Greening and environmentally friendly solutions are increasingly gaining traction and duly so. TUHF recently hosted an event on practical greening for inner city landlords resulting in an interactive experience that spoke to property entrepreneurs in a unique manner changing the way they understand the concept of ‘green buildings’ particularly for inner cities.
Paul Jackson, CEO of TUHF Limited was the host for the morning and helped guide clients through the exciting presentations. “It’s well worth noting that South Africa has the fastest growing green building industry in the world,” noted Jackson, “it means that there is huge opportunity to provide knowledge and professional development prospects in the industry.”
While often used without real understanding, the ‘greening’ concept has become a formidable differentiator if properly grasped and implemented. Warren Gray from Solid Green, Nic Barnes, CEO of Jozi Housing and Grahame Cruickshanks from the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) shepherded everyone on the green journey.
Warren Gray, Solid Green was instrumental in giving insight into the concept that when going green, it usually takes some time before a return on investment is seen. Using energy saving light bulbs or implementing solar geysers can often take up to 2 years before any meaningful impact can be felt and any savings can be passed along to tenants. However, once you pass that mark, the savings increase exponentially compared to traditional methods such as incandescent light bulbs.
Nic Barnes, CEO of Jozi Housing stated: “If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it.” Barnes advised that making sure that you utilise suppliers who are true professionals and have a good track record around green installations required was key to success. Specifications of any equipment installed is of vital importance and ‘one size fits all’ is an absolute no-no.
Grahame Cruickshanks introduced everyone to the GBCSA and how they work with their members, local government and other professionals in the property market to #bring changehome. He also reminded us that interaction with the people occupying the building, communicating about the redesign or refurbishment is therefore as important as the actual redesign or refurbishment.
The interactive nature of this talk filled the much needed “information
gap” between owners to engage with green experts and start the discussion around requirements and choices. “It also allowed them to go beyond a typical greening discussion, and have a meaningful conversation about the impact of any decisions on the buildings and its resources,” concluded Jackson.
As always, the morning ended with an opportunity to network with partners and clients as well as the presenters. Additionally, it provided an opportunity to maintain relationships previously formed and forge new ones – remaining true to our vision of providing support and guidance for all our clients.
Thank you to all our guests that attended our TUHF Talks on Practical Greening recently in Johannesburg and Durban!
We especially thank our guest speakers for sharing their knowledge. Click on the links below to download their presentations:
Johannesburg
- Nic Barnes, CEO of Jozi Housing
- Warren Gray, Founding Partner at Solid Green, Green Building Consultants
- Grahame Cruickshanks, Managing Executive: Residential at the Green Building Council of South Africa
Durban:
- Travis Lester from Schoombie Hartmann KZN
- Warren Gray, Founding Partner at Solid Green, Green Building Consultants
- Sian Cohen, Business Development Manager, Green Building Council of South Africa
For photos from the events, visit our Facebook page: