredited, this will be communicated on the event information page.
Please make sure you sign the register (if in-person) or attend the duration (if a webinar) in order to obtain your points.
CPD certificates will be issued electronically following the event.
About GBCSA Accredited Professionals
The GBCSA AP Protocol document is a handy guide that covers key information about GBCSA AP’s including:
- Accreditation Types
- Roles and Responsibilities
- Training Programme and Assessment Process
- Code of Conduct
- Maintaining Active Status
To become an AP, you will need the following:
- Meet the qualifying requirements by having relevant qualifications and/or experience.
- Successfully completed the 3-part Accredited Professional training Programme/s of your choice.
- Sign the Accredited Professional Code of Conduct.
To become an AP+, you will need to:
- Be an active AP.
- Be actively involved in certification and/or attend events to minimum standard in a rolling 12-month period.
- Find out more about APs at Certify Your Project / About Accredited Professionals.
Booking a course with us is quick and easy. Book online – go to the course you are interested in and complete the step-by-step booking process
Alternatively, you can call us on (0)21 486-7900 or email us at [email protected]. When placing an order by email, we will require the name of the course you wish to book, organisation name, address, contact telephone number and the names and email addresses of the delegates attending.
You are given access to the e-learning platform for a duration of 12 months. The webinar bookings are made as per the scheduled dates provided and completion of the final assessment has no time limit.
You will have access to your training for 12 months. Should you wish to extend the course, then this is available at an additional cost.
Yes, you are encouraged to note your accreditation when promoting your services.
You can include your credential as part of your title on your business card, email signature, throughout your LinkedIn profile and in any other appropriate location.
You may also include content on your website to promote your new services.
Please do note that the GBCSA logo itself may not be used to advertise AP services. We suggest you display your GBCSA Member logo, which is available for download via the Hub.
In most cases but not all, it is mandatory to have an active AP or AP+ on a project team if the project wishes to pursue certification. Please check the detail of the relevant technical manual of the tool to be applied for further detail.
Certifications
This section covers general questions around certifications of buildings. For specific answers to questions around certification tools, please visit the Zendesk platform.
Product suppliers can market their product as contributing to a project’s Green Star rating, but the product itself cannot be Green Star certified, Green Star rated, or in any other way officially approved or endorsed by GBCSA.
Research
If you are a researcher or student working with any subject relating to the green building sector, please reach out to our research team to see how we can work together to increase the green knowledge base.
We do not give out data on our membership, but for other ways that we can assist with your research, or connecting you to other resources, please reach out to our research team or fill out our researcher intake form here.
We delight in assisting with growing our green knowledge base! Some topics, such as our membership, we cannot share information around, but we will always assist where we can. Please fill out our researcher intake form here.
We do not give out data on, or send questions to our membership, to respect their privacy and time, but you can send your survey questions to our research team and they will see how they can best assist. Please fill out our researcher intake form here.
We welcome criticism and the mutual learning that debate can generate! The best way to improve what we all know is robust testing of and talking about ideas. Some project-specific outcomes we may not be able to engage on, but ideas, approaches and intentions we would love to discuss. Please contact the research team to get the dialogue going.
Marketing
GBCSA member logos are a set of logos that our members can display on their marketing collateral to show that they are GBCSA members.
Organisational and ONE members each have a specific logo design.
Once you have paid your annual membership fees, you will receive an email with instructions on how to download your member logo from your GBCSA Hub dashboard.
