Four months after announcing its hopes to build one of the country's greenest buildings, Vodacom has met the goal by receiving six-star status for its planned Innovation Centre.
This is the first time a South African building has achieved this rating.
Executive chairman of the Green Building Council of SA (GBCSA), Bruce Kerswill, says the six-star rating is equivalent to world leadership.
“The Vodafone building puts SA firmly in line with global best practice in terms of green building.”
The GBCSA defines a green building as one which is environmentally responsible and energy and resource efficient. It incorporates design, construction and operational features and systems that significantly reduce or eliminate the negative impact on the environment and occupants.
Vodacom introduced the Vodafone Innovation Centre in June this year, as a future hub for sustainability and energy efficiency research. Situated at the company's Midrand headquarters, the centre incorporates several innovative building technologies, is powered by renewable energy, and will be carbon neutral when complete.
These locally-developed solutions will also be shared across Vodafone's global markets, to help reduce its carbon emissions worldwide.
“Over the last few years we have worked hard to reduce the group's impact on the environment,” says Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys. “It is a core strategic priority for both Vodafone and Vodacom.
“The Innovation Centre, as the hub of our creative thinking around a low-carbon future, will play a critical role in the reduction of carbon emissions across the group.”
The United Nations Environment Programme reported in a recent study on reducing emissions in SA that buildings represent the single largest opportunity for greenhouse gas abatement, outstripping energy, transport and the industrial sectors combined.
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