GREEN GAME-CHANGERS WIN GREENOVATE PROPERTY AND ENGINEERING AWARDS 2019

University of Pretoria is the winner of the Greenovate Property Award
2019 and North West University the winner of the Greenovate Engineering Award
2019.

The prestigious Greenovate Awards acknowledge outstanding leadership in
environmentally innovative thinking for the built environment at university
level.

The
Greenovate Awards is a joint venture initiative between South Africa’s
forerunner in high-performance green buildings Growthpoint Properties and the
Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA). Launched in 2015, this student programme aims to educate and reward the young minds and
future leaders of South Africa for innovation and green building in the built
environment.

This year Growthpoint and GBCSA have been joined by
sponsors RMS Remote
Metering Services, Aurecon, WSP and Ellies to deliver an initiative that is so
much more than a competition; it is changing our built environment.  

The
programme has two streams: the Greenovate Property Awards – covering property
studies, quantity surveying and construction management – offered for the fifth
time in 2019, and the Greenovate Engineering Awards – covering electrical,
computer and electronic, civil and mechanical engineering – now in its third
year.

This year, 18 finalists were adjudicated from seven universities around
South Africa. The wide-ranging and visionary submissions varied from sustainable
societies to greywater and energy storage solutions.  

The winners were announced at a gala dinner
in Sandton Central with keynote speaker Carla Sharpe, founding member of the SA
Space Association and Women in Aerospace Africa, who is also responsible for
business development at Africa’s largest science undertaking, the Square
Kilometres Array (SKA).

Greenovate Property Awards 2019:

1. Winners: The University of Pretoria
   team of Henno de Villiers and Liné Grobler supervised by Danie Hoffman, with
   their submission “Pushing back Day Zero – water-saving strategies for
   all”. The team
   won R30,000 as well as the opportunity to present
   at GBCSA Conference 2020, local flights and accommodation included.
2. Second place: Nelson Mandela Bay University’s
   Ashvin Managa with his submission “Implications of a natural
   ventilation retrofit of an office building”, supervised by Chris Allen. The student won R15,000 as well as GBCSA Convention 2020 tickets.
3. Third place: The University of the Witwatersrand team of Ayanda
   Mhlanga, Binaica Dalpat and Mzuchumile Makalima, supervised by Rolien
   Labuschagne, with their submission “The use of succulent
   plants to reduce the fumes in building fires”. The team won
   R10,000 and GBCSA Convention 2020 tickets.

Greenovate Engineering Awards 2019:

1. Winners: North West University Lucas
   van Wyk, supervised Dr Henri Marais, with the submission titled “Grey-water
   management system”. The student won R30,000 and the opportunity to present at GBCSA Conference 2020, local flights and
   accommodation included.
2. Second place: Stellenbosch University’s Stephan
   Olivier with the submission “Low Cost, alternative energy storage for grid-tied
   solar PV systems”, and with Chris
   Jurgens supervising. The student won R15,000 as well as GBCSA Convention 2020 tickets.
3. Third place: University of Cape Town’s Tariromunashe
   Mufunde, supervised by Dyllon Randall, with the submission “CO₂
   Sequestration from commercial buildings using algae”. The student won R10,000 and GBCSA
   Convention 2020 tickets.

WSP
Buildability Award:

In
addition, for the first time, this year WSP sponsored a laptop with accessories
to the value of R20,000 for the submission with the best buildability. This
special prize was won by Lucas van Wyk.

Werner van
Antwerpen of Growthpoint Properties, who was a judge for the competition this
year and has been involved in Greenovate since its inception, says: “We are
proud to recognise student green building projects with a passion to create
better, more sustainable, cities, towns and neighbourhoods. It is exciting that
interest and participation in the Greenovate Awards continue to grow in its
fifth year, expanding awareness and creating more solutions for global climate
change.”

Grahame Cruickshanks, Managing Executive;
Market Engagement, GBCSA, says, “The awards facilitate students’ exposure to
green building and sustainability at the start of their careers, catalysing
them to enter the market as advocates for green building with a passion to
create and enable sustainable approaches in their professions. We are pleased
to note the high standard of submissions and grateful for the opportunity to
meaningfully introduce the future leaders of South Africa’s built environment
sector to green building approaches.”

The benefits of
encouraging and enabling green building innovation in South Africa and globally
are tangible, meaningful and much-needed. This is why Growthpoint and GBCSA
have set their sights on continuing to grow the competition and programme in
future, to include more universities and a broader knowledge base of innovative
solutions.

GREENOVATE 2019
MENTORS AND JUDGES

The Greenovate
Awards provides university students with the opportunity to access the very
best minds in environmental sustainability in the property and engineering
sectors in South Africa. An unprecedented line-up of experts and thought
leaders in their fields volunteer their time, experience and mentorship to
encourage and guide South Africa’s next generation of leaders who will take the
green building movement forward, innovate and inspire.

Greenovate Property Awards

Judging panel:

• Hlompho
  Vivian, Key Accounts Manager, GBCSA
• Marloes
  Reinink, Partner, Solid Green Consulting
• Martin
  Smith, Technical Director – Buildings, Aurecon
• Nkuli
  Bogopa, CEO, Broll Property Group
• Adrie
  Fourie, Senior Environmental Sustainability Designer, Aurecon

Mentors:

• Grahame
  Cruickshanks, Managing Executive; Market Engagement, GBCSA
• Louwna
  Joubert, Environmental Sustainability Designer, Aurecon
• Jarrod
  Lewin, Account Director, Broll Properties
• Sally
  Misplon, Founder, Misplon Green Building Consulting
• Pales
  Sibeko, Co-founder, Good Work Soc

Greenovate Engineering Awards

Judging panel:

• Mauritz
  Kruger, Architect – Principal Specialist, Royal Haskoning DHV
• Jenni
  Lombard, Technical Director, GBCSA
• Werner
  van Antwerpen, Corporate Finance, Growthpoint Properties
• Mike
  Aldous, Associate – Green Building & Sustainability Services, Mott
  MacDonald
• Yogesh
  Gooljar, Building Performance Engineer, PJ Carew
  Consulting
• Alison
  Groves, Regional Director, WSP

Mentors:

• Nardo
  Snyman, National Sustainability Manager, Excellerate
• Dash
  Coville, Sustainable Building Consultant, Solid Green
• Hlologelo
  Manthose, Sustainability Consultant, WSP
• Vere
  Shaba, Founder, Shaba Green Building Design and Engineering

More
information from Nadine Kuzmanich, Tel: 011 944 6251 / [email protected]