He says:

I have been fortunate to work on many projects during my work experience at Solid Green. Recently I had the chance to work on Alice Lane Phase 3, which taught me the subtler points of drawing up reports and the logic behind why we target certain Green Star credits and not others. Another exciting project involved ‘greening’ certain luxury car dealerships by first assessing where the dealership currently stands, and then advising on how to implement sustainable measures. I experienced first-hand the implementation process and effects of going ‘green’, as opposed to hearing it from colleagues or reading it in a textbook – which was exciting for someone who is more of a hands-on person.

Jeffy is also fortunate to have worked on projects in other African countries. This includes evaluating the electricity consumption at the Lusaka branch of a major banking group. “The branch wanted to reduce its energy bill, so we did an assessment of where they currently stand and what they should be targeting. Further, ZESCO (Zambia’s state-owned power company) has proposed a 75% increase in electricity tariffs. The branch then wanted us to advise on what the effect of this would be on their business and how this impact can be mitigated.

I have also worked on Quansah House, a residential unit in Accra, where we helped the client determine the optimum size of his air-conditioning unit. Our approach was to demonstrate how the client can insulate his house better in order to attain a smaller cooling load and, therefore, use a smaller AC unit. All this experience has really helped me understand building physics better.

Jeffy observes that Solid Green is an unusually employee-centred business. “We jog together as colleagues; we have company breakfasts every Monday morning along with a learning session or talk where we learn something new; and everyone’s birthday is celebrated. Team building events are just a blast! And the environment in the office really is supportive. The feeling I get when I come to work is that people really enjoy what they do and they seem to feel a purpose in being here – a purpose that is bigger than just their salaries.

I feel like, at this stage, learning and growing are very important. I want to understand how things work and why they work that way. I want to be challenged, and also have support when the challenge is too much. The mentorship that I receive here allows me to grow both in my work and as a person. And my experience at Solid Green is definitely influencing my direction. While I am still coming to terms with what that means for me, I definitely feel like my work is meaningful and that I am making an impact in an environment that is bigger than my immediate surroundings.

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As a staunch supporter of the Awards, Solid Green was involved again in 2017, with Marloes Reinink contributing as a judge, and both Chilufya Lombe and Warren Gray spending time with the students to prepare and mentor them. Says Reinink,

It’s great to see that students are interested in environmental issues affecting their future sector – the property and construction industry. These students are going to make a difference in the industry, which will benefit our planet for future generations.

A total of eight universities competed for the Greenovate Awards and the inaugural Greenovate Engineering Award in 2017. The awards were concluded with a Gala Dinner attended by many property and green building industry professionals.

UCT team of Mark McCormick, Daniel Navarro and Nicholas Tennick, supervised by Karen Le Jeune, won the Greenovate Awards 2017 with an entry entitled “Upgrading existing medium-density residential buildings with strategic green building features and initiatives holds the key to increasing affordable housing in Cape Town”. UCT student, Craig Peter Flanagan, supervised by Dr Dyllon Randall, took top honours for the inaugural Greenovate Engineering Award, with an on-site nutrient recovery urinal for buildings.

For more information, please visit the Greenovate Awards.

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