POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

IMPACT 11

Official publication of the Green Building Council of South Africa

GREEN BY DESIGN Rising to the challenge

IMPACT The official publication of GBCSA

WINNER

PROPERTY PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR 2019

Editor Mary Anne Constable maryanne@positive-impact.africa Director Danielle Solomons danielle@greeneconomy.media Editorial Contributors Melissa Baird Nicole Cameron Gillian Gertnetzky Melinda Hardisty Henk Rotman GBCSA Editorial Advisory Georgina Smit Jenni Lombard Jo Anderson Design and Layout Carla Lawrence, CDC Design Media Sales Gerard Jeffcote Vania Reyneke

Joint Publishers Gordon Brown gordon@greeneconomy.media Danielle Solomons danielle@greeneconomy.media Head of Content Alexis Knipe

Chief Executive Officer Lisa Reynolds Finance & Operations Manager Levinia Palmer

Production Administrator Melanie Taylor Web Digital and Social Media Steven Mokopane GE.tv Head of Production Byron Mac Donald

Marketing Manager Christy Borman

Cover image: Sandton City Shopping Centre, Gauteng.

Credit: Sandton City

MPeople Resourcing (Pty) Ltd t/a GreenEconomy.Media Reg no. 2005/003854/07

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any way or in any form without the prior written permission of the Publisher. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the GBCSA or the Publisher. All editorial and advertising contributions are accepted on the understanding that the contributor either owns or has obtained all necessary copyrights and permissions. GBCSA and the Publisher do not endorse any claims made in the publication by or on behalf of any organisations or products. Please address any concerns in this regard to the Publisher.

CALLING ALL THOUGHT LEADERS +Impact Magazine, the official publication of the GBCSA, presents thought leadership from local and international green building commentators and practitioners, and showcases the excellent work of GBCSA members.

Are you a thought leader in your relevant field? GBCSA members are invited to submit stories about projects, design concepts, materials, research, and anything else that promotes a healthy sustainable built environment. Submit a 200-word description of your content idea with 1-2 images to: maryanne@positive-impact.africa

ADVERTISE WITH US For advertising and sponsored content contact Danielle Solomons: danielle@greeneconomy.media Advertising rates are discounted for GBCSA members and further discounts are available for booking multiple editions in 2021.

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POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

CONTENTS

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INSIGHT A note from the editor, Mary Anne Constable

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PROFILE Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo PROJECT d -SCHOOL: THE EMBODIMENT OF COLLABORATIVE DESIGN REALISED The Hasso Plattner School of Design Thinking (d-school) at UCT exemplifies the use of collaborative design and future-proof thinking

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SPECIAL FEATURE

TWO DEGREES AHEAD OF THE REST Liberty Two Degrees recently announced that their entire property retail portfolio has received Green Star ratings

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PROJECT

GREEN AT HEART All targeting 6-Star Green Star Design and Net Zero Carbon ratings, ‘green barn’ lifestyle centres are currently being rolled out across Balwin’s Green Collection Developments

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POLICY

RAISING THE ENERGY BAR

South Africa’s newly implemented Energy Performance Certificate regulations will encourage buildings to become more energy efficient

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TECHNOLOGY THE EVOLVING ROLE OF LIGHTING IN GREEN BUILDINGS Henk Rotman explores the touch points between green buildings and lighting

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POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

CASE STUDIES GREEN BUILDING SERVICES, MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGIES

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INSIGHT

It has been a year in which the necessity to be more sustainable and resilient has laid itself out starkly, and many have risen to the challenge.

Many have decided to build back better.

The new home of the Hasso Plattner School of Design Thinking (d-school) at UCT demonstrates a meeting of conceptual collaborative thinking and structural form. Collaborative workshops were held with various stakeholders, in order to make sure the building design really served all of its required functionality. These ideas have come to life in a dynamic steel and glass structure which curls itself over the inside spaces like a cloud. Furthermore, the building is targeting a 6-Star Green Star PEB Design rating, showing that ‘green’ can be highly innovative too.

Being green doesn’t always mean starting right from the beginning of a building’s design. Liberty Two Degrees recently Green Star certified their entire portfolio of retail centres showing that it is possible for existing buildings to be retrofitted and reinvented into greener ones. With a prestigious retail centre such as Sandton City achieving a 6-Star EBP rating, others are sure to follow suit (holding thumbs).

Balwin & Boogertman+Partners ‘green barn’ lifestyle centres are a striking design addition Balwin’s Green Collection residential developments. With plans to target 6-Star Green Star ratings for all these developments, I wonder how this will influence the residential development space, and whether it will encourage other developers to pursue ambitious green goals too.

We also feature a discussion of the role of lighting in green buildings which expands on the influence of technology on design, and a review of the Energy Performance Certificate regulations – an important development for all property owners.

Last, but certainly not least, I wish to you a happy easter holiday period (whatever the significance of the holiday is for you). May the change come easy as you glide into the second quarter of 2021 (and a new season).

Mary Anne Constable Editor

POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

Green By Design

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utside of my office today, a weed-eater is humming a doleful tune in the driveway, as if to create the soundtrack for what has turned out to be a grey-clouded afternoon. Nevertheless, I’m sitting inside at my desk writing this note to you, while eating a chocolate marshmallow easter egg (it’s actually my first one of the season but, let’s be honest, it won’t be my last).

I’m pondering over new life, beginnings, seasons, change; and all the things that easter eggs are supposed to represent. This time in 2020, South Africa was in the middle of a hard lockdown due to the world having just plunged into a devastating pandemic. It has been a challenging year in so many ways, but also a year of unusual innovation. Many businesses were forced to reinvent themselves, to pivot, to adjust. It has been a year in which the necessity to be more sustainable and resilient has laid itself out starkly, and many have risen to the challenge. Many have decided to build back better.

In this issue of +Impact Magazine, we explore what it means to be ‘green by design’.

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PROFILE

End Street North Park’s lessons for Africa

City officials globally are learning that residents’ quality of life is significantly affected by the quality of public open spaces available. A sociable, cohesive and healthy society requires well-managed and maintained public open spaces.

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ith 3 000 land parcels stretching from cemeteries to large road islands on its books, how does Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ) ensure the safety and upkeep of these parks and public open spaces with limited resources, budget and capacity to deal with the many challenges they face?

While focusing on limited resources to developing and managing accessible, inclusive and sustainable public open spaces. JCPZ found that lack of security and other concerns kept people away from local parks.

End Street North Park in Doornfontein was selected as the most challenged site of a 2019 pilot project to make parks safe and attractive by testing alternative development and management concepts. The approach aimed to be holistic and collaborative, involving not only the local users and stakeholders, but also City departments. The overall ambitious aim was to develop a practical and integrated model to design and manage public open spaces that could be mimicked elsewhere in Joburg, and throughout cities in Africa.

Taken from the report Transforming Public Parks into Safe and Inclusive Community Spaces: Lessons on collaboration and participation from the City of Johannesburg, here are seven lessons learnt for park users and administrators throughout Africa.

1. More than just green spaces, parks knit neighbourhoods’ social fabric Parks are more than simply physical spaces for relaxing and playing and require more input than the simple municipal services of picking up litter and cutting grass. A holistic understanding of managing public open spaces and parks is required for them to fulfil functions that best benefit the communities that use them, especially in dense and diverse neighbourhoods.

2. Partnerships and collective action are key to any park’s success The ongoing process of activating and managing parks needs partnerships, networks and forums to germinate and take root. Adding capacity and knowledge-sharing to the park through the commitment of invested individuals with a common purpose make the adage ‘many hands make light work’ a reality.

