THE Green Building Council Convention promises to offer insight into why green buildings make even more sense in a global economic downturn.

South African commercial property industry stakeholders will have the chance to learn from leading green building experts and authorities worldwide at the Green Building Council of SA (GBCSA) second annual Convention and Exhibition in October 2009 about the benefits of sustainable development and green building in the current economic climate. “The Convention aims to bring to SA the most cutting-edge thinking in green building, from both local and international specialists,” says Nicola Douglas, CEO of GBCSA.

One of the international specialists is Marlon Kobacker, senior ESD consultant at Australian consulting firm Cundall, who says that green buildings attract top tenants. “Green buildings are future-proofed against increases in utility costs and better positioned to retain their asset value than traditional buildings,” he explains. “These are the buildings of the low-carbon future and there is a profit to be made in getting it right early.”

Another benefit is that they can be effectively tracked with solid performance metrics. Quantifiable metrics are being used increasingly overseas, says Paul Carew, principal of PJ Carew Consulting in SA. “SA really needs to catch up and developers need to understand that green buildings are not necessarily more costly than traditional ones.”

“There is nothing inherently expensive in green products. On the contrary, they typically have lower energy, resources and transport costs which contribute to lower life cycle costs,” explains Jonas Bengtsson, a director at Australian firm Edge Environment. He adds that price is far more sensitive to quality, aesthetics and fashion trends than to greenness.

Kobacker, Carew and Bengtsson will be joined by a host of international and local experts scheduled to speak at the convention, among them California-based John Picard of John Picard and Associates, Shaun Killa, Design Director at Atkins Global in Dubai, and Niall Enright, Technical Director of the Energy and Climate Change Group at ERM in the UK.

Pictured here… Paul Carew, principal of PJ Carew Consulting in SA, one of the specialists to speak at the Green Building Council Convention in October.