All banks are green; the logos are not
South African banks are all green, even if their logos are not. Standard Bank staff are set to move into their new offices in Rosebank, Johannesburg – which have received a five-star rating for ‘green’ design from the Green Building Council of SA – and Absa has its own energy center green.
It will bring 5,000 new workers to the commercial suburb and is only a long cricket ride from Rosebank Gautrain station.
“Staff will move in before the end of the month,” said Karin Ireton, head of sustainability management at Standard Bank.
Although it won five stars for green design, it won’t be easy to maintain the R2bn building in an eco-friendly way.
“We are confident that it will get at least four stars [green] evaluation when complete,” Ireton said.
In September, Absa moved into a new building in Johannesburg’s central business district which it said had achieved the first “five-star as-built” green building rating from the Green Building Council.
According to the council, a green building is energy and resource efficient, environmentally responsible and incorporates design, construction and operating practices that reduce or eliminate adverse effects on the environment and its occupants.
Absa Towers West contains an “energy hub that uses natural gas [generators] supply electricity to the building,” Absa said.
“Absa employees cannot see, hear or smell the energy center, which operates between 7am and 8pm on weekdays with a high level of sound attenuation to avoid disturbing surrounding areas.”
Prior to Absa’s refurbishment, the second phase of Nedbank’s Sandton headquarters won a four-star design rating. It was the first office building in the country to be rated under the council’s Green Star system. Nedbank moved into the offices three years ago.
First National Bank and its vehicle finance unit Wesbank moved about six years ago into a sprawling complex in Fairland near the N1 and Beyers Naude Drive. His green contribution was that the building’s sunscreens were considered energy savers at the time.
Source: The Times via I-Net Bridge