The End Street North Park project was made possible through a joint partnership between Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ), as project leader, the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), the Department of Public Safety, Sticky Situations, Wits University and the Inclusive Violence and Crime Prevention Programme (VCP), a joint development cooperation programme between South Africa and Germany implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and UNHabitat Global Public Space Programme . The process created the space for new collaborations to emerge, not only across City departments but with the South African Cities Network and the South African Local Government Association.

3. Park users are not all the same Park users reflect the demographics of the neighbourhood plus school children and visitors.

Therefore, a requirement to develop inclusive, safe and accessible parks is an understanding of the needs, desires and challenges of all different park users.

Importantly, the roles of vulnerable groups such as people experiencing homelessness, waste collectors, informal traders provide by being the eyes and ears of the park, and as such contribute to safety and security.

The needs of most park users can be accommodated through communication, education and negotiation about the role and contribution of the shared space to the general community, including how and when it is used.

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PROFILE 4. Park safety is multi-dimensional and more than policing A safety audit needs to be done. This will identify issues in the park and the surrounding precinct by mapping crime and give insight into how the space functions. Just as safety permeates every aspect of social life, public open spaces or parks cannot be isolated from surroundings, broader communities and managed effectively if the broader neighbourhood is unsafe. More than fences, security guards, and CCTV, safety also includes promoting social control by activating spaces through community engagement and supporting the implementation of rules and regulations and better communication and coordination among institutions.

In the case of End Street North Park, the audit highlighted external safety issues, such as the lack of a safe pedestrian crossing across a busy adjacent street, despite the presence of a nearby primary school.

Another was the lack of toilets in the park, which contributed to people urinating in public. These reinforced perceptions that the park was dirty and dangerous, and a place in which, especially women and children, did not feel comfortable or safe.

5. Meaningful stakeholder engagement takes time and skill Public participation is not simply a few casual consultations – it requires continuity and building trust between park users and government through a sustained process of communication, negotiation, respect and honesty. It also requires being vulnerable to making mistakes. Meaningful engagement does not happen through officials attending community meetings to disseminate information, rather it happens when active participants develop relationships.

The case study illustrated that for suitably effective levels of engagement, officials were required to work flexible hours and be given the opportunity to develop the ‘soft’ skills of listening and facilitation to properly understand people’s needs, desires and challenges.

It also became clear that neighbourhood politics is integral to all participatory processes and cannot be ignored as this would lead to tension between different

user groups, such as local users from different areas or with different political allegiances. These tensions are typically expressed in distrust, anger, alienation, and division which slows the project progress. Introducing all stakeholders upfront, including residents, local councillors and officials starts a transparent and communication-orientated process.

6. Leadership with a win-win approach Committed leadership from the City is needed to coordinate regular engagement and build a dedicated park committee prepared to make the case for and to work across internal City departments, despite systems which discourage integrated approaches to annual activities, tasks or budgets. A project like the End Street North Park is a multi-year project involving local level politicians at a small scale.

What helps is to encourage a cross-sector response by presenting a win-win situation – the various officials must see that actively participating will contribute to achieving their own departmental targets.

7. Community buy-in and support makes the work easier and sustainable Communities that have a sense of ownership, take care of the public open spaces they use. This care is often implemented after users with sometimes divergent interests agree to work together, and this cooperation is accelerated when officials effectively manage community expectations by sharing information on how the City works, helping them to shift from complaining to joint problem-solving.

Park users and local residents are key resources to any park development and when empowered to take responsibility of their own parks and public open spaces, they become more likely to contribute to ensuring that their spaces remain safe, secure, clean and functional. This ultimately makes the City’s work easier, especially in a resource-constrained environment.

Starting small, a shared commitment mobilises greater levels of collaboration, which encourages resource mobilisation and promotes working together across City departments and with local ward councillors, as a virtuous cycle is catalysed.

WHAT IS PLACEMAKING?

Placemaking is an approach to designing, developing, activating and maintaining public open spaces that is based on community-driven and research-based processes. Collaborative community participation is at the forefront of creating public open spaces, inviting local users to collectively reimagine and reinvent public open spaces in which they are active. Collaborative engagement is used to shape the public realm, strengthen connection between local users and public open spaces that they share.

With community-based participation at the centre, effective placemaking processes recognise communities as resources and capitalise on local assets and potential. It is an immensely powerful way of approaching public open spaces. Genuine placemaking is when people of all ages, abilities and socio-economic backgrounds can, not only access and enjoy a place, but also play a key role in identifying, creating and maintaining it. Placemaking is a catalyst for pulling in investment for the economic growth of an area and for bringing communities together to improve their neighbourhood spaces. This results in more ‘eyes on the street’, which contributes to making places safer.

POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

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PROJECT

d-school:

The embodiment of collaborative design realised

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The Hasso Plattner School of Design Thinking (d-school) teaches design thinking to students and individuals across all industries and from diverse backgrounds. Naturally, one would expect the school’s new home at UCT to exemplify the use of collaborative design and future-proof thinking in its building. This vision will soon be a reality.

WORDS Melinda Hardisty

Project nutshell Location: UCT’s Middle Campus,

Cape Town Type of Building: Design school within an

academic institution Project Dates: Expected completion

in March 2022 Project Size: 5500m² Green Star Rating: Targeting a 6-Star rating (Public & Education Building Design v1 & As-Built)

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PROJECT

T

he concept of ‘design’ has historically been quite limited to specific areas of the arts. In the past, being a ‘designer’ was reserved for quite specific professions and creative fields, while people working in more corporate or technical settings might describe themselves as ‘not creative’.

The inherent creativity we see in children is often either stamped out or is channelled into very specific forms before adulthood. This thinking has changed over the last few decades.

‘DESIGN THINKING’ EMERGES When Hasso Plattner, German businessman and philanthropist, donated funds in 2005 to start the first international d.school at Stanford University, a new vision for teaching design was realised. It extended the reach of the D-School at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany, which had focussed on design in Information Technology Systems since 1998. The schools teach collaborative design processes that can be applied in myriad contexts. Students learn about ‘design thinking’, a globally recognised approach and mindset to solving complex problems from a human-centred perspective. The approach harnesses the power of diversity and group thinking to solve complex problems with nuanced solutions.

Africa’s first d-school was founded in Cape Town in 2015 with seed funding and IP support from the Hasso Plattner Foundation and has been temporarily housed at the UCT Graduate School of Business campus. It primarily offers design thinking education and courses to students at the university, and in addition helps large corporations, NGOs, and government organisations use design thinking to drive innovation and new outcomes.

Richard Perez, founding director of Cape Town’s d-school, explains that the school’s work reaches across all the faculties of the university and has reached many African countries through its courses and workshops.

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D-SCHOOL’S NEW HOME By 2017 the potential of the d-school had become apparent and the Hasso Plattner Foundation agreed to fund the construction of a dedicated state-of-theart facility on UCT’s Middle Campus. Once the site had been identified the design for a new building was commissioned through an invited competition.

KMH Architects in Cape Town ultimately won. The sustainability requirements were clear from the beginning and formed part of the competition brief, including the aspiration to target a 6-Star Green Star.

Part of UCT’s ‘Vision 2030’ includes meeting certain sustainability goals across its campuses. These goals include a minimum requirement of a 4-Star Green Star certification for all new buildings. Manfred Braune, UCT’s Director for Environmental Sustainability, explains: “Targeting a 6-Star rating allows UCT to get first-hand experience as an academic institution of pushing the green building boundaries even further, with no other African academic institution yet having

The conceptual visualisation of the project utilised the d-school’s design thinking approach to solving problems, incorporating five stages; empathise, define, ideate, prototype, and test.

d-school at UCT

An artist’s impression of the school in its context on the UCT campus.

He says that “the d-school intends to expand its reach further into Africa and ensure that design thinking is a catalyst for enhanced problem solving by Africans, for Africans”.

POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

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PROJECT

achieved this. It is an important element of UCT’s learning process as to how the institution could get to its goal of being net-zero carbon by 2050.” He also highlights that the sustainability goals align well with the Hasso Plattner Foundation’s values, which allowed this project to be more ambitious in its green building objectives.

In keeping with d-school’s tenets, the building design co-creation process was collaborative and inclusive.

Jonathan Ray, of KMH Architects, explains how early workshops were held to allow the architects, students, and faculty members to collaboratively create the brief and be part of the design process. During this process, groups explored what a building for design teaching was and they built models of what they thought the

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d-school could be. “This process guided our design approach,” says Ray, and the proposed design embodies rich experience and possibility, unparalleled anywhere else at the university.

The conceptual visualisation of the project utilised the d-school’s design thinking approach to solving problems, incorporating five stages; empathise, define, ideate, prototype, and test. These stages and ideas were then visualised as a spatial strategy, exploring human interactions in space. Other considerations were the scalability and the flexibility of the spaces to enable use by different group sizes, and to be able to accommodate future programme adjustments. These concepts were then considered in terms of how they would engage with the site.

KMH Architects

Interior spaces will be largely naturally lit, without excessive glare or heat gain.

d-school at UCT

A render of the d-school showing the expanded mesh sun-screening devices on the façade.

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PROJECT

THE SITE

MATERIALITY

The triangular site is relatively small with an 8.5m cross fall between the highest and lowest points. This allowed for the design of a four-level building comprised of a basement parking level and three floors above to accommodate teaching, administration, and related functions. Only two-and-a-half storeys are visible above ground. The concrete framed structure is covered by a large-span steel lattice shell and glass roof, which was partly derived by abstracting the geometry of the site. It creates large, column-free volumes, allowing maximum spatial flexibility. Current layout requirements can be accommodated and, as the school’s programme evolves over time, internal changes can be easily implemented .

One of the building’s more innovative sustainable design features is the use of Thermo-Active Building Systems (TABS). This means that thermal comfort within the building is achieved through harnessing the power of its materials’ thermal mass – a given material’s ability to absorb, store, and release heat. Historically, materials such as stone, rammed earth, or brick may have been cleverly utilised to absorb the sun’s heat.

In summer, the material mass would stop heat from penetrating into a building quickly, thereby keeping it cooler. In winter, it would absorb the heat and slowly release it to the interior, warming up the spaces inside.

A more modern version of this has been utilised for

KMH Architects

ABOVE: An early concept sketch of the building’s shape.

BELOW: Concept sketches explore the design requirements and parameters.

POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

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PROJECT the d-school, where either warmed or cooled water is run through pipes cast into the concrete slabs. The water changes the concrete’s temperature enough to radiate heat or to cool the building.

There is a delicate balance between having enough natural lighting and external views, which assist in occupants’ comfort and reduce the need for artificial lighting, and creating too much heat gain and glare in a building. The d-school design incorporates fritted glass over the atrium space which helps to reduce the solar heat and glare while still providing comfortable daylight levels into the deeper plan spaces. The façades include specialised solar glass as well as carefully positioned passive shading elements.

The d-school’s teaching and working methods required that the teaching spaces be flexible studios and collaborative spaces rather than formal lecture theatres. So, the inside of the building features large, open-plan spaces. Polished concrete floors provide robust, hard-wearing surfaces that also assist with the TABS functionality. Engineered-timber floors were

Part of UCT’s ‘Vision 2030’ includes meeting certain sustainability goals across its campuses. These goals include a minimum requirement of a 4-Star Green Star certification for all new buildings. introduced in the quieter areas like the reflection spaces and open-plan offices, to soften the aesthetics and aid with acoustics.

Noise and reverberation (echoes) can be problematic, particularly in large spaces with a lot of smooth, solid finishes. Acoustics were managed with the introduction of vertical, suspended acoustic baffles. This is also considered one of the best solutions for TABS buildings.

Closeup internal and external views illustrating the free form grid-shell structure of the building, with point and edge-clamped glazing.

LEAF and Novum Structures

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PROJECT

Internal spaces will be open, connected, and flexible.

SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES

d-school at UCT

UCT’s sustainability goals place emphasis on becoming more self-sufficient in terms of power production.

They have recently invested in a large-scale study of all the campuses to assess the most technically and financially viable locations for incorporating solar PV panels. Currently around 30 potential sites have been located, but the d-school will be the first to implement a PV system on its roof.

Due to the atrium glazing, the roof space was limited, but a 63.5kW peak grid-tied system has been incorporated. Though this won’t make the building selfsufficient, it will greatly reduce its reliance on the grid.

The monitoring system is cloud-based, allowing it to be tracked remotely. The data generated will be linked to a smart TV in the d-school building to promote awareness of energy use among the building’s users.

Rainwater will be harvested to supplement the water supply, and water-saving devices and electronic flushes will be fitted to all sanitaryware. Low-energy light fittings, along with the decision to utilise the TABS system for temperature control, will significantly reduce electricity usage. The basement parking includes bays for electric cars and bicycle stands, pre-empting what will hopefully become a more accessible shift in transport options in the future.

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A COLLABORATIVE HUB FOR THE FUTURE The layout incorporates indoor and outdoor spaces for students to relax, work, and socialise in spaces with natural light, fresh air, and outside views.

Richard Perez describes it as “a place for co-creation and collaboration across the university’s faculties”, and it is hoped that it will be a multi-disciplinary campus hub.

UCT’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, is particularly excited about this addition to the campus. She was instrumental in the development of UCT’s ‘Vision 2030’, and the d-school and its building will play a strategic role in the implementation of that vision. She recently attended the unveiling of the building model and visited the building site, where she said: “In the last five years, as the d-school has established its programmes within our institution, we have seen how design thinking can unleash our graduates’ potential to lead within diverse contexts, work across disciplines and tap into their creativity to respond to real-world challenges.” This building will be sustainable both environmentally and functionally and promises to be a catalyst for creative thinking and problem solving on a much larger scale

Collaborative workshops were held to explore what a school for design could be.

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SPECIAL FEATURE

Two degrees

ahead of the rest

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Liberty Two Degrees recently announced that their entire property retail portfolio has received Green Star ratings, with the well-known Sandton City precinct receiving a 6-Star rating. This achievement is the result of having put in many hard yards to fulfil bold sustainability commitments.

WORDS Nicole Cameron

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Sustainable Development is that which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs – Brundtland, 1987.

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“O

Eastgate Complex

ur sustainability journey has been nothing short of amazing,” says Liberty Two Degrees (L2D) asset management executive Brian Unsted.

“Our efforts to reduce energy and water consumption started a number of years back. As far back as 2012 we were investigating solar opportunities, and from 2015 onwards we began to develop a more co-ordinated and centralised approach. Sustainability practices make sense from so many perspectives, from the broader reason of doing the right thing for the environment, to the fact that it is good business practice to derisk reliance on one source of energy or water supply.

Most of the projects make financial sense, and as sustainability has become more mainstream, it has been particularly rewarding to see the delight of our shoppers and tenants as they embrace the positive changes with us.”

Jutta Berns-Mumbi, the project’s Green Star accredited professional of Ecocentric, says that what stood out for her was the fact that all efforts to move towards Green Star certification were driven by a genuine desire to drive real change. “L2D, in no way, saw this as a box-ticking exercise; but rather, it was about going back to basics, conducting energy and water audits and assessing and exploring opportunities to improve. When Ecocentric came on board in early 2019, we started with carbon footprint reporting, which required us to gain deeper insights into energy consumption in the portfolio. The Existing Building Performance (EBP) tool required better, more detailed data, and so the tool drove the building management process – which is exactly how it should work.”

