MAKING AN IMPACT
EPC workshop alert
An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) can be a valuable first step to improving the energy efficiency of your building, unlocking savings on energy costs, and contributing to the global push to lower energy emissions in tackling climate change.
Property owners and facilities managers, join GBCSA for an interactive online workshop on all you need to know about EPCs. Participants will be equipped with the knowledge, processes and calculations to successfully measure the energy performance of buildings, in compliance with South Africa’s EPC regulations. The workshop is ideal for public and private-sector building owners and facilities managers responsible for data collection required for EPC auditing purposes.
Green Building Insights EPC: Understanding the Application of EPC Standards for Buildings
Presented by: Lisa Reynolds, EPC expert and CEO of GBCSA, and Claudia Naidoo-Hedley, EPC expert and Sustainability Specialist at Remote Metering Solutions (Pty) Ltd
Date: 25 February 2025 (9am–2pm)
Book now to secure your spot!
GBCSA Academy course
In the wake of climate change, health concerns and growing urban populations, it’s clear that cities and precincts can no longer be built as they were. Sustainable precincts are a response to this, by taking the principles of green building and channelling them on a larger scale.
You can become a Green Star Sustainable Precinct Accredited Professional (AP) with the GBCSA Academy, and be part of transforming the built environment for people and the planet to thrive by designing sustainable precincts for everyone.
This Zoom webinar session shares the experiences of leading projects on how they used Green Star rating tools, and covers a range of topics, such as improving wellbeing, fostering community connections, reducing environmental impact and enhancing resilience. You’ll complete 10 online modules and a final assignment to validate your new skills and knowledge, and become a Certified Green Star AP.
Green Star Sustainable Precincts AP Programme
Presented by: GBCSA Academy team
Date: 6 March 2025 (9am–3pm)
Sign up here
Top global employer
For the 10th year globally and the 11th nationally, leader in light and sustainable construction, Saint-Gobain, has been awarded the Top Employer Global title, an accolade bestowed only to 17 companies worldwide this year.
This recognition underscores the company’s consistent commitment to creating an exceptional working environment for its employees. Among the 20 criteria analysed by the Top Employers Institute, Saint-Gobain has achieved improvements in sustainability (+2.2%), employee wellbeing (+1.76%), rewards and recognition (+1.03%), and career opportunities (+0.75%), reflecting the Group’s continuous efforts to enhance working conditions and value its teams.
“At Saint-Gobain, our people are our greatest asset and remain a key pillar and priority within the Sub-Saharan Africa region. This recognition highlights our dedication to not only empowering our workforce in South Africa but also across the entire African continent,” says Fanie Vos, HR Director for Saint-Gobain Africa. www.saint-gobain-africa.com
New EU Building Policy Tracker
A first-of-its-kind digital EU Building Policy Tracker provides an comprehensive overview of where built environment policy has made advances towards decarbonising buildings by 2050. Developed by the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) under its Europe-wide #BuildingLife project, this resource showcases regulatory progress and identifies gaps the new European Commission must address to decarbonise EU buildings.
The tracker builds upon the recent political momentum, which is galvanising the sustainable built environment. At European level, an example is the ambitious revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and, on a global scale, countries will now be working to update their national climate action plans (NDCs), which are due in February 2025 under the Paris Agreement.
As mapped out in the tracker, particularly notable gaps that remain for the EU include longer-term renovation targets, circularity of the built environment and how finance is channelled towards sustainable building practices. It monitors the recommendations put forward by WorldGBC in 2022 as part of its EU Policy Whole Life Carbon Roadmap, a policy plan that is designed to help the EU accelerate total decarbonisation of the building and construction sector.
Audrey Nugent, Global Advocacy Director at WorldGBC said: “The tracker was developed to spotlight how far the EU’s buildings policy has gone, and how far we have to go to achieve climate neutrality goals.
“The development is timely, as this year’s revision of the EPBD marked a key milestone for EU buildings policy, and rightly highlighted the critical role our sector plays in delivering a climate neutral Europe. While the ambition is commendable, the tracker highlights the need for greater action and clearer long-term policies to secure Europe’s decarbonisation future.”
Despite revisions being made to the EPBD, the tracker reveals some significant ambiguity in longer-term goals for 2040 and 2050. These include:
Energy poverty risk: While specific renovation targets are set for existing buildings until 2035 in the EPBD, it is not clear how these will be tightened after that date. This is essential to get right, because insufficient action on energy efficiency will make climate goals unattainable and could potentially leave millions of Europeans living in energy poverty.
Weak reporting risk: The text also creates a potential loophole for national Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) systems – for any amended in the past five years, these will not need to be harmonised against the EU template until at least 2030. Comparability of building and renovation data therefore will be extremely difficult as the EU aims to report against climate goals.
Elsewhere, while the 2024 revision of the Waste Framework Directive fell short of addressing buildings and building products specifically, WorldGBC expects that the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will deliver on the promise of a new Circular Economy Act. This Act aims to stimulate market demand for secondary materials and establish a single market for waste, particularly in relation to critical raw materials.
“Without binding circularity targets in building policies, we are missing a significant opportunity to reduce material waste and unlock the full potential of the circular economy, so we will be looking closely to see how the promised Circular Economy Act addresses this,” commented Audrey.
The tracker also reveals areas for improvement and clarity in financial frameworks and carbon criteria. Current EU Taxonomy lacks carbon requirements for buildings, and more indication of robust renovation finance mechanisms beyond 2025 is needed. The green transition across the building sector provides a huge financial opportunity, and adequate and accessible funding is a cornerstone in aligning the sector with Europe’s broader climate goals.
CEO of WorldGBC Cristina Gamboa says, “We cannot afford to not think about long-term planning to achieve our goals. Now is the time to be bold on buildings. By driving ambitious policies today for 2040 and beyond, we are significantly increasing our chances of meeting Europe’s target of a fully decarbonised building stock by 2050, whilst inspiring continents around the world to accelerate climate action.
“WorldGBC, and our European Regional Network of more than 20 Green Building Councils are ready to support the European Commission, and national governments, to develop – and implement – the right policies so that sustainable buildings are the heartbeat of a prosperous and equitable future for Europe.”
As the building sector makes up 40% of Europe’s energy demand, 80% of which is from their use of fossil fuels, the findings underscore the urgency for the European Commission to prioritise long-term building decarbonisation policies. www.worldgbc.org/buildinglife/
