As many of our supporters know, the children who attend our school depend on the meals we provide. For many, breakfast and lunch at our flagship school—Jeppe Park Primary—are their only meals.

Many of our inner-city families cannot afford to stock up with non-perishables. Not only can they not afford these items at regular prices, but the demand created by this pandemic is driving food prices up, placing canned food and hygiene essentials out of reach.

We are appealing to you to once again consider the those most vulnerable in our country. If you are in a position to fund the purchase of food hampers for families in the Streetlight community, please reach out to us, or donate here.

DONATE NOW

Download The Cost of Corona on Inner-city Families pdf.

DONATE NOW

The post Streetlight Schools: COVID-19 lockdown Appeal for Support appeared first on Solid Green Consulting.

“This contest is a great platform for students to present their research to a jury of experts and get their names out there in the industry,” says Marloes, who was one of the judges in the Property category.

It was a great experience to be part of the judging team and to see the students present such innovative ideas. Topics ranged from ‘How Facilities Managers deal with Post Occupancy Data’ to ‘Incorporating Cow Dung in Modern Acoustics’. All students put in 100% effort and presented with great enthusiasm. It always excites me that students are passionate about the green building industry, and I hope these students will take this passion forward into their careers.

For the first time last year, the Awards expanded to include an Engineering stream, and Chilufya mentored one of the engineering students who won second price in this stream – North West University’s (NWU) Eben Schutte, with the submission ‘Investigating the Suitability of Electromagnetic Water Flow Meters in a Residential Context’.

Of particular interest to the Solid Green team was the entry titled ‘User Satisfaction of Performance of a Green Star SA Rated Literary Museum in South Africa’, which investigated the National English Literary Museum in Grahamstown – for which Solid Green successfully handled the 5-Star Green Star PEB (Public & Education Building) Design and As-Built certifications – with positive results.

The Greenovate Awards, launched in 2015, encourages students to learn about green building and sustainability early in their careers so that, as tomorrow’s leaders, they will enter the market as advocates for the green building movement. As Dorah Modise, CEO of the GBCSA, said:

Greenovate has, over the years, provided a platform for students to deal with real-life green building research projects and solutions. The amazing energy these students display is inspiring and encourages us all to do more. The green building movement is in desperate need of vibrant young minds to take us to greater heights, and this is where it all begins.

Eight universities competed in 2018, and the winners were announced at a gala dinner in Sandton Central.

Greenovate Property Awards 2018:

Winners: Michael Inskip, Samantha Johnson and Morgan Knowles of the University of Cape Town (UCT) with the submission ‘Assessing the Relationship between Green Buildings and their Occupants’ Green Citizenship’.

Greenovate Property Award First Prize – Michael Inskip, Samantha Johnson, Morgan Knowles (UCT)

Second place: Rashid Bulbulia, Onneile Mfetane and Hitekani Mongwe from the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) with the submission ‘Incorporating Cow Dung in Modern Acoustics’.

Greenovate Property Award Second Prize – Rashid Bulbulia, Onneile Mfetane, Hitekani Mongwe (Wits)

Third place: Kimera Ramruthan, Ziev Shani and Justin Watkins from WITS with the submission ‘Investigating the Possibility of making Rental Housing in the Gap Market more affordable through Green Building Technology’.

Greenovate Property Award Third Prize – Kimera Ramruthan, Ziev Shani, Justin Watkins (Wits)

Greenovate Engineering Awards 2018:

Winner: Chloe Bolton from UCT with the submission ‘Greywater Treatment and Reuse: Wetland Microbial Fuel Cell and Sand Filtration System for the On-Site Treatment and Recycling of Handwashing Greywater’.

Greenovate Engineering Award First Prize – Chloe Bolton (UCT)

Second place: Eben Schutte from North West University (NWU) with the submission ‘Investigating the Suitability of Electromagnetic Water Flow Meters in a Residential Context’.

Greenovate Engineering Award Second Prize – Eben Schutte (NWU)

Third place: Marchant van den Heever and Frederick Albrecht Bester from Stellenbosch University (SUN) with the submission ‘3D Printed Concrete’.

