Green Building Council of South Africa

In the early 1990's he worked with The Gap to develop and implement a pioneering environmental and energy efficiency policy for its retail stores. Since then, Picard's unique vision and expertise has brought success and profitability to his many clients including: BP, eBay, Ford, Interface, MGM, Siemens, Sony, the Live Earth/S.O.S. concerts, and the design production of Ashes and Snow.

Picard has been published in numerous major trade publications and books and has served as a keynote speaker for Fortune 500 companies, universities and technology events. He has received awards and honors in the fields of architecture, energy and environmental science. Picard's exclusive network of colleagues and friends allows him to build his own "eco dream teams" to tackle the most complex, multi-disciplinary projects.John will be sharing his vision, as keynote speaker on the Green Future.

He has won several high-rise commissions such as the 21st Century Tower (270m), Chelsea Tower (250m), Millennium Tower (285m), Al Mas Tower (370m), and a number of others around the Middle East. His design work and management of the architectural studio assisted the expansion of the Atkins Dubai office from 60 to over 800 staff over a period of 8 years. His design specialisation in large projects and high-rise towers and his passion for sustainable design has led him to design the world's first large scale integration of wind turbines on a building for the Bahrain World Trade Centre (2 x 240m).

Over the past 4 years he has focussed his design philosophy on innovative low carbon sustainable buildings with challenging architectural norms to create expressive and timeless form such as the DIFC Lighthouse Tower (400m) with turbines and PV integration, and DNA Tower (260m). Killa has also been the lead designer on master plans in Egypt, Dubai, Cape Town and Singapore and he participates on the advisory Committees of several Universities for their Bachelor and Master's programs. He is also involved in the office management, marketing and branding of Atkins in the Middle East and internationally.

“I'm adamant that green building design is one of the single most effective ways to help reduce CO2 emissions and mitigate the threat of climate change.“

As one of the first people in the world to graduate with a degree in renewable energy engineering, Marlon has a passion for clean energy generation at the point of use. Coupled with intelligent climatic and passive design, efficient building services and user education, Marlon believes this form of energy will enable us to cost effectively reach and potentially exceed carbon neutrality within the next 5 years. Early in his career, Marlon worked as a full-time lecturer of solar architectural technologies at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. He has returned as a regular guest lecturer and is now one of the youngest Senior ESD consultants in Australia.

In the face of Australia's worsening water crisis, Marlon is working on several large mixed-use developments with water recycling systems designed to collect, treat and supply non-potable demands, such as toilet flushing, irrigation and water-guzzling cooling towers. Marlon is at the forefront of sustainable design in Australia and is on track to become one of the future leaders of the green building industry.

Marlon will present case studies on two retail/office developments in Australia - a AUD600m, 60000m2 refurbishment of three existing shopping centres in the Sydney CBD, incorporating two 30000m2 commercial buildings - all aiming for Green Star certification. The 2nd case study will look at the award-winning Rouse Hill Town Centre in Sydney - a greenfield project worth AUD470m which achieved a 40% reduction in energy demand at minimal additional cost.

Jeff is a passionate advocate for the design and renovation of Environmentally Sustainable Buildings and has been involved in many of the cutting edge ESD buildings in Melbourne and overseas. Jeff advises clients on the sustainable redevelopment of their Commercial and Educational buildings. He is an Accredited Greenstar Professional and NABERS assessor and has considerable expertise in the sustainable refurbishment of existing buildings and has experience with practical measures that can be undertaken to substantially improve the energy, water, waste and indoor air quality performance of existing buildings.

Jeff will speak on lessons learnt on the operational performance of some of the Green Star buildings Aurecon has designed, including 4O Albert rd, Bendigo Bank HQ, MFB training headquarters, VAGO fit out & TAC Head quarters. The presentation will include the sustainability features of the buildings, highlighting which features worked and which did not as well as how easy (or not) the users found the building to operate and work in. A highly experienced and respected ESD consultant, Jeff’s insights will be very beneficial to all working on green buildings.

Warren was the ESD consultant for the 6 Green Star rated Trevor Pearcey House refurbishment project for Australian Ethical Investment. He has provided technical support and advice to more than 20 current projects seeking Green Star accreditation. He is also currently undertaking Post Occupancy Evaluation assessments of a number of green building projects.

Warren will use his extensive experience to explain 10 key lessons and pointers for those embarking on green building projects, especially those planning to certify their buildings under Green Star SA.

She has been one of the key people involved in producing the "Existing Buildings//Survival Strategies - a toolbox for re-energising tired assets" book for the Property Council of Australia and the follow on book around the business case titled - Existing buildings// Survival strategies - making it happen. A significant focus of her work at the moment is in the area of existing buildings including liaising with the wider Arup group globally on this issue.

Pippa Joined Arup as a graduate in the U.K. with a masters degree in Architectural Engineering. After 5 years in the U.K. she transferred to Singapore, then New Zealand before moving to Melbourne 12 years ago. While her focus has been predominantly structural all her projects have encompassed multi- disciplinary design and a strong interest in sustainability. Project types have included health, education and the arts, ranging in size from single sculptures to major multi-disciplinary projects.

In Australia and New Zealand, Jonas has managed and delivered sustainable buildings and climate change research projects and worked with industry and government clients on building product and whole building LCAs and embodied carbon assessments. Jonas is part of Edge Environment's team working with the Australian Life Cycle Assessment Society, CSIRO, BRANZ, State and Federal Government in Australia to develop the Australian Life Cycle Inventory and a level playfield LCA methodology.

Jonas will share his experience on some key concepts regarding green building materials, inclusing Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) methodology.

He has developed specific experience for a wide range of building typologies including offices, residential projects, laboratories, schools and hotels in a range of climates from tropical to cold. His focus is on passive and low energy design, thermal comfort strategies, computer simulated modeling, and costing and cost-recovery tools specific to green buildings. Paul lectured part time at the University of Cape Town School of Architecture from 2004 to 2007 and continues to publish papers and attend local and international conferences.

Paul will be speaking on Putting your Money/Green where Your Green/Money Is…a new way of looking at green design decisions, and weighing them up against the financial drivers of a project.

With a wealth of practical experience drawn from an extensive range of sectors across Europe, Asia and North America, Niall is frequently asked to advise on strategic issues at senior level and consistently helps clients align environmental and business performance.

Niall's expertise is in implementation – delivering programs that achieve concrete, measurable results. A thorough understanding of data analysis and information systems have made Niall a recognised expert in the field of management information applications for climate change mitigation.

Niall's presentation will assist property owners and investors to understand how to unlock the value of sustainable property investments through cost-effective improvements - especially in the context of the current economic climate.

He has facilitated climate change projects, for organisations such as Anglo American and SASOL; he was the lead facilitator and co-designer of the SA LTMS process.  Stefan is a Faculty member and Associate of the Cambridge Programme for Sustainable Leadership; Trustee CDM Gold Standard; ex Chairperson SA Climate Action Network; Accredited Mediator, Arbitrator and Facilitator with TOKISO; Process contributor to the DBSA’s Sustainable Communities programme and a qualified attorney.

At VicUrban, his work includes leading VicUrban’s collaboration with the Green Building Council of Australia to develop a national sustainable community and precincts framework. This initiative builds on VicUrban’s Sustainable Community Rating tool, a development planning tool that also has potential application as a consumer information tool. It is also aligned with VicUrban’s Green Living agenda, which is a comprehensive approach, drawing together the elements contributing to liveable and sustainable neighbourhoods.

VicUrban is responsible for the development of major urban renewal initiatives including Melbourne Docklands and revitalisation and urban growth projects across Melbourne and provincial Victoria.