University of Pretoria is the winner of the Greenovate Property Award 2019 and North West University the winner of the Greenovate Engineering Award 2019.

It’s bonus season, or is it? 2019 has been another tough year for many organisations and their teams. Find out more how you can make the case for a bonus through professional development, a move that would benefit both the organisation and team members.

Plane tickets, check? Using a flight carbon calculator, work out the carbon footprint of your air travel. An economy return flight between Johannesburg and New York will generate 3.55 tons of CO2 equivalent, while to Cape Town it is 35kg CO2 equivalent.

In the last decade, in parallel with the rise of global warming and associated weather events, Green Building Council South Africa has matured. Today, there is such widespread acceptance in efficient electricity and water use practices that it is a challenge to name an industry that is not adopting green approaches.

“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it,” cites Redefine Properties’ website, a company which, along with other key players in the property sector, has drastically realigned its strategy in the last few years to make green building and sustainable practices an urgent priority.

And the tipping point to treading lighter is found in our buildings. Globally buildings generate one-third of all carbon emissions through their construction and operation, and this is seen in their use of almost half the planet’s energy and more than half of its resources.

The South African treasury, and various municipalities have put several measures in place to encourage investment in green building and green building technologies – including solar energy.