Lafarge South Africa recently became the only building materials company in South Africa to provide the construction industry with environmentally-friendly level C Global GreenTag® certified products. Three of the company’s value-added global brands, Agilia™, Artevia™ and Hydromedia™, were all successfully certified by the internationally-recognised Global GreenTag® ecolabel at the end of June.
Green Star buildings have reduced operating costs, achieve 5% higher rental income and the overall asset value increases by 12%. This achievement places Lafarge South Africa at the forefront of green building in South Africa, contributing to sustainable development through energy conservation and protecting natural resources. The Global GreenTag® certification standards are recognised in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, South Africa, Africa and SE Asia and in over 70 other countries.
The global brands were scored against the six main sustainability assessment criteria (and another 20+ life cycle and social criteria), namely:
- greenhouse gas emissions
- biodiversity
- health and ecotoxicity
- life cycle analysis
- synergy (product efficiency) and
- social responsibility and labour conditions.
“The effectiveness of our company’s green solutions is not only reflected in our rapidly growing track record of involvement in building projects with highly-ranked Green Star ratings registered by the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA), but now also in our newly Global GreenTag® certified global brands,” says Alta Theron, General Manager: Readymix at Lafarge South Africa.
Designers who specify the global brands as finished surfaces, walls and floors will be able to do so easily and confidently as research, analysis and reviewing of the product’s standards has already been done. “We are able to provide architects and engineers with a wide range of well-integrated efficient building systems that not only contribute to energy conservation and lowering the carbon footprint of their designs, but also contribute to credit towards their Green Star interior rating,” adds Theron. Green Star buildings have reduced operating costs, achieve 5% higher rental income and the overall asset value increases by 12%.
More information from Neo Callis, tel: +27(0)11 657 1017 / www.lafarge.co.za
