Responding to the growing demand for training and information, the Green Building Council’s 2009 Convention at the CTICC from 21-23 October, will kick off with a day-long series of educational workshops and seminars on the Green Star SA environmental rating system for buildings.

CEO Nicola Douglas of the GBCSA says, “We are making the most of the availability of some leading local and international green building consultants who are speaking at the convention to facilitate some additional courses in addition to the core Green Star SA Accredited Professional course. Although these courses may be available at other times of the year on a stand-alone basis, the one-day format in conjunction with the Convention is aimed at offering added convenience for the many delegates from around the country who are expected to travel to the Convention.” 

Courses include the popular 1-day Green Star SA Accredited Professional course, the Green Star SA Project Submissions Workshop, the Green Star SA Simulations Seminar, as well as a free session demonstrating available software for Green Star SA Simulations.

The flagship Green Star SA Accredited Professional program teaches professionals both theoretical and practical aspects of the Green Star SA rating system, across “design” and “as built” stages. Accredited Green Star SA Professionals that are part of a building project from inception automatically ensure an additional 2 points towards a Green Star SA certification score. 

The Green Star SA half-day Project Submissions Workshop, presented by Warren Overton, Director of Viridis E3 in Australia, and one of the most experienced Green Star Assessors in Australia, aims to educate Green Star SA Accredited Professionals and others involved in Green Star SA projects regarding support documentation for Green Star SA submissions. This helps to streamline processes and efficiencies.  Overton is well placed to lead this course, given his experience assessing over 40 Green project submissions to date, and he will also be a speaker at the Convention addressing the topic “The 10 Commandments of Green Star”.

The Green Star SA Simulations Seminar specifically covers the Green Star SA credits in which modelling and simulation can be used to demonstrate compliance. This three hour seminar will be conducted by one of the foremost green building consultants in South Africa, Paul Carew of PJ Carew consulting. The requisite documentation for both “Design” and “As Built” projects will be clarified, with examples of modelling and documentation which demonstrate credit compliance to the assessors. 

Delegates will also have free access to a 2-hour Software Demonstration Session, where leading software providers will demonstrate software applications for Green Star SA simulations and modelling.

The GBCSA 2009 convention, now in its second year, features 11 international and 4 local experts in green building, among them California-based John Picard of John Picard & Associates, Shaun Killa, Design Director at Atkins Global in Dubai and Niall Enright, Technical Director of the Energy and Climate Change Group at ERM in the UK, amongst others. Topics that will be covered at the Convention include high level talks on carbon, global policy and sustainable design as well as numerous green building case studies, retrofitting of existing buildings, financial perspectives – cost/benefits of green, urban design and more. A concurrent exhibition showcases green building products, technologies and services. For more information, visit www.gbcsa-convention.org.za.

For further information and registration for the GBCSA Convention & Exhbition ’09 visit www.gbcsa-convention.org.za

For further information on the Green Building Council visit www.gbcsa.org.za