2019 Greenovate Awards winners announced

The Greenovate Awards recognises outstanding leadership in environmentally innovative thinking for the built environment at university level. The University of Pretoria is the winner of the Greenovate Property Award 2019 and North West University the winner of the Greenovate Engineering Award 2019.
The awards is a joint venture initiative between Growthpoint Properties and the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA). Launched in 2015, the programme currently has two streams: the Greenovate Property Awards – covering property studies, quantity surveying and construction management, and the Greenovate Engineering Awards – covering electrical, computer and electronic, civil and mechanical engineering.

Greenovate Property Awards 2019:

1. Winners: The University of Pretoria team of Henno de Villiers and Liné Grobler supervised by Danie Hoffman, with their submission titled “Pushing back Day Zero – water-saving strategies for all”. The team won R30,000 as well as the opportunity to present at GBCSA Conference 2020.

2. Second place: Nelson Mandela Bay University’s Ashvin Managa with his submission titled “Implications of a natural ventilation retrofit of an office building”, supervised by Chris Allen. The student won R15,000 as well as GBCSA Convention 2020 tickets.

3. Third place: The University of the Witwatersrand team of Ayanda Mhlanga, Binaica Dalpat and Mzuchumile Makalima, supervised by Rolien Labuschagne, with their submission titled “The use of succulent plants to reduce the fumes in building fires”. The team won R10,000 and GBCSA Convention 2020 tickets.

Greenovate Engineering Awards 2019:

1. Winners: North West University’s Lucas van Wyk, supervised Dr Henri Marais, with the submission titled “Grey-water management system”. The student won R30,000 and the opportunity to present at GBCSA Conference 2020.

Winner of the 2019 Greenovate Engineering Awards, North West University’s Lucas van Wyk
Winner of the 2019 Greenovate Engineering Awards, North West University’s Lucas van Wyk

2. Second place: Stellenbosch University’s Stephan Olivier with the submission “Low-cost, alternative energy storage for grid-tied solar PV systems”, and with Chris Jurgens supervising. The student won R15,000 as well as GBCSA Convention 2020 tickets.

3. Third place: University of Cape Town’s Tariromunashe Mufunde, supervised by Dyllon Randall, with the submission “CO2 sequestration from commercial buildings using algae”. The student won R10,000 and GBCSA Convention 2020 tickets.

WSP Buildability Award

In addition, for the first time, this year WSP sponsored a laptop with accessories to the value of R20,000 for the submission with the best buildability. This special prize was won by Lucas van Wyk.

“The awards facilitate students’ exposure to green building and sustainability at the start of their careers, catalysing them to enter the market as advocates for green building with a passion to create and enable sustainable approaches in their professions. We are pleased to note the high standard of submissions and grateful for the opportunity to meaningfully introduce the future leaders of South Africa’s built environment sector to green building approaches,” said Grahame Cruickshanks, managing executive: market engagement, GBCSA.