2023 PROPERTY, ENGINEERING & PROPTECH GREENOVATE AWARD WINNERS PART 2

… continued from Part 1

The bespoke programme will be based on a baseline assessment to determine Oelinga’s specific development needs and challenges as they navigate building a sustainable business in the South African market. It includes strategic business planning, market access, networking, training, capacity building, financial support, funding guidance, mentorship, coaching, innovation, technology integration, and monitoring and evaluation. After completing this programme, the Greenovate PropTech Award winner should have valuable insights, an expanded network, and measurable growth in market presence, revenue, and business development.

The IFC prize winner receives a laptop computer and EDGE Expert training with the GBCSA. All winners receive tickets to attend the GBCSA convention, where the top team in each category will present their projects on the innovation stage. Continuing to promote sustainable thinking and learning, the three top participants from the property and engineering streams also receive a nationally recognised GBCSA Accredited Professional (AP) Candidate Course.

Participants in the Greenovate Awards receive valuable mentorship and collaboration opportunities. They gain access to knowledge and resources needed to turn their research into practical products or services for the property industry. The awards also offer mentorship programmes and expert-led workshops.

This year’s mentors for the property stream included Gert Fourie and Deelan Govender of Turner & Townsend, Marlene Senne and Iphendule Ndzipho of WSP, Cebisa Mafukuzela and Wardah Peters of Solid Green Consulting, Jutta Berns of Ecocentric, Mapula Matlakala of African Bank, and Jenni Lombard, Michal Hohlfeld and Abigail Godsell of GBCSA. Engineering stream mentors included Alex Varughese and, Craig Blankers of WSP, Mary Anne Fetcher of Zutari, Siziwe Mulidi of AMC Engineers, Makhosazana Mthethwa and Thato Molapo of Solid Green Consulting and Vere Shaba of Green Design Africa. The proptech mentor was Ezra Rasethe of investRand.

The 2023 judges for the property category included Kedibone Modiselle of the City of Tshwane, Georgina Smit of GBCSA, Kushinga Kambarami of IFC, Yovka Raytcheva-Schaap of Zutari and Brian Unsted of Liberty2Degrees. Judges for the engineering category included Mike Aldous of MPAMOT, Dash Coville of GBCSA, Werner van Antwerpen and George Muchanya of Growthpoint Properties and Marloes Reinink of Solid Green Consulting. Proptech judges included Matt Marshall from REdimension Capital, Bakang Moeng from GBCSA, and Clint Higgins and Hannes Steyn from Property Point.

Greenovate introduces young talent to the latest sustainability concepts and connects them with top sustainability influencers and property companies. This opportunity serves as a launchpad for their careers and expands the green talent pool for Growthpoint, the green building movement and South Africa’s overall benefit. The programme also fosters lasting networks and partnerships among participants.

Students from all South African universities are invited to participate in the Greenovate Awards and can register at greenovatecompetition.co.za/register.

Making a name for themselves as innovators, change-makers and planet-shapers, the winners of the 2023 Greenovate Student Awards are:

ENGINEERING WINNERS:

1^st – Julian Banks, University of Cape Town: Design of an autonomous energy management agent for a hybrid microgrid.

2^nd – Willem Barnard and Arnold van der Merwe, North West University: Renewable energy planning app and energy trading platform.

3^rd – Tiffany Moodley, University of Pretoria: Enhancement of a hot water accumulator by varying volume fraction and maintaining a constant surface area of phase change material.

PROPERTY WINNERS:

1^st – Aiden van Wyk and Isobella van der Merwe, University of Cape Town: An investigation into the benefits of EDGE-certified residential estates in terms of real-world savings.

2^nd – Sindisiwe Kalumba and Hannah Volker, University of Cape Town: An examination of the uptake of net zero buildings in the South African commercial property market.

3^rd – Riyaadh Dawood, Sechaba Mohlabeng and Xihluke Shivambu, University of the Witwatersrand: The utilisation of eggshells as a partial replacement for cement in concrete.

IFC EDGE PRIZE – Mahima Maharaj, University of Cape Town: Growing bio-building materials from CO2

PROPTECH WINNERS:

1^st – Oelinga by Songo Didiza and Zadok Olinga

2^nd – Kaizen by Rob Whiteley

3^rd – Learn Base Energy by Mokete Ratlabala