Get in early for 2021 green building certifications

This is a communication reminder to all our members that the GBCSA will be taking a break for our yearly office shut down from 15 December 2021 to 3 January 2022. During this time we will not be available to process certifications or payments.

Green Building Council South Africa is thrilled at the number of green building certifications awarded to date in 2021. Congratulations to all the project teams, property owners and developers who are transforming our built environment with environmental sustainability as a priority. We hope to see this momentum continue for the rest of the year.

Should you wish to get projects certified in 2021 and benefit from the current rates, we urge you to get your projects submitted as well as get your projects fully registered in good time.

Please consider the entire certification process required for Round 1 and Round 2 when communicating to clients when results will be issued. Please also consider the full payment process when factoring in time required to finish the invoicing and payment requirements of your company.

Submission timelines

Green Star  & EWP Certification:

The entire assessment process takes approximately 12 weeks – seven weeks for Round 1 and five weeks for Round 2. Additional time should be added if clarifications are needed in Round 1, as well as time for the project team to gather Round 1 and Round 2 data and close out information for the process.

• If you wish to receive a Green Star Round 1 result before GBCSA shutdown, please ensure that this is submitted by 18 October 2021.
• If you wish to receive a Green Star Round 2 result before GBCSA shutdown, please ensure that this is submitted by 1 November 2021.

EDGE Certification:

The entire assessment process takes approximately seven weeks – four weeks for Round 1 and three weeks for Round 2. Additional time should be added if clarifications are needed in Round 1, as well as time for the project team to gather Round 1 and Round 2 data and close out information for the process.

• If you wish to receive an EDGE Round 1 result before GBCSA shutdown, please ensure that this is submitted by 8 November 2021.
• If you wish to receive an EDGE Round 2 result before GBCSA shutdown, please ensure that this is submitted by 15 November 2021.

Zendesk and assessments

There will likely be interruptions to Zendesk tickets and assessment periods over the shutdown.

• Please ensure Zendesk tickets (normal TCE or clarification submitted only) are submitted before 29 November. These will have the standard two-week turnaround time.
• Any CIR & Eligibilities, or tickets requiring TAG submitted after 29 November will experience delays due to the office shutdown period.
• Any projects submitted close to the shutdown period are subject to assessor and moderator availability.
• Any projects submitted after 12h00 on 15 December 2021 will be assigned to the assessors and  moderators after 3 January 2022, and subject to assessor and moderator availability.

Activation and payments

• If there is a project that you would like to be fully activated before the GBCSA office shut down, please ensure that a signed certification agreement and payment is received by 10 December 2021.
• If you would like your project to benefit from 2021 fees, please ensure the GBCSA receives payment and that the signed certification agreement is uploaded by 31 December 2021. Full activation however, will happen once the GBCSA team is back from the end of year shut down.
• For bulk registrations, please make certain of your account procedures for the invoicing and payments when seeking to benefit from 2021 fees – this process can take between 2-4 weeks from project registration (for Green Star and EDGE via the Certification Engine or manually) to tax invoice, in order to make payment runs. The GBCSA team will not be contactable from 12h00 on 15 December 2021.

We expect that 2021 could be an excellent year for Green Star, EDGE and EWP certifications as building owners and occupants continue to reap the health, environmental and financial rewards delivered by certified green buildings. We look forward to helping professional teams meet their green goals this year.

For more information on our current pricing, please see the 2021 GBCSA pricing brochure.