GREEN BUILDING
Green Ratings
Standard Bank awarded a breakthrough
5 Star Green Star SA Interiors Rating
BY BRIAN WILKINSON
T
he Green Building Council of South Africa
(GBCSA) celebrated another milestone in
the movement to a greener built environment
with the recent Green Star SA Interiors certification
of Standard Bank’s newly-refurbished 3 Simmonds
Street office in Johannesburg.
Reinforcing Standard Bank’s green leadership,
the first to seventh floor of the building located on
Simmonds Street in the Joburg CBD has achieved
a 5-Star Green Star SA Interiors rating. It is only
the second interior project in the country to be rated
using the Green Star SA Interiors Pilot rating tool,
making it a landmark achievement for design and
interior fit-out in South Africa.
And, hot on the heels of this landmark rating,
Standard Bank Century City Branch, located inside
Canal Walk Shopping Centre, has achieved a 4-Star
Green Star SA Interiors v1 rating.
Says Brian Wilkinson, CEO of the GBCSA:
“Standard Bank was the main sponsor of the
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Commercial Handbook 2016
innovative Interiors rating tool, which will go a long
way to assure people that they are working, shopping
and living in healthy environments. They have also
taken their commitment beyond this, and walked the
talk, by using the tool on their very own offices. The
overall aim of this new rating tool is to encourage the
reduced environmental impact of interior projects.”
Wilkinson explains the tool gives recognition
to the design of interior spaces that provide spatial
efficiency, improves productivity and occupant
performance. It looks at a whole range of important
factors including the quality of internal air, lighting,
temperatures, and visual comfort, acoustic quality,
ergonomics, as well as energy monitoring and
greenhouse gas emissions.
With a focus on educating staff and visitors about
the sustainable initiatives that were implemented at
Standard Bank, and to help staff use the building in
a way that maximises its advantages, the building has
its very own Occupants User Guide. The building
www.reimag.co.za