Green building brings together a vast array of practices, techniques, and skills to reduce and ultimately eliminate the impacts of buildings on the environment and human health. There is big interest all over the world from the construction industry, architects and quantity surveyors to design and build environmentally friendly buildings.
 

Professor Derick de Jongh was invited to participate in a high-level panel discussion during the recent 7th Annual International Green Building Convention brought by the Green Building Council of South Africa, which took place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in September 2014.

Leading the plenary discussions on responsibility, Prof De Jongh drew the distinction between what it means to take responsibility on the one side and being held responsible for one’s actions on the other side. He emphasised the fact that the former focuses towards a more “prospective” approach. In other words, to think about the concequences of one’s decisions before acting. It relates to being ”thoughtful” in everyday activities.

Being held responsible on the other hand is the more “retrospective” approach to responsibility. It involves paying the penalty for wrong actions or making sure you comply with laws and regulations. This approach is less “thoughtful” and according to Prof De Jongh in today’s day and age not the desired approach to responsibility. The implication on the building industry is therefore quite simple: think before you build a new building irrespective of how “green” it might be. It still requires significant resource extraction and carbon emissions.

It was in this context that Prof De Jongh highlighted the importance of considering the amount of unoccupied buildings in city centres across South Africa. The need for retrofitting these empty buildings, converting existing buildings into examples of sustainable resource usage might not only be a far more cost effective practice, but will definitely reduce negative environmental impact in the long term. There are many examples across the world where old builings are converted into sustainable living spaces. These actions also have a positive social consequence of attracting people back to inner cities as part of a rejuvination programme and reducing crime, unemployment and poverty.

“The Green Building Council of South Africa Awards recognises and rewards environmental leadership in the building industry and should continue to critically question all building practices in support of a sustainble future,” concluded Prof De Jongh.