The Council is hence seeking a new CEO to take over the running of this growing and increasingly influential organisation.
Following the phenomenal success of Green Building Councils in the US, Australia and other international markets, the GBCSA has made excellent progress in its short history since its official launch in June 2008. As a full member of the World GBC, the GBCSA works closely with its international counterparts on expanding the role of property industries worldwide in providing solutions to the global problems of resource scarcity, carbon emissions and climate change.
Showing that the South African property and construction industries are ready to take a leadership role in addressing these environmental crises whilst simultaneously building better quality, more efficient and healthier buildings, the Green Building Council already has a corporate membership base of eight hundred companies, including the likes of industry heavy weights Growthpoint Properties, Old Mutual Investment Group Property Investments, Group Five and Grinaker-LTA.
The non-profit Council has a powerful, high-profile Board of Directors, with representatives from the commercial property industry, professional consultants, national and local government and academia.
In its quest to provide tools and resources to assist the market in greening our built environment, the Council has released two Green Star SA Environmental Rating Tools – for Office buildings and Retail Centres. The third in the suite of Green star SA tools, for Multi Unit Residential buildings was recently released in PILOT form. Green Star SA rating tools score buildings on an array of environmental categories, including Energy, Water, Materials, Emissions, and award ratings from 4-Star (Best Practice) to 6-Star (International Excellence). To date four buildings have received 4-Star ratings and there are many more projects registered for certification.
The GBCSA has also trained over 2000 people in the Green Star SA rating system and other green building topics, as well as held three highly successful annual conventions, which together have attracted over 2100 delegates.
Although Nicola Milne will remain involved in the running of the organisation on a part-time basis, the GBCSA is seeking a new CEO to head up the next phase of the GBCSA’s growth. This is a rare opportunity for a dynamic, skilled and experienced leader to take up this high profile position. With buildings accounting for 40-50% of energy use worldwide and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) identifying this sector as the one in which carbon emissions can be reduced in the shortest time at the least marginal cost, and with water and material shortages rapidly coming to the fore, the CEO of the GBCSA plays a crucial role in leading the transformation of the South African property and construction industries towards environmental sustainability.
