By Songo Didiza*

We are pleased to introduce the Green Building Design Group (GreenBDG), a proudly South African black managed and controlled non for profit organisation that was established in 2016. The GreenBDG offers an open platform for the adoption of green building design principles and processes through the education of built environment professionals and students in South Africa.

We are in the process of hosting the 4th annual International Going Green in Public Facilities conference (GGC2016) for built environment professionals and students (in their final year of university studies). The GGC2016 will take place at the Southern Sun Montecasino Hotel, Johannesburg from 18th to the 20th October 2016.

What its about

The Going Green Conferences (GGCs) started in Cape Town, South Africa as a platform to enable industry experts to discuss practical green design solutions that can be adopted by professionals working within the public health sector’s infrastructural services and maintenance departments. The GGCs have evolved to focus on the broader infrastructural portfolio that comprises healthcare and school facilities, owing to the growing needs of this emerging sector in South Africa. Currently estimated at R5.8-trillion, the South African building sector presents a hub of green investment opportunities. There is a rising need for industry participants to attain practical knowledge that consolidates information to support a common and consistent understanding of green design principles for this sector.

The key objective of the GGC2016 will be to explore solutions to “optimise the effectiveness of green technologies within cost effective project timelines” within the country’s infrastructure projects (focusing on healthcare and school facilities). The solutions will be presented by leading experts such as architects, engineers, financiers, policy makers, industry bodies and quantity surveyors within the built environment sector in South Africa.

Green design principles for public sector

The GGCs focus on promoting the adoption of green design principles and processes by built environment professionals, particularly those that apply their skills within the public sector as this sector is still lagging behind on green design knowledge and institution frameworks to guide the effective implementation thereof.

According to a property report compiled by the Property Sector Charter Council, the public sector contributed a total of R237-billion in 2014/15, of which around R102-billion was estimated to be in the hands of the Department of Public Works, R66-billion held by South Africa’s 19 largest State-owned enterprises and R69-billion by metros and selected local municipalities. This is why it is critical to involve those participants in these policy shaping discussions as it can help facilities and services departments execute their budgets smartly when it comes to green design infrastructure projects (it is estimated that green infrastructure can add between 1 to 5% when compared to conventional construction costs)

Technical skills

A key tenet to the GGCs is promoting technical knowledge exchange between private and public sector participants in the built environment which will hopefully assist in introducing sustainable change at the implementation level. In addition to this, and a first for South Africa, the GGC2016 will introduce a platform that promotes knowledge exchanges between the experts and university students who are looking for jobs in this emerging sector in South Africa. These are typically architecture, engineering and even non design orientated career fields such as finance, social sciences, etc. The participation of final year university student professionals is critical as it ensures these knowledge interventions will be sustained well into the future.

The participation of university students is ensured through the assistance of university departments so that student candidates with an aptitude and keenness to grow their green design skills are selected as a priority.

One of the ways the conference seeks to ensure the participation of the right candidates is through leveraging private sector donations to enable participation of deserving students in their final year of their studies.

*Songo Didiza is the Executive Director of the Green Building Design Group