Stakeholders unanimously endorse Green Infrastructure Council idea

According to Times Live, during a recent exploratory workshop hosted by the Development Bank of Southern Africa and Consulting Engineers South Africa (Cesa) and involving government and industry players dealing with infrastructure development, participants unanimously endorsed the idea of a Green Infrastructure Council, and an interim body has been set up to take forward the initiative. This move is very timely, given the government's plan to invest more than R800-billion on new power stations, roads, dams, water supply and rail and port facilities over the next few years.

South Africa has been making great strides in the construction of green buildings and is now looking to extend this greening trend to infrastructure such as roads, dams, telecommunications and municipal services. The country's built environment is responsible for 40% of our solid waste generation, 12% of our fresh water consumption and 40% of end-use energy consumption. Finding ways of building more sustainably and lowering the consumption of natural resources and energy will help South Africa to leave a much less costly heritage to the next generation, Times Live reports.

Read the full article on www.timeslive.co.za.