Collaborating for a better, greener built environment, Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking (NCIB) has again joined forces with the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA) as the principal sponsor of the Green Building Convention 2016.
Widely known as South Africa’s ‘green bank’, NCIB has been the Green Building Convention’s principal sponsor since its launch and is one of the strongest supporters of this convention and the GBCSA itself.
Brian Wilkinson, CEO of GBCSA, commends Nedbank on the leading role it has taken as financiers in the green building space. “As the principal sponsor of the Green Building Convention for nine years, we deeply value the important contribution NCIB is making at the forefront of the green building revolution in SA.”
Wilkinson adds: “We are honoured to be associated with Nedbank, which is on its own admirable green journey. The GBCSA and the Green Building Convention stand for ‘doing well by doing good’. Not only do we know this is possible, we believe it is imperative. Climate scientists agree unanimously that we need swift action to prevent catastrophic global warming. Now is the time for bold, collaborative action.”
Robin Lockhart-Ross, Managing Executive of Property Finance at NCIB, says: “Nedbank is indeed proud to be associated with the GBCSA. Our ongoing sponsorship of the Green Building Convention demonstrates our deep commitment to the industry as market leaders in the commercial property finance sector.”
Lockhart-Ross adds: “The convention provides a platform to drive and amplify the sustainability message for which Nedbank has become widely known as the green bank. Since being the first company in SA to build and occupy a Green Star SA building rated by the GBCSA, Nedbank continues to champion the move to sustainable workspaces and recently opened its sixth Green Star SA rated building.”
Among the GBCSA’s many leading edge collaborations is the Greenovate Awards Programme, launched in 2015 by Growthpoint Properties in partnership with GBCSA, which won this year’s South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA) Excellence Award for Innovation in the Innovative Developments category. The Greenovate Awards are designed to inspire and encourage students of the built environment to discover, explore and invent ways to live more sustainably.
The Green Building Convention, which leads the sustainability journey in the South African property industry,aims to inspire professionals in the built environment and stimulate awareness, ambition and action to design, build and operate better buildings. ‘Build a better world NOW’ is the theme of the Convention is taking place from 26 to 28 July 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre.
“There is no doubt we need to build a better world now,” says Wilkinson. “By coming together at the annual Green Building Convention, like-minded sustainability leaders form powerful partnerships for inspiring solutions that take bold action to promote a better built environment for SA.”
For more information on the Green Building Convention 2016 or to register, go to www.greenbuildingconvention.org.za