Berns-Mumbi says that the biggest factor determining the project’s success was the buy-in of all stakeholders – at the highest level and then

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SPECIAL FEATURE filtering right through the organisation and across the portfolio. “The teams were unbelievable. They were enthusiastic about the Green Star ratings and wanted to be part of the process.” This enthusiasm has extended outwards, to tenants and shoppers alike, who are encouraged to join the ‘Be the Change’ movement, with extensive marketing campaigns around ‘GOOD Spaces’ – L2D’s coined phrase for its sustainability department’s building block.

Looking back over the processing of certifying their portfolio, Unsted reflects on how difficult it can be to get all staff and management aligned on the green journey – until the penny drops, and the individual becomes excited about the changes. It looks like L2D have well surpassed this stage and have no intention of standing still. “We have targeted net-zero waste for 2021, net-zero water for 2025 and net-zero carbon for 2030, and are making good in-roads towards these next goals.”

Here is a snapshot look at each of the properties in L2D’s portfolio, and how their Green Star rating shaped up:

Sustainability practices make sense from so many perspectives, from the broader reason of doing the right thing for the environment, to the fact that it is good business practice to de-risk reliance on one source of energy or water supply.

Eastgate Complex achieved a 5-Star Green Star EBP rating.

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SPECIAL FEATURE

SANDTON CITY PRECINCT As one of Africa’s leading retail destinations, Sandton City wins multiple ‘best shopping mall’ awards each year, but receiving its 6-Star Green Star EBP rating, (for both the mall and offices) was a huge achievement.

Over the years, the mall has implemented numerous initiatives to lighten its environmental footprint, including the painstaking process of counting every single drop of water used, and targeting ways to reduce water consumption and minimise losses. Some of these initiatives included improving the treatment mechanisms of the centre’s cooling towers (bearing in mind it is one of the largest plants of its kind in South Africa), fine-tuning the domestic water tanks, and putting water meters on the thousands of metres of water pipes running through the building.

The same care went towards saving electricity. For example, tenants were included in a collaborative effort to reduce their consumption in line with targeted energy levels. In terms of waste reduction, an incredible 75% of operational waste and materials from Sandton City is diverted from landfill. They have also had success with composting initiatives, and have recently launched a bank of ‘reverse’ vending machines, which offer customers the option to ‘sell’ their recyclable waste, encouraging them to make recycling part of their daily routine.

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Project Location: Sandton, Gauteng Project type: Retail and Office Project Completion Date: Certified December 2020 Project Size: 366 784 m² Green Star Rating: 6-Star Green Star EBP v1

An aerial view of Sandton City, showing the extensive solar PV system which reduces the centre’s reliance on municipal power.

Sandton City

An upward view of Sandton City’s impressive exterior, which has over the past few years tended to every aspect of reducing its carbon footprint.

Project nutshell

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SPECIAL FEATURE

EASTGATE COMPLEX Eastgate Complex is a retail and office development in Bedfordview, to the east of Johannesburg, and has around 329 tenants. It achieved a 5-Star Green Star EBP rating and features ‘standard’ sustainability features such as energy and water sub-metering, the use of green cleaning consumables, green lease criteria on all new leases and renewals, and HVAC equipment consisting of zero ODP (ozone depletion potential) refrigerant. Eastgate’s waste-to-landfill diversion has been significantly improved by its composting facilities. Linus Naik of Don’t Waste Group has offered numerous solutions across the whole of L2D’s portfolio. “We are ‘treatment agnostic’, and as a result we’re able to find appropriate and dynamic solutions for our clients. Eastgate utilises the on-site treatment option via In-Vessel Composters (IVCs),” says Naik.

Unsted adds that while there is certainly no such thing as a silver bullet in achieving such ambitious targets, as an individual component, the composters

Project nutshell Project Location: Bedfordview, Gauteng Project Type: Retail and Office Project Completion Date: Certified December 2020 Project Size: 189 643m² Green Star Rating: 5-Star Green Star EBP v1

have been extremely successful additions on L2D’s net-zero waste journey.

Eastgate’s ongoing sustainability awareness programmes directed at shoppers and tenants have drawn them in through fun elements such as an aquaponics farm, signage on the piazza made from recycled plastic, and solar trees which harness clean, pure energy from the sun to use as a renewable power source for the mall.

Eastgate Complex by night; lit up by energyefficient LED lighting.

Eastgate

Recycled signage and solar trees add a fun element to Eastgate’s piazza, while educating visitors on sustainability.

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SPECIAL FEATURE

NELSON MANDELA SQUARE Project nutshell Project Location: Sandton, Gauteng Project Type: Retail and Office Project Completion Date: (Certified) February 2021 Project Size: 49 700m² Green Star Rating: 5-Star Green Star EBP v1

industry average, while the restaurants are 65% , and the office towers 24% – for instance – is no simple exercise and really symbolised breaking through to a new green frontier.

Nelson Mandela Square attracts many visitors who make use of the high-end dining and retail options.

Nelson Mandela Square

Adjoining Sandton City shopping centre, Nelson Mandela Square is an open-air square anchored by a six-metre-tall public statue of Nelson Mandela. Along with some of the most highly regarded restaurants in the country, the square also offers a retail sector, with more than 60 high-end stores, as well as premiumgrade office space.

“Given the mixed-use nature of the development, we realised that we needed a new approach to gain accurate data for reporting,” says Berns-Mumbi. “It was a case of really drilling down at a granular level; and there was no industry precedent for this kind of method.” She explains that being able to ascertain that the mall’s restaurants are 57% more water efficient than

LIBERTY PROMENADE SHOPPING CENTRE

Liberty Promenade Shopping Centre

Situated in the heart of Mitchell’s Plain, Liberty Promenade is very much a community-based mall, and self-professed ‘tale of optimism and hard work’ amidst an economically tough environment. It offers over one-million monthly shoppers access to a choice of 170 stores, including many popular eateries.

Getting the mall to the point where it could attain a 5-Star Green Star EBP rating entailed a gradual process of implementing sustainability features, from green cleaning policies and procurement, through to stormwater runoff reduction, and advanced monitoring and metering. In December 2019, the mall’s internal lighting was upgraded, and 6 499 older-generation

POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

Project nutshell Project Location: Mitchell’s Plain,

Western Cape Project Type: Retail Project Completion Date: Certified December 2020 Project Size: 81 484m² Green Star Rating: 5-Star Green Star EBP v1

lights were replaced with LED fittings. The second phase saw an upgrade to all external parking lights.

As with every initiative, shoppers were educated on the environmental benefits of this change, to share knowledge and increase commitment to going green.

Liberty Promenade Shopping Centre has undergone an extensive upgrading process on its lighting, so that now the entire complex, including the external parking, features low-energy LED fittings.

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SPECIAL FEATURE

LIBERTY MIDLANDS MALL Midlands Mall is the largest shopping centre in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands area, with 193 tenants. The installation of a substantial solar PV system at the mall signalled the start of L2D’s solar power journey, which Unsted describes as very rewarding and a major win for the portfolio. Midlands Mall lives out its 5-Star status on a daily basis, with its recycling village being just one example of how citizen action is encouraged. As with the other shopping centres across the portfolio, all single-use plastic shopping bags were replaced with sustainable alternatives by January 2020, and the use of plastic straws and non-biodegradable balloons was discontinued.

BOTSHABELO MALL Botshabelo Mall is located on the N8 in Botshabelo, Bloemfontein, and acts as a regional centre to the entire area. It houses a mere 70 tenants and may only have a 4-Star Green Star Rating, but Berns-Mumbi says that this project is perhaps the one which excites her the most. “The centre is always busy, and this is where I see the opportunity for retail to lead the charge towards greener communities. It is the nexus of where community happens, with doctors’ rooms and social services being housed in addition to retail offerings.

