Step one to a lighter 2020: Reward your team with training
It’s bonus season, or is it? 2019 has been another tough year for many organisations and their teams. Find out more how you can make the case for a bonus through professional development, a move that would benefit both the organisation and team members.
Turn Santa’s red sack green this Christmas season
Plane tickets, check? Using a flight carbon calculator, work out the carbon footprint of your air travel. An economy return flight between Johannesburg and New York will generate 3.55 tons of CO2 equivalent, while to Cape Town it is 35kg CO2 equivalent.
Sharpen your green edge with GBCSA membership
In the last decade, in parallel with the rise of global warming and associated weather events, Green Building Council South Africa has matured. Today, there is such widespread acceptance in efficient electricity and water use practices that it is a challenge to name an industry that is not adopting green approaches.
It’s Getting Hot in Here
“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it,” cites Redefine Properties’ website, a company which, along with other key players in the property sector, has drastically realigned its strategy in the last few years to make green building and sustainable practices an urgent priority.
Green policies slowly help market growth
And the tipping point to treading lighter is found in our buildings. Globally buildings generate one-third of all carbon emissions through their construction and operation, and this is seen in their use of almost half the planet’s energy and more than half of its resources.
Incentives to build green in South Africa
The South African treasury, and various municipalities have put several measures in place to encourage investment in green building and green building technologies – including solar energy.
wattSharing information on Green Star rated buildings
Robust debate on buildings is an important part of advocating for buildings and cities where people and planet can thrive. At GBCSA we know this because advocacy is one of our core activities.
Transport Orientated Development Greens Neighbourhoods
High-volume buildings are often found near public transport interchanges. This is no surprise as a property’s viability is linked to their accessibility, take The Marc near the Sandton Gautrain station as an example.
Non-motorised Transport Enables Sustainable Cities
What is really frustrating is that we are in a situation where the congestion is getting increasingly bad. The Tom Tom Traffic Index finds that between 6am and 9am, and 3pm and 6pm at peak times Cape Town motorists spend an average of 67% of their commute in congestion
Entrepreneurs Wash the Value Chain Green
As we better understand the harsh impacts of global warming it is becoming clear that having fewer unsustainable and damaging activities in the built environment value chain is not enough.
Growing the Electric Vehicle Sector in South Africa
Your green habits compound for nature’s gain
Green Building Council South Africa is an organisation that inspires a built environment where people and planet thrive. And one way for us to do this is to encourage better habits so that tomorrow we can all tread lighter on the environment than we did today.
