A group of City officials were awarded certificates on Friday, 31 March 2023, during a Green Building Skills Training award ceremony. The Environment Infrastructure Services Department (ESID) and Development Planning Department conducted the training of the 100 Building Management Officers (BMO). The officials underwent training to improve the knowledge and skills of staff to enable improved compliance with the City’s Green Buildings Policy.
C40 Climate Leadership Group funded and facilitated the four-day skills training with the help of Solid Green. In 2020, the City adopted a Green Building Policy for new buildings. The following year, in 2021, the South African National Standard for the application of the National Building Regulations Part XA for energy use in buildings (SANS 10400-XA) was published and in 2021 a revision was issued.
Both the policy and standard have a direct impact on building design and approval for construction at the local authority and the being newly implemented, building control officials need training on their implementation.
Zunaid Khan, the Executive Director of Development Planning, opened proceedings. He said climate change is high on the agenda and the City is committed to it. “It’s about our future and for generations to come.”
Cllr Eunice Mgcina, the Member of Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Development Planning, said the award ceremony is a culmination of two significant milestones in City.
It all started in March 2021, when the Council for the City of Johannesburg approved the Climate Action Plan (CAP). The CAP is the city’s contribution towards delivering the Paris Agreement.
“The Paris Agreement commits signatories to holding the increase of global temperature to well below 2 Degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and to further pursue efforts to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degree Celsius.
The main objective of the CAP is to put the city on the path towards achieving carbon neutrality and climate resilience by the year 2050,” Cllr Mgcina said.
She said the ultimate objective of the implementation of the Green Building Policy is to achieve low to net zero carbon by 2030 for all new buildings in the city, as espoused in the Johannesburg Climate Action Plan.
She congratulated all officials who successfully completed the training. “I’m happy to confirm that the training provided has empowered staff to become champions of energy efficiency in the City.”
Cllr Mgcina thanked C40 Climate Leadership Group for making the training possible for the City and Solid Green for the skilful delivery of the training.
Written by Brümilda Swartbooi
31/03/2023