Through sustainable practices and knowledge sharing,

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Liberty Midlands Mall features a substantial solar photovoltaic system.

Project nutshell Project Location: Botshabelo, Free State Project Type: Retail Project Completion Date: Certified December 2020 Project Size: 24 170m² Green Star Rating: 4-Star Green Star EBP v1 the centre can have a huge impact on the community’s approach to living out and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

Botshabelo Mall

A front view of Botshabelo Mall, located on the N8 in Botshabelo, Bloemfontein and acting as a regional centre to the entire area.

Project Location: Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal Project Type: Retail Project Completion Date: Certified December 2020 Project Size: 94 556m² Green Star Rating: 5-Star Green Star EBP v1

Liberty Midlands Mall

Liberty Midlands Mall is the largest shopping centre in the Midlands area, with 193 tenants.

Project nutshell

POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

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PROJECT

Green at Heart 28

POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

All targeting 6-Star Green Star Design and Net Zero Carbon ratings, ‘green barn’ lifestyle centres are currently being rolled out across Balwin’s Green Collection developments, and the first prototype has been completed at GreenLee in Sandton.

WORDS Gillian Gernetzky IMAGES Boogertman + Partners

Project nutshell Type of building: Lifestyle centre Green Star rating: Targeting 6-Star Green Star Design and Net Zero Carbon certifications Location: Various

POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

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alwin Properties has long been recognised as a leader in the residential green building space, and now their ‘green barn’ lifestyle centre concept is taking green living to new heights. These lifestyle centres will form the heart of all Balwin’s Green Collection developments.

The ‘green barn’ lifestyle centres are 1000-1200m² spaces that provide residents with amenities such as pools and outdoor gyms, a restaurant and fresh produce store with a kitchen garden, co-working, and exhibition spaces alongside children’s play areas and life-size garden chess sets. But what really sets them apart is their objective to inspire a more sustainable, healthier lifestyle among those who occupy them.

André Wright, director at Boogertman + Partners, says that embedded within the concept of the green barns being active centres of participation and connection, is the design drive to make the elements of sustainable design visible as demonstrable landmarks of

PROJECT green principles. “By exposing every green intervention and making it part of the aesthetic, as opposed to submerging it in the fabric of the building and surrounding landscape, its value and importance is shared within the community. The concept forefronts green design as a living principle that will influence greater awareness and ultimately change behaviour.”

For example, the collection of rainwater into large feature water tanks used for the kitchen garden reinforces the idea of harvesting rainwater for efficient use, and the intention is that the vegetables grown are not only used in the restaurant but sold as part of the fresh produce offering in the convenience retail outlet. The solar panels are deliberately placed on an angled roof so that the system providing natural energy is visible, and harvested water from the storm water drains is channelled into three attenuation ponds that are landscaped as part of the green barn outdoor environment.

The GreenLee green barn lifestyle centre is the first of its kind and is targeting 6-Star Green Star and Net Zero certifications. The attenuation pond in the foreground is fed by harvested storm water and incorporated into the green barn landscaping.

The GreenLee co-working spaces have been designed to encourage usage beyond business, and their flexibility aims to encourage the use of the space for scholars and students as much as for business people.

POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

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PROJECT

Elements of sustainable design have been made visible as noticeable landmarks of green principles. The kitchen gardens at GreenLee are irrigated with harvested rainwater from visible storage tanks, and solar panels are deliberately placed on an angled roof to make the system providing natural energy noticeable.

Another aspect of the concept is embracing nature and bringing the outdoors in. The green barn at GreenLee is a prime example of this – in the centre of the lobby is a wild fig tree that has been preserved as part of the process of integrating the green barn into its environment. The two frames with a central lobby that make up the core floorplan further highlight the dramatic sense of destination, and a nine-metrewide entrance from the boulevard through five-metrehigh barn doors, leads directly onto the indigenous landscaped gardens with their leisure pool and separate enclosed children’s pool.

Tied into the concept is the urban design of each development, which places importance on walkability within purpose-planned green belts and pocket parks in the estate to encourage outdoor activity within the

Embedded within the concept of the green barns being active centres of participation and connection, is the design drive to make the elements of sustainable design visible as demonstrable landmarks of green principles.

A major aspect of the green barn concept is embracing nature and bringing the outdoors in. The GreenLee green barn is a prime example with its wild fig tree in the centre of the lobby, which has been preserved as part of the process of integrating the green barn into its environment.

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POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

PROJECT community. Up to 30% of the overall project is used for the development of pocket parks and walkways connecting the green barn to its community. Where key heritage trees are identified, they are built into the design and any natural wetlands or existing indigenous features are preserved and incorporated into the urban design.

With the uptake of online learning and hybrid work the green barn co-working spaces provide a useful extension to residents’ apartments and have been designed to encourage usage beyond business. While there are boardrooms and hot-desk units, there are also informal workspaces with chairs for meetings, and individual sound-proofed booths to accommodate virtual sessions and private meetings. The flexibility

of these spaces aims to encourage the use of the space for scholars and students within the community as much as for business.

With each of the green barns targeting GBCSA 6-Star Green Star Design and Net Zero Carbon ratings, Marloes Reinink, director at Solid Green Consulting, says that green design, elements, and systems are aplenty. “Many green interventions are applied, such as low energy light fittings and appliances, rain and storm water harvesting and reuse, solar panels, passive ventilation, recycling and the use of low impact materials, and using biophilia principles to bring nature into our buildings through plants, shapes, colours, connection to the landscape and vegetable gardens.”

GreenBay Eco Estate is another lifestyle development planned for Gordon's Bay.

BALWIN’S GREEN BARN LIFESTYLE CENTRES • T he first green barn at GreenLee in Sandton was recently crowned the 2021 International Property Awards Winner for Best International Social Housing.

• The second green barn is under construction in the GreenCreek development in Pretoria East with a completion date of April 2021.

• A further Green Collection development, GreenKloof Mooikloof Mega City development in Pretoria, which will see an initial 16 000 green model apartments developed over several years, has been designated as a Strategic Integrated Project (SIP) by the SA Government.

POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

33

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PROJECT

An aerial overview of the GreenCreek development planned for Pretoria East.

Reinink adds that with Balwin as the contractor, client, quantity surveyor and procurement manager, they have the luxury of procuring products aligned with their ultra-green vision for these structures. Building materials are carefully selected to ensure a high recycled/ reused content, with Balwin committing to using steel with over 90% recycled content, and more than 1% of their contract value being made up of materials with recycled content. During construction, project specific environmental and waste management plans have been developed to minimise the environmental impact and contribution of waste to landfill through the construction process.

Of course, sustainability hinges as much on how a building operates as the design and materials used in its construction and, to this end, sophisticated systems are in place to ensure maximum efficiency across the board. Energy efficiency of the building is achieved by applying various green strategies and technologies, as well as the extensive solar array installed on site.

An energy model of the building was generated in the design stage which showed that the overall building design displayed an improvement of 100% over a SANS 10400 notional building. These measures have resulted in the base building operating at net-zero carbon emissions.

Artist's impression of a 'pocket park'.

POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

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PROJECT

Up to 30% of the overall project is used for the development of pocket parks and walkways connecting the green barn to its community.

Balwin Properties CEO, Steve Brooks, says that the Green Collection developments, of which green barns are a major component, are close to his heart as he sees them paving the way to the South African dream of a

home for everyone. “We believe they are the obvious choice for home-buyers who want to manage their carbon footprint and reduce energy consumption.

They are affordably priced and meet the expectations of a growing number of buyers who strive to be environmentally conscious.”

He adds that the concept of the green barns is evolving and as each one is designed based on specific site requirements and in response to its context, some details change, but the concept of a centre of community activation doesn’t. “In reality, the green barn concept is not greener than the lifestyle centres in our other developments. The key differentiator of the green barn is that it offers more holistic amenities to the residents and showcases the case for green more clearly.”

