The 19th Green Building Convention, hosted by the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA), opened on Tuesday, 27 October 2026 at the Century City Conference Centre in Cape Town, bringing together more than 800 built environment and sustainability leaders under the theme The Green Revolution: From ambition to action.
Source: Supplied. Elizabeth Wathuti O.G.W., the internationally recognised Kenyan environmentalist and founder of the Green Generation Initiative, who offered a global perspective on climate leadership at the 19th Green Building Convention, hosted by the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA) this week.
The convention focuses on the decisions, technologies, evidence and approaches already driving change across the built environment.
“The next four days will have us debating finance, water, renewable materials, AI and resilient cities – which are all part of the same conversation and where we can all learn from one another,” said Phil Bartram, chairman and founder of GBCSA.
Day one brought together industry leaders to celebrate progress in sustainability and showcase solutions shaping the future of the built environment. A highlight was speaker Elizabeth Wathuti O.G.W., the internationally recognised Kenyan environmentalist and founder of the Green Generation Initiative, who offered a global perspective on climate leadership.
Other plenary speakers include political scientist, author and commentator Prince Mashele; Samantha Skyring, founder and chief executive of Oryx Desert Salt; Lorne Sulcas, known as The Big Cat Guy; and Adam Levy, the entrepreneur behind Johannesburg’s Play Braam, who brings insights into how urban regeneration can revitalise city spaces and create cultural destinations.
From ambition to action
In her welcome address, GBCSA chief executive, Georgina Smit highlighted projects demonstrating how sustainability can be integrated into building design, development and operations.
These included Maitland Metro, an affordable, mixed-use urban regeneration project in Cape Town; Cape Gate, cited in the context of retail sustainability and waste management; Ninety One’s Cape Town headquarters, where refurbishment retained the existing building structure; and Balwin Properties’ Izinga Lifestyle Centre in KwaZulu-Natal, which forms part of the developer’s wider sustainability efforts.
The projects illustrate different approaches to reducing environmental impact, from adaptive reuse and affordable housing to more sustainable retail and mixed-use development.
“Through our Edge-certified portfolio, we know without a doubt that affordable housing can also be sustainable. They don’t have to be mutually exclusive,” Smit said.
"Like the Maitland Metro example, we have a blueprint for affordable housing – it's got all the good green design elements: good insulation, good glazing, so that you can control the internal temperature. And the people – the families and children inside those homes – are comfortable,” Smit said.
She added that each household was seeing savings of up to 40% on its energy bill.
“Meanwhile, we have also seen a rapid increase in the projects that have achieved Net Zero Waste status. We have at least 50 blueprints [buildings] in South Africa where big facilities are diverting more than 90% of their waste away from landfills over a year,” Smit said.
She added that Cape Gate has been exemplary in having achieved Net Zero Waste status and continues to actively campaign to increase tenant engagement in recycling.
She stressed that sustainability must be embedded in business strategy, project design and decision-making rather than treated as an optional extra. The goal with Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (Edge) certification, she said, is to translate evidence and expertise into practical, scalable solutions that deliver measurable environmental benefits while remaining commercially viable.
Smit urged industry professionals to base their sustainability decisions on evidence rather than blind faith.
“We’re asking you to take into account all the work that’s been done so far by our experts,” she said.
Sustainability as business strategy
“Most people are not going to go green simply because they think it is the right thing to do. They will do it if it makes business sense,” she added, noting that available data is helping assure decision-makers of the commercial case for change.
For property owners, developers, investors, architects, facilities managers and asset managers, sustainability is increasingly linked to asset performance, operating costs, resilience, tenant expectations and long-term value.
That shift was central to Smit’s call for a broader understanding of what a green revolution entails.
“It’s at the heart of the business world,” she said. “It’s really turning everything upside down and rethinking our understanding of where green sits in a project, why we want to reach for it and also how far we think it can go in the built environment.”
She also called for greater emphasis on sustainable precinct design, where co-ordinated planning across a wider site - rather than a single-minded focus on buildings alone - can deliver multiple environmental benefits.
“[The] green revolution will come when we incorporate better sustainable precinct design into our projects, showing what’s possible when precinct thinking informs a wider development – one ecosystem, one vision, with multiple green outcomes,” she said.
Source: Supplied. GBCSA chief executive, Georgina Smit.
Sponsors lead by example
Smit thanked the convention’s sponsors, Century City Conference Centre, Rand Water and Balwin Properties, whose work reflects different aspects of the sustainability agenda.
The Century City Conference Centre holds a four-star Green Star certification from GBCSA and was the first venue in Africa to achieve the global Green Key Eco-Label. Located in the Bridgeways Precinct, it benefits from a walkable urban design and resource-efficient infrastructure.
Rand Water, partnering with GBCSA for the fourth consecutive year, championed its “Blue is the New Green” message, emphasising that water sustainability must sit alongside energy efficiency and carbon reduction.
Its priorities include reducing demand for potable water, improving building-system efficiency and encouraging responsible reuse through rainwater harvesting, greywater systems and intelligent monitoring. Through its Water Wise awareness initiative, Rand Water also promotes responsible water-use practices among businesses, institutions and communities.
Balwin Properties, meanwhile, points to its Edge-certified residential portfolio as evidence that affordable housing and sustainability can be pursued together.
“Balwin has supported the GBCSA for many years because green building only matters when it is delivered properly, at scale and in a way that makes sense for the people who live in the buildings,” said Steve Brookes, founder and chief executive of Balwin Properties.
As the convention continues, the central challenge for the sector is to turn sustainability commitments into measurable results – through sound design, credible evidence and solutions that make environmental and commercial sense.
"For us, sustainability is not a badge on the wall. It is designed into the home from the start: lower electricity use, lower water use, lower operating costs and a better long-term product for the buyer.
“Our portfolio of IFC Edge Advanced-certified homes demonstrates that sustainable residential development can be delivered at scale in South Africa,” concluded Balwin.
