KLIPRIVIERSBERG – Small businesses, representatives from big private companies and Rand Water’s Water Wise initiative joined Solid Green’s mechanical engineer and March Green Business Platform speaker Chilufya Lombe to simplify the green philosophy.
The focus at the meeting held at Thaba Ya Batswana on May 7 was on how businesses could benefit by getting recognition from the Green Building Council, which gives Green Star certification through showing consideration for the environment.
The Green Building Council rates whether a building is a four or five star building, and Mr Lombe is confident this certification can be used by a business as a promotional tool.
“Going green helps with attracting occupants to rent your building, because you can tell them they’ll pay less because it will cost less,” added Lombe, who says that one of the benefits of going green is saving on electricity by saving energy.
“Green buildings are all about performance and not about looking a certain way,” said Mr Lombe. It is not important to make your building look green, as long as it functions in an environmentally friendly way.
These kinds of businesses focus heavily on occupants, affecting their productivity and health. In work environments such as call centre buildings, Chilufya Lombe always advises his clients to make sure that they increase natural light as it increases productivity and lessens absenteeism. “It gives employees a sense of lightness and well-being.”
The main priority for Lombe and his colleagues is making sure that they assist companies to refine their best solutions, noting also that the process works best when Solid Green engineers are included in the initial stages of planning and coming up with solutions for the company going green.
The Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Edna Molelwa, has been on a campaign urging communities and businesses to adapt to climate change and for the country to be able to deliver on its developmental priorities in the sectors of water, energy and public health services.
Mr Lombe presented various ways that could be adopted by small companies or entrepreneurs who run B&B’s, cleaning services, bakeries and other small businesses trying to save while expanding, and also those who are exchanging equipment and material used to be more green efficient.
Lombe also talked about the misconceptions about green buildings, especially the cost involved, saying that the building will only cost a business more if they do not have an integrated design.
