The largest, greenest building in South Africa award belongs to Cape Town.

The new No 1 Silo Building in the V&A Waterfront was bestowed a six-star Green Star SA rating by the Green Building Council of South Africa.

It is only the second building in South Africa to be awarded the rating and the first in the Western Cape. Considering the scale of the project, it is an amazing achievement for the Mother City in it’s goal of being environmentally conscious and building for the future.

“Sustainable development and green operations are fundamental to the V&A Waterfront’s overall development strategy. We have adopted a rigorous approach to green construction and sustainable design principles and the efficient use of natural and energy resources,” David Green, CEO of the V&A Waterfront said.

The building is set to be completed in June 2013 but has already been recognised as a pioneer project in South Africa.

The building is already considered one of Africa’s most intelligent and advanced buildings and, through innovation and technology, it works with the environment instead of

Heat generated from the IT server room will feed the under-floor water borne heating system to warm the reception area.

Another key innovation of the building is the double glazed, double skin, high performance facade that has a system of automatically controlled blinds between the internal double glazed system and the external single glazed skin, which will track the sun as it moves across the building.

The high performance facade reduces solar heat while maximising the natural light penetration into the building.

The blinds prevent further heat gain and also control solar glare in the office space. The double glazing prevents any radiant heat loss or gain to the office space. One of the benefits of this facade is to maximise views and natural light throughout the building.