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GBCSA / Faculty story / GBCSA Chair to Sit on World Green Building Council Board

GBCSA Chair to Sit on World Green Building Council Board

July 02, 2019

Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA) is delighted to announce that board chair Nkosinathi Manzana has been appointed as a director to the World Green Building Council (WGBC) board from 1 July 2019.

Cristina Gamboa, CEO, World Green Building Council said: ‘Nkosinathi has demonstrated outstanding leadership in the field of sustainability, and has championed green building as one of the most effective solutions to climate change. Our Board of Directors is an influential group of global leaders which works hard to ensure WorldGBC delivers on its collective mission of green buildings for everyone, everywhere. Nkosinathi has earned his place on the Board through his commitment to and expertise in professional
governance and sustainability in the sector. I look forward to working with him and our fellow Directors to make that mission a reality.’

The WGBC is a global network of national Green Building Councils with members in more than 70 countries and within the next 30 years is working to limit global temperature rise by 1.5˚C, reduce the building and construction sector’s contribution to CO2 emissions by 84 gigatonnes and ensure all buildings do not, whether directly or indirectly, emit greenhouse gasses to operate.

Very much in step with these ambitions to meaningfully contribute towards the Paris Agreement, the GBCSA focuses on South Africa and Africa in advocating for sustainable behaviour in the built environment sector; training and encouraging sector professionals in how to work alongside nature and not against it; and celebrating green buildings which contribute and preserve our domestic ecosystems.

The GBCSA is maturing from encouraging the sector to not only do ‘less bad’, but to have a net zero or net positive environmental impact. The GBCSA is also a strong proponent of active government support and participation in green buildings.

Nkosinathi is currently the Executive Head of Group Real Estate Services: Commercial Buildings for the Standard Bank Group. He oversees the entire value chain of a portfolio of 35 properties measuring approximately 600 00m2 of real estate in South Africa. In addition, Nkosinathi overseas the development of strategic properties in the 20 other countries on the African continent where Standard Bank is present.

The value chain of real estate activities under Nkosinathi’s leadership includes location assessment, feasibility, leasing, development, facilities management, engineering, maintenance and energy, asset and property management and disposal of the property assets. As an alumnus of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability in Leadership Nkosinathi always seeks to infuse sustainability principles as throughout his sphere of control and influence.

Standard Bank is the leading financial services organization in Africa and the biggest bank by assets and geography. It is currently present in 20 other African countries with the objective of growing market share in these economies in the short to medium term and possible expansion in the long term.

Nkosinathi is currently overseeing the process to develop five new head office buildings in different countries across the continent and has set objectives for these buildings to be Green Star rated, with the most recent one targeting net zero energy.

In South Africa, Standard Bank occupies 14 Green Star accredited buildings with plans to increase this number on an annual basis. ‘We want to congratulate Nathi Manzana for this notable achievement, and we know the sentiment is echoed by our800 members,’ said Dorah Modise, GBCSA CEO. Nkosinathi joins the ranks of previous GBCSA board members Bruce Kerswill (Founding Chair of the GBCSA) and Rudolf Pienaar (a previous
Chair of the GBCSA) who have served on the WGBC board with distinction.

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