The GBCSA is one of 14 green building councils participating in the World Green Building Council’s Advancing Net Zero project, which aims to promote and support the acceleration of net zero carbon buildings to 100% by 2050.
Net zero carbon buildings are defined as highly energy efficient buildings, with remaining energy demand supplied by on-site and/or off-site renewable sources, or through offsets.
The GBCSA has gone a step further by launching its Net Zero Certification scheme, which rewards projects for completely neutralising (Net Zero) or positively redressing (Net Positive) their environmental impacts under four categories: carbon, water, waste and ecology. Net Zero certification is awarded over and above any Green Star certification a project already has.
The first four projects to be certified as Net Zero under the pilot programme in South Africa are the Vodafone Site Solution Innovation Centre in Midrand, Gauteng, which is net zero rated in both carbon and ecology; Estuaries Plaza in Century City, Cape Town, which is net zero water; and Greenfields Industrial Park in Cape Town and Two Dam in Montagu in the Western Cape, which are both net zero carbon.
"By launching the net zero programme, the GBCSA has set a new frontier for property owners and tenants to be rewarded for going even further along their sustainability journey – now property owners and investors can be recognised for being net zero or net positive carbon, water, waste and ecology. We are thrilled to already have four projects that have achieved certification under this new programme in the pilot phase,” said GBCSA CEO, Dorah Modise.
All participating green building councils are creating specialised training for green building professionals and will be supporting the development of net zero carbon demonstration projects in their countries. Training in South Africa kicked off in July and the recently certified Net Zero projects were showcased at the recent 10th annual Green Building Convention.
