The conference served as a continuation of the Helsinki Conference of 2012 in terms of broad objectives of addressing the issues that face the built environment today and consolidating inputs from speakers and delegates in a wide spectrum of topics such as climate change, regenerative design, development and building urban resilience for the 2014 Barcelona Conference. 

Prof. Chrisna du Plessis, associate professor in the department of construction economics at the University of Pretoria presented her paper on “my role in a regenerative world” in which she proclaimed herself as a regenerative practitioner.  She identified areas of focus that required solutions to propel the built environment forward in terms of advancement in construction practices.    “Sustainability is the baseline - we need more, we need regenerating which means improving and bettering not only going back to where it was,” she said. The SB13 conference provided sub-Saharan Africa a platform for researchers and practitioners from the region to engage on the issues that affect the built environment. “Built Environment is the world’s largest user of energy” said Mr Stephen Eromobor, lecturer in Built Environment at CUT, who spoke on the role of respective role players and the impact they can make in reforming and improving processes that would better sustainability. Also on the agenda was the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which is on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) committing the world to end extreme poverty by 2030.   “In order to reach the goals set, target driven technology solutions are necessary,” said Prof. Alfred Ngowi, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at Central University of Technology who shared a common view held by conference delegates and sustainable building sector.

The overall message was that being environmentally responsible and pushing forward with green building could not be the responsibility of a single group, but rather all levels of society; government, business, industry and individuals. These and many other topics such as urban migration were the issues and challenges of this conference which enabled participants to share their views through presentations, panel discussions and debates. Recommendations that will be put forward from the conference for the 2014 Barcelona engagement are the water scarcity resource matter, modeling for green building, issues of education in construction and energy resources. 

Pictured are three keynote speakers and local organising committee members of the SB13 showing their commitment to building a sustainable future; Prof. Alfred Ngowi, Prof. Chrisna du Plessis, and Dr Rodney Milford, Programme Manager: Construction Industry Performance at the Construction Industry Development Board (cidb). The group photo: After two days of candid discussion and serious engagement, the SB13 Conference delegates show their excitement for sustainability!