At GLA we are proud to call ourselves Green Architects. As member of the Green Building Council of South Africa we strongly support green architecture and designing buildings that operate in an environmentally sustainable way. The Green Building Council SA was formed in 2007 in order to lead the greening of South Africa’s commercial property sector. The annual Green Building Convention hosted by the Council will this year take place from 26-28 July in Sandton. At this event architects and designers from around the world will gather to discuss various issues in the industry.
The Green Building Council South Africa aims to promote the importance of green architecture through a series of short video clips on YouTube.
Dodge Data & Analytics and United Technologies published ‘World Green Building Trends 2016’ in February this year, on which the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) was a research partner.
The report states that respondents in South Africa believe the green activity so far is just laying the groundwork for an overall shift in the market. If this degree of commitment to green building holds, South Africa will be a leader in the global green market in the next three years.
The report finds that, internationally, twice as many companies are expecting their building projects to be certified green by 2018 – an increase to 37%. In comparison, respondents in South Africa indicated that 41% of their work is already green.
Especially noteworthy is that South African green building is driven by an acknowledgement that green building is ‘the right thing to do’, rather than by regulations, according to the report.
“In South Africa, there is an absence of regulatory requirements – which, in countries like the UK, Australia and Singapore, are in fact the trigger for green building,” explains Wilkinson. It’s testimony to the work being done by the GBCSA.affiliate link trace | Women's Sneakers
17 park lane: Why GLA likes this building
Posted on August 5th, 2015
Working very closely with the Green Consultant, each façade of this 5 Star Green Rated office building has been designed with integral architectural sun control to respond to each specific orientation using a combination of vertical and horizontal fins to modulate solar penetration. The latest energy efficient lighting available is used in the building and recycled water is used for irrigation while a building management system monitors the energy and water consumption of the building on an ongoing basis. While construction was underway, the policy of “reduce, re-use and recycle” was adopted in terms of the use of materials.
“The architecture also allows a high degree of flexibility for the future with the provision of numerous vertical riser ducts and a large continuous ceiling void space throughout, in order to allow maximum flexibility for service reticulation, including mechanical ventilation, fire protection services, communications and plumbing services.” Read more about this project on Architect and Builder.
Gallagher Lourens architects is a member of the Green Building Council and we subscribe to the principles and practice of sustainable design and building technology. As responsible green architects, our aim is to create innovative designs with the environment in mind. Have a look at some of our green projects online.
The American Institute of Architects recently announced the top ten green projects of 2015. On the list is a medical center which manages to capture 100% of the rainwater on site, community housing using daylight as its primary light source and more. Have a look at all ten projects here.
Gallagher Lourens architects is a member of the Green Building Council and we subscribe to the principles and practice of sustainable design and building technology. Sustainable design seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings by efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, and development space.
