Speaking at the official launch of the building, Vodacom CEO, Pieter Uys highlighted the opportunity for companies to use their own sector technology and expertise to find solutions to meet critical social, environmental and governance challenges.
"Our objectives really address two core strategic deliverables; one being our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint and the other to reduce operational costs while increasing enterprise value across the company. We firmly believe that the Vodafone Site Solutions Innovation Centre will drive the delivery of these objectives, not only for Vodacom in South Africa, but also for the broader global group," says Uys. The Centre is a carbon neutral building that will house a team of 12 experts who will look at technological ways to reduce the company's carbon footprint across the globe as well as reduce the cost of rolling out and maintaining cellular networks.
A few environmentally friendly considerations make this building so ahead of the curve: demolition material from the site has been reused or recycled, the project reduced the amount of concrete used in the foundations and sub structure by 34%, the Solyndra photovoltaic panels reduce the wind load, absolute weight and the total amount of wood and structural material required for the roof. Efficient water fixtures and fittings have been installed, and Indoor environmental quality was added through a mechanical air conditioning, heating and ventilation system. Lastly - for better emissions, the building uses as the refrigerant Lithium Bromide which has both a zero Ozone Depleting Potential (ODP) and a zero Greenhouse Warming Potential. All thermal insulants have an Ozone Depleting Potential (ODP) of zero.
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