The green barn at GreenCreek showing terraced landscaping, outdoor inside blending and attenuated pond included as enviromental feature.

Recreational sports fields next to the green barn at GreenLee.

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POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

South Africa’s newly implemented Energy Performance Certificate regulations will aid the journey to a lowcarbon future by encouraging buildings to become more energy efficient.

WORDS Melissa Baird

Raising the

Energy Bar 38

POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

POLICY

A

s 2020 closed, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) gazetted regulations for Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) that make it compulsory for building owners to display a certificate of the building’s ‘energy performance’ at its entrance. This heralds the start of the monitoring and evaluation of buildings’ energy related data. The South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) is tasked with the management and storage of all the data under the National Building Energy Performance Register and will track progress of the achievement of the goals and targets set out in the EPC regulations.

This is in keeping with their mandate under The National Energy Act 2008 (Act 34 of 2008), to promote energy efficiency throughout the economy.

According to the International Energy Agency, buildings account for approximately 30% of global energy consumption and 40% of total direct and indirect CO2 emissions. These figures could easily increase in South Africa due to increasing urbanisation. As pressure increases on the grid it is imperative to prepare for energy security by adopting various efficiency measures and looking into the mix of renewable energy sources.

GBCSA CEO, Lisa Reynolds, explains that implementation of this new policy is “about future proofing and developing energy security. In the long term not only will this lead to cost saving but also to mitigation of risk.”

Most countries in the European Union have been implementing EPCs for over a decade and now all

EPCs rate buildings’ energy performance from A to G, with A being the most energy efficient and G the worst, when benchmarking against the figures in the SANS 10400-XA standard.

POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

categories of buildings have to comply. An example of this is in Paris where all houses for sale must have an EPC before any transactions can take place. It is a bit like considering the fuel consumption of a vehicle before purchasing it – the energy certificate classifies a building’s energy performance, contributing to its sale and rental value.

Building owners are encouraged to consider how the EPCs will enable South Africa to follow through on its commitment at the Paris Accord to address climate change. The EPCs act as a tool that gives clients a snapshot view of their building energy performance.

With this knowledge, informed decisions relating to energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy integration can be made for future improvements.

STANDARDS GOVERNING THE EPC SANS 1544, the Energy Performance Certificate standard, outlines the methodology by which energy performance is measured for existing buildings and takes into account unoccupied floor areas/vacancies and mixed-use buildings. It is important to note that the non-use of energy does not count as energy efficiency for unoccupied buildings. The standard maps out all the data of the building that needs to be collected to enable it to be audited by an independent third party. The independent inspection bodies (third parties) must be South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) accredited. The regulation is indirectly a source of job creation as more and more of these inspection bodies are formed.

It has been a journey over the past 15 years to get to finalisation of the regulation for the EPCs. The standard was published in 2014 and is likely to undergo revisions as new learnings are incorporated.

According to Reynolds there are laws and standards that cover new buildings, but there is a huge existing stock of buildings that were built before energy performance considerations. The challenge is figuring out how to push existing building stock towards energy efficiency.

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POLICY

SANEDI

THE EPC JOURNEY: 2005-2030

The first step is to understand what the building’s energy performance is at present. Akin to the car analogy, you may buy a huge gas-guzzler or a tiny fuelefficient run-around, but you know its fuel-efficiency upfront. Potential tenants and owners of buildings need to know the energy performance of a building so that they can shop around for one that they know will meet their energy efficiency needs.

The first EPCs aim to gather a snapshot view of

the current energy performance. If a building gets an F rating there is a five-year EPC validity period for efficiency interventions to be installed and bring it to a D rating.

By knowing how much energy your building uses and its performance in comparison to other buildings, you are far better prepared to make the necessary improvements.

It is vital to collect and understand the data because “what is not measured cannot be managed”.

HOW THE EPC PROCESS WORKS EPCs rate buildings’ energy performance from A to G, with A being the most energy efficient and G the worst, when benchmarking against the figures in the SANS 10400-XA standard.

The energy consumption measurements are based on the data from utility bills or meters that are gathered in the year prior to the assessment period. The EPCs unit of measure is kWh (kilowatt hours) per square metre per annum.

Once collected, calculated and put into the format for the EPC, the building owner contracts a SANAS registered accredited inspection body to conduct the audit of this information.

Once the audit is complete, the accredited body submits the data to SANEDI which inputs it into the Building Energy Performance Register. This information generates a unique number for the EPC which is then issued to the SANAS accredited inspection body who issues the EPC to the client so it can be displayed. A copy of it is sent to SANEDI to keep track of the data on the national register.

EPCs are valid for five years and SANEDI will send renewal reminders at three years. The final reminder is sent one year before the expiration of the certificate.

The regulations apply to non-residential buildings (specific occupancy classes) with a net floor area of at least 2 000m2 in the private sector, and 1 000m2 for buildings owned, operated or occupied by an organ of state. Schools, universities and colleges, places of indoor entertainment and sport, offices, places of public assembly, and indoor sports all have to comply.

Although retail and residential buildings are excluded for now, building owners are encouraged to begin the process as part of their voluntary journey towards contributing to the nation’s overall energy efficiency.

POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

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POLICY

ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATE (EPC) APPLICATION PROCESS

SANEDI

THE ROLE OF SANAS IN REGISTERING EPC CONTRACTORS – THE RUBBER STAMP NEEDED SANAS is part of the technical infrastructure of the Department of Trade and Industry and Competition. All entities wishing to be inspection bodies and conduct EPCs have to register with SANAS to be accredited as an EPC Inspection Body.

Part of the SANAS accreditation process is establishing the EPC competency within the potential inspection body, and they will check that people doing EPCs have the relevant knowledge and skills required.

There will be lessons learnt while implementing SANS 1544 and these lessons will inform the next version of the standard. GBCSA and SANEDI will be part of the process to continue to improve on this standard and will contribute to its next draft. The new version should be completed within the next two years.

The EPCs act as a tool that gives clients a snapshot view of their building energy performance.

With this knowledge, informed decisions relating to energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy integration can be made for future improvements.

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POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

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POLICY

THE ROLE OF THE GBCSA GBCSA CEO, Lisa Reynolds was the chair of the working group that wrote the standard and had significant input into the development of the EPCs. Reynolds explains that it is a process of making energy efficiency tangible, which is why these benchmarking exercises are so important.

The data collected for two of the GBCSA’s Green Star ratings for buildings can contribute to the information needed for the EPC requirements: The Energy and Water Performance tool for offices and for Existing Building Performance. Collection of this data is useful for the EPC and can help map future energy efficiency requirements.

It is important to remember that this is not a voluntary exercise. Penalties will be applied for

non-compliance, the exact details of which are yet to be disclosed. The implementation of the EPC regulation and the subsequent retrofitting of buildings toward energy efficiency will lead to job creation.

Furthermore, it will help make South Africa more energy efficient and reduce its carbon per capita which is one of the highest in the world.

DEADLINES FOR COMPLIANCE Property owners and government entities have until 7 December 2022 to ensure that their buildings adhere to the regulations.

SA’S FIRST ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATE On 18 February 2021, the Admin B building at Stellenbosch University, which houses the vice chancellor and executive team, received the first-ever EPC for a building in South Africa.

Bluedust Engineering Solutions, Stellenbosch University’s energy management consultants, were instrumental in achieving their EPC. The EPC was issued by Energy Management and Verification Services (EMVS), who is the first inspection body accredited by SANAS to assess and issue an EPC rating for eligible South African buildings.

