African Design Magazine ADM #43 August 2018 | Page 50

SOLID GREEN
project teams to go the extra mile; buildings
must be net energy positive, water positive
and toxin free, as well as beautiful &
inspirational to others. It is a very holistic
framework to achieve regenerative
buildings, buildings that do good to the
planet instead of doing less bad.
C
hilufya: That is a tough one; all African
cities I have been to are inspiring in
their own way. Being a part of building in
today’s world is very exciting. Each region
comes with its own challenges and it is
difficult to compare them. One common
thread is the recognition of the need to
build sustainable buildings. ‘Green’ building
means lower utility costs and for countries
with constrained energy and water
infrastructure, this can be the difference
between building 500 or 5000 new homes.
The idea we have to do more with less is
quite well ingrained.
Q
What are the challenges you face
when proposing a new idea or plan?
C
hilufya: The perception of risk in
trying new things. Buildings have been
developed in a very particular way for a very
long time. Most of the time no one wants
to change how they previously did things.
However, in order to affect real change
these elements need to be challenged.
We are attempting to make buildings use
significantly less resources than ever and
this often challenges a lot of preconceived
notions about what should go into a
building. Ultimately, there is a risk involved
with the unknown. As much as many clients
and project teams want to be progressive
in their thinking, they must manage the risk
of doing things differently. A lot of our work
entails quantifying that risk for them.
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AFRICAN DESIGN MAGAZINE © | AUGUST 2018
Q
What is your greatest achievement
to date?
M
arloes: To start Solid Green and
making it a successful business.
We have been running Solid Green
for 8 years and it has grown in to a
mature and established company. We
established a company which helps
create a better place, simultaneously an
organisation which values its employees
and attempts to provide them with an
environment where they can thrive and
grow their skills. We allocate time to be
involved with educating students to be
involved with green buildings, such as
the Greenovate Awards (Growthpoint);
the multi-comfort competition (Saint-
Gobain) and supervising university
students with their master thesis. Solid
Green was runner up for the “GBCSA
10-year award for consultancy with
the most certified buildings”. As one of
the younger companies, that is a huge
achievement.
C
hilufya: Last year we worked on the
development of a Building Energy
Efficiency Code for Nigeria. Being able
to evolve into policy work has always
been one of our goals, so working on
the building code was the largest step
we have taken towards that. We’re able
to use our experience to bring practical
and effective measures that would
ultimately benefit a substantial number
of people.
Article by Jacqueline Freer
Images courtesy of Solid Green
Read more on the Solid Green
website by clicking here