Vodacom gets top green rating

Vodacom, and its parent company Vodafone, have broken new ground in South Africa by obtaining the first ever six-star Green Star SA rating for the Vodafone Innovation Centre building in Midrand, Johannesburg - the first time that a South African building has achieved this rating, reports personal technology magazine, Gadget.

27 Oct 2011

The Vodafone Innovation Centre will be carbon neutral and powered by renewable energy. Once completed, the centre will house a team of experts tasked with creating energy efficiency solutions that are expected to significantly reduce Vodafone's global emissions.

According to the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA), a green building is a building which is energy efficient, resource efficient and environmentally responsible. It incorporates design, construction and operational practices that significantly reduce or eliminate the negative impact of development on the environment and occupants.

"Six-star Green Star SA is equivalent to World Leadership," says Bruce Kerswill, executive chairman of the GBCSA," he said, adding that the Vodafone building puts South Africa firmly in line with global best practice in terms of green building - this is a fantastic achievement for Vodacom and Vodafone, he says.

"Our rating systems are all about recognising excellence in sustainable design," said Kerswill. "The highest rating, six stars, is reserved for those projects that are truly world class. Vodafone has set a new South African benchmark and we are so proud that this huge international company chose South Africa for the location of this innovation centre and that they targeted, and achieved, the highest Green Star SA rating possible," concludes Kerswill. Gadget reports that the Vodafone Innovation Centre is expected to open in the first quarter of 2012.

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