Nedbank has received a 4-star rating for green office design from the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) for its new regional head office currently underway at Menlyn Maine, Africa's first green city. Menlyn Maine not only works with the GBCSA to ensure all buildings in the precinct carry a four star rating but also use the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighbourhood Development (LEED ND) tool to ensure that the surrounding spaces are also sustainable. Over and above this Menlyn Maine is one of seventeen green cities worldwide in partnership with the Clinton Foundation€™s Climate Initiative.

Menlyn Maine places a great deal of emphasis on the up-front management protocol to ensure that green principles and practices are at the heart of everything they do operationally. This approach will ensure that Menlyn Maine offers a world-class €˜green precinct€™ that will create a responsible environment that not only focuses on energy efficiency but rather the reconciliation of the natural, social and economic environments according to sustainability principles.

Scheduled for completion in early 2012, Nedbank is the first of all of Menlyn Maine€™s future buildings that will form part of the broader precinct comprising of 140,000m2 commercial office space, 35,000m2 retail and dining space, 85,000m2 up-market residential space to be officially accredited with Green Star SA.

3rd building to get four stars

Charl de Kock, Head of Group Property Services at Nedbank comments, 'We are extremely pleased that our new regional head office currently under construction at Menlyn Maine will be the third Nedbank building to achieve a four star rating in green design with the GBCSA in the past three years, now joining our Nedbank Head Office in Sandton, Johannesburg and the Nedbank Ridgeside Office Development in Umhlanga, Durban. We take immense pride in being a part of Menlyn Maine, a development that is pioneering carbon negative city living in Africa and undergoing the principles of building green and sustainability.€

As defined by the GBCSA, a green building 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 both the environment and occupants.

Sustainability consultant at WSP€™s Green By Design division, Alison Groves, has played an integral part in the precinct€™s development planning and emphasizes that Menlyn Maine€™s underlying principle is all about achieving truly sustainable buildings through adopting a holistic approach to design and utilising world-class energy and water saving technology for the benefit of the building owner, the community and the environment at large.

energy & water management technology

The technology implemented for both energy and water management at Menlyn Maine minimise negative environmental impact but also significantly reduces the use of municipal water and energy consumption off the national electricity grid, therefore also resulting in cost-savings. For example, storm water tanks have been built into the structure of the building with a carrying capacity of 90,000L and a further 20,000L capacity is stored on the roof. This water is treated and circulated for re-use inside as well as outside the building i.e. for toilet flushing and irrigation purposes. These water tanks will provide the building with a non-drinking water supply for almost a full year.

While there is a focus on water and energy, recycling is also an essential part of Menlyn Maine€™s approach to sustainability. A waste report from the Nedbank building€™s main contractor, WHBO, revealed that a total of 21,968kg of crushed concrete, 17,000kg of steel and 2,740kg of wood has been recycled on-site since inception of the Nedbank building through to the end of July 2011. The recycled material will be put back into the building or used in the next phase of Menlyn Maine€™s bulk earthworks.

'At Menlyn Maine we are very proud of our commitment and dedication shown by the development, building and client team towards making our city the first green city in African and we look forward to our client Nebank recieving their 4-Star in Design Green Star SA certification at this year€™s fourth annual GBCSA Convention and Exhibition at the end of October€ comments Justin Bowen, development director at Menlyn Maine Developments.

For further information, visit www.menlynmaine.co.za or contact (012) 361 7758.