Greenovate Engineering Award Third Prize – Marchant van den Heever and Frederick Bester (SUN)

The judging panel for the Greenovate Property Awards comprised:

• Dorah Modise, CEO of Green Building Council South Africa.
• Brian Wilkinson, Chairman of HouseME.
• Mitesh Bhawan, Head of Sustainability and Utilities, Growthpoint Properties.
• Marloes Reinink, Director at Solid Green Consulting.
• Martin Smith, Technical Director – Buildings, Aurecon.
• Nkuli Bogopa, CEO, Broll Property Group.

The judging panel for the Greenovate Engineering Awards comprised:

• Mauritz Kruger, Architect – Principal Specialist, Royal Haskoning DHV.
• Manfred Braune, Executive 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.

The post Greenovate 2018: Celebrating Student Innovation appeared first on Solid Green Consulting.

Perhaps the biggest development, and game-changer in education in the past few years is the Massive Open Online Course, or MOOC. The intention of the MOOC movement is to bring world-class course content to more people who do not typically have access to advanced education. One of the largest course providers claims a total of 11 million students, of whom about 33% are from the developing world.

Simultaneously, the market for green buildings in South Africa has grown rapidly in the past decade with an exponential growth of Green Star certified projects.  This trend is predicted to continue and has fostered growing interest in acquiring green building knowledge to better understand these design paradigms and related technologies, as well as developing professional skills to be able to service this market segment.

Marloes Reinink of Solid Green Consulting says,

The local green building market currently has a largely unmet need for opportunities to gain knowledge on green design topics relevant to the South African context: concepts, fundamentals, principles, technologies and application – both at beginner and advanced levels. Internationally there is precedent for the online education model which has been successful.  However, content from other regions does not export well for multiple reasons.

Primarily, the continuing education credit being offered is for different registration bodies (such as the US and UK Green Building Councils) and for different certification tools (such as LEED and BREEAM). In addition, green building courses need to be contextually based in order to be relevant to, and meet the climatic and technical demands of, regional markets. Also, the cost of courses becomes expensive when paying in a foreign currency.  And finally, many product manufacturers that support these courses internationally do not distribute their products in South Africa.

A need has therefore been identified for a regional solution that will meet the requirements and expectations of the African green building market. Enter GreenED, a new online learning resource for professionals and students who want to learn about sustainable design in the built environment and green rating certifications.

Michelle Ludwig of Ludwig Design Consulting comments,

The GreenED vision is to become the leading resource in Africa for green sector continuing professional education, information, and communication; the essential tools that users need to be successful in the green built environment. Courses are offered for individuals who need to stay at the forefront of knowledge and skills in their sector; and for companies who need to improve performance in the workplace to gain a competitive edge through employee excellence – through in-house events, interactive webinars and online courses.

Developed by South African green building and architectural professionals, Marloes Reinink, Michelle Ludwig and Karen Eicker, GreenED seeks to respond in a sustainable manner to the needs of the African built environment, coupled with the rapidly-evolving digital transformation of the workplace, where businesses need to be agile, adaptable and at the forefront of their sectors on an ongoing basis in order to remain relevant and increase their profitability.

Says Eicker,

On-demand educational material is provided both sustainably and efficiently – employee time is saved by reducing the need to commute; cost effectiveness is ensured as companies no longer need to bear the costs of training venues and refreshments; and course material is provided digitally, reducing the need for hard copy resources and fostering a ‘paper-free’ environment. Thus, in keeping with the ethos of sustainability, GreenED provides an educational alternative with a significantly reduced carbon footprint, which simultaneously benefits the customer’s bottom-line by increasing their industry-related expertise with cost-effective courses.

Launched in October 2017 at the GBCSA’s Green Building Convention, GreenED runs regular courses that range from ‘Introduction to Green Buildings’ and ‘Introduction to Green Interiors’, to ‘The WELL Building Standard: Designing for Health & Wellbeing’ and ‘Building Modelling & Simulation: Daylight & Thermal Comfort’.

More information is available at www.greened.co.za.

The post Online Green Education with a Click appeared first on Solid Green Consulting.