The Green Building Council of Zimbabwe will tomorrow launch the Green Star Rating tool, a system that will assess the sustainability of projects at all stages of the built environment life cycle in the country.
The system considers, assesses and rates buildings and communities against a range of environmental impact categories, and aims to encourage leadership in environmentally sustainable design and construction, showcase innovation in sustainable building practices, and consider occupant health, productivity, and operational cost savings.
Speaking to Great Dyke News 24, Green Building Council of Zimbabwe Founder and Secretary-General Memory Mugova said they are expecting a number of stakeholders to come and witness the development which is expected to transform the building environment of the country.
“We are launching the green star rating tool tomorrow and we expect property developers, ministries, local authorities, the public and the private sector at large because it’s also an awareness tool that will be legislated in Zimbabwe.
“The green star rating tool is an internationally recognised tool to rate how sustainable the built environment is.
“For sustainability, we are measuring energy efficiency, water efficiency and emissions efficiency in general and such ratings also take into cognisance the well being of the occupants in terms of health, indoor air quality, and environment,” she said.
She added that the launch comes after the Green Building Council of Zimbabwe has managed to certify Zimbabwe to use the tool.
“So we are launching the tool in Zimbabwe because the Green Building Council of Zimbabwe has managed to certify Zimbabwe to use the tool which was initially developed in Australia.
“We got quite some assistance from internal and external partners to do the local content report because we could not transplant it from Australia to Zimbabwe because the economies are different ,the climates are different so we had to do a lot for us to be certified,” she added.
Green Building Council of Zimbabwe has constructed a number of green buildings in Zimbabwe including one at Mtshingwe Primary School in Zvishavane.