Barry Bredenkamp, SANEDI’s general manager for energy efficiency and corporate communications, commented: “Stellenbosch University being awarded an A-rated EPC so soon after the regulations were gazetted, really is a phenomenal achievement and they should be applauded for this major step forward.”

Stefan Els

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POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

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Eskom will increase electricity tariffs by 15%, starting in April 2021. As such, Bluedust can help clients to use the mandatory EPC process for buildings as a catalyst for smart energy management, efficiency and cost savings. With partners like HFX systems, who have more than 30 years' expereince in the electronic and telecoms industry, Bluedust can implement fully integrated energy management systems for any client. After the EPC has been awarded, it can be followed by detailed energy audits and energy management system gap analyses, which inform the implementation of smart

incentives.

This allows EMVS to perform the Measurement and Verification (M&V) of 12-L tax incentives on Energy Efficiency projects.

ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATES FOR BUILDINGS EMVS offers services for the issuing of Energy Performance with the SANS 1544 and SANS 10400-XA standards. EMVS is a

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TECHNOLOGY

The evolving role of

lighting in green buildings 46

POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

The intention of lighting in green buildings has historically focussed on energy efficiency and reducing consumption, as lighting installations within a building could account for up to 30% of the total energy consumption. In 2021, energy efficiency is still a big focus, however, nowadays, there are more touch points between lighting and green buildings due to advancements in lighting technologies.

WORDS Henk Rotman

POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 11

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PROFILE

The Bright Spark of Technology

Lighting technology has not disappointed us in its learning curve over the last few years. Currently, lighting technology has shown great innovation on several fronts like efficiency, sustainability, aesthetics of light, control and management systems.

Efficiency is a pressing issue as the cost of energy rises. We all know that the cost of carbon footprint is increasing, and a green star status is becoming essential.

Who would have thought that we would go past 200lm/W a few years ago? This is now a reality and companies can light up their spaces to much better levels at a fraction of the cost than it used to be. Lights also do not need to burn at 100% capacity when not needed, as dynamic dimming is an option.

The lifetime of lighting has also changed drastically.

This might not be good news for lighting suppliers, but the lifetime of luminaires can go up to 100 000 hours. For an office block this can equate to well past 25 years. The technology is there. Why not opt for lighting that lasts for the duration of the building?

On the aesthetical side, lighting also creates more inviting and inspirational spaces in the workplace and leisure environments. Today we know so much more about the way that humans perceive lighting and what their preferences are. Imagine having skylights with natural light following circadian cycles throughout the centre of a large multi-storey building. This is now possible, and LTSA half page FINAL 3/30/21 7:14 PM Page 1 buildings can be designed without expensive construction considerations to bring in natural light.

Smart lighting means that everything in a building can be monitored and communicated to a central “brain” that controls the building’s functions. Imagine streetlights that are dimmed at night and only light up before a vehicle arrives. Lights are becoming linked devices on an IoT level. They can monitor and report occupancy and conditions like CO2 levels and temperature to web-based systems and can be controlled based on occupancy, time and other C M Y CM MY CY CMY K local conditions or from web-based “brains”.

TECHNOLOGY

LIGHTING AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY

C

Pareto Limited

ompared to other fields, lighting was late with the conversion from analogue to digital technologies, but now that Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are the products of choice for almost all lighting applications, the conversion has picked up speed, with great advancements, especially when it comes to energy efficiency. In 2006 the lighting share of global electricity consumption was estimated to be 19%. This fell to 13% in 2018 and is projected to decline to 8% by 2030 because of the adoption of state-of-the-art lighting solutions.

In the year 2000, a typical office would have been lit by recessed luminaires using fluorescent tubes operated on magnetic control gear, with an average energy use of 10W per m² per 100lux (lux being the unit of measure for light level). Fast forward to 2021 and most offices are lit with LED-based luminaires using only 1.5W per m² per 100lux. A further reduction is achieved by using concepts like daylight harvesting (dimming down artificial light as a function of incoming daylight) and movement sensing (automatically switching off the light in a space when nobody is present). Combining LED luminaires and the aforementioned concepts (realised via the use of lighting controls) results in an energy use of only 0.5W per m²per 100lux. Compared to the value of 10W from 20 years ago this is an impressive reduction of 95%, and it is safe to state that no other field has contributed more to reducing the electricity use of buildings than the lighting field.

But is this the end of lighting’s role in green buildings? Certainly not. It is, in fact, just the beginning, and we can explain this by looking at the relation between lighting and the main trends when it comes to green buildings: • Climate • Health and well-being • Digitalisation • Sustainability

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LIGHTING AND CLIMATE Climate change is a major threat for planet earth and its inhabitants. The Paris pledge to keep the increase in global average temperatures below 2°C can only be met by real action. Globally, building and construction account for up to 40% of CO₂ emissions, hence it is crucial that the lighting industry contributes to decreasing these figures via concepts like green and net-zero carbon buildings.

A major opportunity for reducing CO₂ emissions lies in making existing buildings more energy efficient. Many existing buildings use inefficient (traditional) lighting methods. Retrofitting these buildings with the latest energy-efficient lighting technologies will make significant contributions to carbon reduction.

Savings are possible via: • Installation of LEDs to lower energy consumption • Installation of sensors to reduce lighting usage • Spin-off effects like a lower heat load on air conditioning units

LIGHTING AND HEALTH AND WELL-BEING It is well known that lighting impacts the health and well-being of people in buildings. There is a growing preference for more daylight entering buildings as it is the most natural light, but also reduces the need for (and energy consumption of) artificial lighting.

No other field has contributed more to reducing the electricity use of buildings than the lighting field.

Pareto Head Office in Sandton.

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TECHNOLOGY Research over the last two decades has shown the large biological impact that lighting has on human beings, especially on the support or disruption of the circadian rhythm. Human Centric Lighting (HCL) or biodynamic lighting are names for artificial lighting concepts mimicking daylight, with the potential to: • Make employees work more efficiently • Improve safety in the (indoor) workplace • Reduce recovery time of patients in hospitals • Increase concentration of students in classrooms HCL is perfectly aligned with the growing realisation that green buildings are not only buildings with minimal impact on the environment, but also healthy places where employees and visitors feel and perform well. So, it is expected that the use of HCL will become an integral part of all green buildings.

LIGHTING AND DIGITALISATION Buildings are not only becoming greener, but also smarter. A ‘smart’ building uses data regarding what happens in the building to optimise that building’s performance (and potentially reduce its energy use).

The latest high-tech lighting systems can seamlessly integrate with digital infrastructure such as building management systems. Going forward lighting will be chosen not only based on its lighting performance but increasingly also for its data capabilities.

Apart from the above, lighting also offers digital concepts like LiFi – a wireless communication technology which utilises light to transmit data, and light-based ‘Indoor Positioning Systems’ which are used for navigation purposes. These are expected to be increasingly implemented in green buildings.

@Light.de

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Pareto Limited

The combination of very efficient LED luminaires and lighting controls was a key factor in achieving a 5-Star rating for the Pareto Head office in Sandton.

Lighting has a large impact on how people feel and behave during the day.

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TECHNOLOGY

The use of lighting controls was a great contributor in realising a very efficient lighting installation for the renovated ABSA Tower in the Johannesburg CBD.

Regent Lighting Solutions

LIGHTING AND SUSTAINABILITY LED-based lighting products offer a large potential to make buildings more energy efficient and hence more sustainable, but lighting offers more opportunities to directly increase the sustainability of buildings. In the past, fluorescent lighting was the technology of choice to illuminate buildings, and the lamps used were low pressure mercury lamps which needed replacement every few years. The small amount of mercury inside these lamps created a potential environmental hazard not disposed of correctly.

LEDs do not contain any hazardous materials and, together with the drivers needed to operate them, can be considered ‘electronic waste’, which is recyclable. Moreover, due to the long lifetime of both LEDs and drivers, they need to be disposed of much less frequently.

