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Buildings are going Green from Durban to Dubai
Date published 1 January 2009
There is a great deal of talk about "green buildings" from Dubai to Durban, and it's great news that SA's Green Building Council has been accepted as the 13th full member of the World Green Building Council.
Even better news is the introduction of the first Green Star SA green building rating tool. Adapted from the Austrailian Green Star rating system, it is now ready for full use and it's a credit to the team that worked on it that they haven't waited for regulations to be imposed.
The six star rating tool sets standards involving a range of challenges from water usage to greenhouse gases and waste management.
These rating systems for green buildings are very useful for investors who do give a green fig and for people who don't want to live or work in sick buildings.
Of course the cost implications are important but Bruce Kerswill, the SA Council's executive chairman, says "green" and "costly" are not necessarily synonymous. While he concedes that building costs may be higher, he points to the greatly reduced electricity and water bills.
And it seems that there are tenants prepared to pay more to be housed in green buildings because they offer more natural light, more fresh air and reduce the so-called sick building syndrome.
It's certainly an interesting spinoff from the Eskom debacle. But Douw de Kock, who is the Broll Property Group's dedicated "Green Officer", warns that the energy crisis may well be followed by a water crisis and property owners need to prepare themselves now.
He assures, however, that most energy efficiency measures are just plain common sense, such as recyclying, rainwater harvesting, using alternative sources of energy and reducing the carbon footprint of buildings as key starting points for commercial and industrial property. "Swopping hazardous chemicals with environmentally friendly alternatives and recyclying programmes in shopping centres are all ways that commercial property owners and managers can start to run greener portfolios. There are, of course, varying degrees of going grean and this will impact on costs accordingly. But the general consensus is that it makes good business to go as green as the budget will allow."
John Norquist, the president and CEO of 2007 Congress for New Urbanism, brings a new twist. He says, "We would use less energy living closer together. High-rise cities like Philadelphia and New York rarely come to mind as models of environmentalism, but they should. With people living closer to one another, walking more and taking advantage of public transport, cities have powerful environmental advantages."
While conceding that not everyone can or wants to live in high rise cities, he adds, "The good news is that a variety of neighbourhoods helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
It is against this backdrop that Gauteng regional director for Amdec Property Development, Nicholas Stopforth, says, "Millions of dwellings will need to be build in this country over the next few decades. Urban life has become a market favourite. A good solution to meeting the need for housing and, simultaneously, green development, is building a good portion of these homes in livable, walkable, 'high street' traditional neighbourhoods."
Of course, greening is not just a commercial and industrial property issue and the Cape Town City Council's website offers some good tips for creating an energy-efficient house, including basic design principles that can reduce up to 70% of your total household energy needs.
First prize is a house that has its longest side facing north for light and sunshine, and windows shaded in the summer. A skylight, ideally facing north, allows natural light into the house on sunny days and eliminates the use of artificial lighting.
Natural materials (stone, timber, thatch and clay), often obtained locally, are most suited to keeping the home cool in summer and warm in winter. Mud bricks, says the site, are an excellent source of insulation.
Anyone who has checked out the price of flooring lately may be interested to know that floors made out of brick or concrete maintain comfortable temperatures in your house as they are good at absorbing heat during the day and releasing this slowly at night. Moreover, they should not be covered with carpets as this impedes the absorbtion of heat.
Heat loss is 10 times faster through glass windows than through insulatted walls, so open the curtains during the day to let in the natural light and heat and close them at night to retain heat.
Another bit of practical advice is to grow a deciduous creeper or tree over a veranda or yard. During summer, these leafy plants shade your house and in winter they let the sun in.
The city warns that a tin roof loses a lot of heat during the winter and gets very hot in summer. Insulate it and paint it white or swap it for aluminium or other roofing materials. A ceiling and insulation in a small house can reduce your energy requirements by as much as 124k, keeping your house cool in summer and warm in winter.
Used water or "grey water" from sinks, baths and showers can be directed to water the garden, while rain water can be harvested from the roof and stored, or channelled to the garden. The website also suggests that we consider electricity generated from renewable sources such as wind, solar and wave power.
Author: Loraine Tulleken - Sawubona
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