The World Wide Fund South Africa’s newly refurbished building in Braamfontein has earned its sixth star, that is Green Star status by the Green Building Council of South Africa.
The announcement took place at their buildings on 13 November at the WWF’s general meeting that was attended by representatives from WWF and organisations. The Green Star certification process requires certain criteria to be followed and implementations are assessed based on a strict scoring system.
WWF-SA Chief Executive Officer, Dr Morné du Plessis spoke about the significance and the process it took for the organisation to find the right premises to suit their vision. ” We decided that a national organisation like the WWF should have a footprint in the Johannesburg CBD. We did not build our new office, we reconstructed it by recycling everything that we could possibly salvage from this old structure,” Du Plessis said.
The organisation considers the building as a bench mark in sustainability and green building design where it showcases how innovative, practical and sustainable solutions are combined with a creative design that cost less.
The features of the green building include no artificial cooling facility existing in the building; the use of water is reduced through an on–site treatment where the water is then re–used in the building. The other features also include recycling storage units on each floor to separate paper, glass, plastics and general waste.
WWF-SA head of environmental programmes Theressa Frantz spoke about the current water crisis and how they plan to address it.
“One of the departments we are in talks with is the department of water and sanitation where we are looking for ways to protect water sources in South Africa. With drought propelling us into a low water economy, it is critically important to conserve our water,” said Frantz.
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