Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa September 2013 | Page 11

B

rian Wilkinson, CEO of the Green
Building Council of South Africa
(GBCSA), is leading a revolution in the
South African property industry, as increasing
numbers of property owners, developers and
tenants realise the massive benef its green
building delivers to their success.
Brian’s education and experience has prepared
him particularly well for this role. He graduated
with a BCom degree from the University of
Cape Town, before completing a Chartered
Management Accountant (CMA) qualification
and later his MBA, also through UCT.
He then joined Old Mutual in 1984 as a
Property Investment Analyst, later heading up
the department, before moving to Johannesburg
to become the National Property Investment
Manager, working with Ian Watt, a legend in
the property industry.
At the time, Old Mutual was increasing
its investments in property and Brian gained
impressive experience in a variety of large-scale
projects, including big inner city developments,
industrial park establishment countrywide and
land bank investments.
Returning to Cape Town, Brian headed up Old
Mutual’s Corporate Real Estate department,
this time taking on the role of a corporate tenant,
which added a new dimension to his property
management journey. This, as well as the
electricity outages which were prevalent at the
time, piqued his interest in reducing operating
costs through sustainability practices and green
building.
In 2006, Brian left Old Mutual and turned
his attention to consulting for a wide range of
organisations. He was soon invited to join the
Ilima Trust, an initiative which aimed to make
the skills and experience of the “silver heads”
of industry available to government and small
businesses through a mentorship programme,
in conjunction with Msaziszani, a development
funding initiative by Old Mutual, which
provided funding to start-up organisations.

The green journey
Through what Brian describes as a series of
coincidences, he was asked to join the GBCSA
two years ago, at a time when the organisation
was still relatively small, with five certifications
and five staff members.
www.reimag.co.za

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Research had shown that the GBCSA was
high growth trajectory and Brian’s key role was
to identify the infrastructure and competencies
required to get the GBCSA fit for this growth.
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