Redefining ‘Green’ at the Green Building Council SA convention

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Redefine Properties will put green building in the spotlight and help steer South Africa’s green journey into a bright future at the Green Building Council of South Africa’s (GBCSA) 7th Annual Convention in Cape Town this week.

By sponsoring two keynote speakers for the convention, Redefine is sharing the latest thought leadership with the property industry and delegates from many other fields of business that attend the event.

Mike Ruttell, Redefine’s Executive Director for Development, comments: “Green building plays a key role in our own sustainability journey. Because of our focus on minimizing the energy consumption of our buildings, managing the environmental impact of our properties, and building highly attractive and productive work spaces, Redefine aims to design all our new build developments to achieve a minimum 4-Star Green Star SA rating in line with the GBCSA assessment criteria.”

As a keen member of the GBCSA, the company has set goals for greening its buildings. These objectives include keeping up with the latest in renewable energy developments and other suitable and economically viable green alternatives. To do this, Redefine taps in to the latest thinking from the leading minds in sustainability, and it will share some valuable insights and benefits by sponsoring Anton Musgrave and Dion Chang as speakers at the GBCSA Convention.

Anton Musgrave will call on his background in property to focus attention on driving sustainable growth and long-term relevance in a changing world. Musgrave is a futurist, business strategist, entrepreneur, and will discuss the strategic thinking and future innovative growth imperatives needed to endure as the world around us evolves.

Innovator, creative thinker and trend analyst Dion Chang, will also speak on sustainability as a key consideration for tracking trends. His trend analysis firm – Flux Trends – specializes in tracking shifting social dynamics and understanding the consumer mind-set. The focus is translating global trends, including green building, to ensure relevance for South African business.

With its hands-on approach to green building, Redefine has already achieved a 4-Star Green Star SA rating from the GBCSA for the design of its 90 Grayston Drive Premium Grade office development, which has positioned itself among South Africa’s most innovative and recognizable buildings.

Redefine has also submitted its development of the Webber Wentzel Head Office at 90 Rivonia Road Sandton for a four star green star rating, with features such as sustainable use of concrete and steel, photovoltaic cells on the roof, ice-storage air-conditioning system, a ventilated façade that reduces air-conditioning requirements, intelligent light switching, and utility meters on each floor.

Redefine also has a number of quality green buildings and green star submissions in the planning phase.

New buildings aren’t Redefine’s only focus on its green journey.

Redefine is also in the process of transforming the “The Towers” (previously known as Standard Bank Centre) in Cape Town. This building is just several blocks away from Cape Town Convention Centre where the Green Building Conference takes place. The new flushed glazed system on its external façade will reduce its cooling demand by 30%. The building will also feature photovoltaic panels on the twin tower roofs and with energy-efficient lighting using timer controls and more efficient air conditioning system.

Further, across its portfolio, Redefine has also targeted installing energy efficient lighting, occupancy sensors and timers, switching off unnecessary equipment after hours via building management systems, and installing variable speed drives for air- conditioning plant.

The theme for this year’s GBCSA Conference is “It’s time for Africa – Bringing it home”. Ruttell says, “Redefine is pleased that, as we continue on our green journey, we’ll be among those at the forefront of this important shift in ensuring the built environment is in harmony with the natural environment on our continent. Our green buildings benefit both our tenants and our environment by utilizing latest technology across the designs, drawing less from power the grid, reducing our carbon footprint, and therefore optimizing operational costs for our tenants.”