More can still be done regarding sustainability, like the implementation of circular economy principles.

One application of circular economy principles in lighting is Light as a Service (LaaS). LaaS replaces to conventional concept of ownership. It is a service-based

business model in which light service is charged on a subscription basis rather than a one-time payment.

In such a model, a user would ‘pay per lumen’ to a supplier that owns the equipment. In the case of LaaS, the supplier has an incentive to extend the longevity of the equipment, reduce failure rates and further increase efficacy at the end of the agreed period. As no upfront investment is needed, LaaS also removes one of the major hurdles to invest in energy efficient lighting, which is often the higher upfront capital cost.

SUMMARY AND WAY FORWARD Lighting has greatly contributed to making new buildings greener and can make existing buildings more efficient as well. Lighting also has the potential to make buildings ‘smart’ and more sustainable while improving the health and wellbeing of the building occupants. Lighting should always be considered an integral part of a green building strategy, as it offers significant ‘quick wins’ in terms of energy efficiency and reduction in consumption. ►►

Originally from the Netherlands, Henk Rotman moved to South Africa in 2010, and has worked in the local lighting industry ever since, in various roles. Presently, he is the Gauteng business development manager for Tridonic. Since 2017, he has been the chairperson of the Gauteng branch of the Illumination Engineering Society of South-Africa (IESSA). His passions in lighting are energy-efficient lighting and new lighting innovations.

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TECHNOLOGY

CASE STUDY: ABSA TOWERS NORTH WORDS: REGENT LIGHTING SOLUTIONS ABSA Towers is an office tower in the central business district of Johannesburg with ABSA occupying 11 of the 31 stories. A much-needed refurbishment and modernisation of the building was undertaken in 2020.

With a full building management system (BMS) on site, each and every facet of the building is connected with independent control systems all capable of operating on their own accord. Each of these are designed, supplied and commissioned by specialists in their respective fields to ensure correct operation while providing critical information to the BMS which can be viewed and thus decisions can be made in real time.

A combination of DALI addressable LED luminaires, sensors and a centralised lighting control system – all lighting products are interconnected – were used in order to achieve the necessary Green Star requirements for the lighting load. For luminaire selection, key factors were taken into consideration: • LED technology • Energy efficiency • Life span • Flicker • Glare

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Lighting control is also a key factor in green buildings. ABSA had specific requirements which needed to be met: • Digital, bi-communication protocol to be used on front-end • Motion-controlled luminaires – lighting turning on/off based on movement • Daylight harvesting – reading of lux levels and responding accordingly • Scene recall – pre-programmed light values for meeting rooms • Time-based scheduling • Energy consumption • Diagnostics • Maintenance factors and operational hours tracking The centralised lighting control system operates as a master device – the brains of the system. On the back-end, as information is key to being able to make decisions, system features such as diagnostics, energy consumption, and room utilisation is required to be relayed to the BMS so that general building maintenance is streamlined, as well as enabling fine tuning of the building to reduce energy consumption, maximise energy savings and of course ensure a comfortable work environment for ABSA staff.

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CASE STUDIES: GREEN BUILDING SERVICES, MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGIES

PROFILE

117 On Strand Street

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Situated in the heart of Cape Town, just minutes away from the V&A Waterfront, sits 117 On Strand Street. It is a multipurposed building that recently underwent further development with the addition of new apartments and office blocks. The building houses a Virgin Active Gym, three floors of premium grade office blocks, two floors of retail stores and 117 luxurious apartments. All of these have ample parking included – a luxury in Cape Town.

Working in unison with Compass Glass and Mazor Engineering, Group 5 Construction were appointed as the primary contractors. These well-renowned companies sought only the best products, that would provide durability, innovation, practicality and relevance to the task. And so, they turned to another well-renowned company, and hence Sika products were sourced.

The insulated glass units were bonded to each other in the Compass Glass factory using the Sikasil® IG-25.

Thereafter the insulated glass panelling was bonded to the powder-coated metal frame using the Sikasil® SG500 and Sika® Aktivator-205 in the Mazor factory. The Sikasil® IG-25 and Sikasil® SG-500, are two-part silicone sealants. Sikasil® IG-25 is ideal as a secondary edge seal for insulating glass in structural glazing applications. It is used in combination with Sikasil® SG-500, which is a two-component structural glazing silicone.

Thereafter, the glass was fitted on site at 117 On Strand Street and finished off with a final seal using Sikahyflex®-305 AP as a weather sealant. This is a onecomponent neutral moisture curing weather sealant, designed for weatherproofing where durability under severe conditions is required. It has excellent resistance to water and is UV stable. For the test of time, Sika® Aktivator-205, an adhesion promoter on various substrates i.e. aluminium and steel, was applied prior to the Sikasil® SG-500, for that extra-special bond.

The primary challenge for this project was to have it completed in just one-and-a-half years. Using Sika products, this seemingly impossible task was made possible. The project that began in May 2018 was

successfully completed in November 2019. The 117 On Strand building was left with a beautiful meticulous finish. The perfect architecture with strategically placed glass windows and panels all around, provides awesome views over the Atlantic Ocean, Table Mountain and the Mother City.

Sika is a specialty chemicals company with a leading position in the development and production of systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing, and protecting in the building sector and motor vehicle industry. Sika has subsidiaries in 100 countries around the world and manufactures in over 300 factories.

Its 25 000 employees generated annual sales of CHF7.88-billion in 2020.

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CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

Invest safely for your future We have been optimising your building technology since 1924.

That is why your investments in our solutions for you and your living comfort will pay off.

OUR COMPANY VISION AS THE SIGNPOST TO STIEBEL ELTRON’S FUTURE Power from renewables is the future. STIEBEL ELTRON improves the quality of life and investment security of its customers with electricity-based, futureproof, highly efficient heating, cooling, hot water and ventilation solutions for buildings. Through corporate sustainability, STIEBEL ELTRON remains an independent family business.

BRAND MISSION AS A GUIDE FOR THE ENTIRE COMPANY STIEBEL ELTRON is one of the top companies in Europe for building services based on renewables. Our mission: We aim to make a significant contribution to the development of highly efficient, electricity-based building service products worldwide.

ENERGY EFFICIENT SOLUTIONS Hot water Our hot water devices offer unique hot water convenience in the kitchen and bathroom. Instantaneous water heaters and small storage tanks prepare hot water very efficiently in a decentralised manner. The hot water heat pumps use the heat obtained from the ambient air to produce hot water.

Ventilation Our central ventilation systems offer hot water, heating, ventilation and cooling in one. They are particularly suitable for new buildings. Our decentralised ventilation systems are particularly interesting for subsequent installation and as a supplement to the existing building services.

Heating Our heat pump heating systems work on the basis of renewable energies and are designed for every application.

Of course, you will also find electrical space heating devices for heating individual rooms.

Cooling If you want to cool your home, we have a choice of local and installation air conditioning units. Or you can use one of our heat pumps with a cooling function. Either way, it is best to operate our systems with green electricity.

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TECHNICAL PROFILE

Energy performance of buildings and the role of insulation

The introduction of SANS 10400-XA regulations relating to energy usage in buildings, as part of the wider code of practice, gives substance to South Africa’s national building regulations as far as energy efficiency within a building is concerned.

SUBMITTED BY Scott Quarmby (Thermguard) – COMPILED BY Gareth Griffiths

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mproved energy efficiency within a building means less use of fossil-fuel based energy used in heating and cooling, leading to a reduction in greenhouse gas production, an objective of the regulations.

ENERGY PERFORMANCE OF BUILDINGS Recently, the provisions of the National Energy Act were invoked, requiring the implementation and display of energy performance certificates in terms of SANS 1544:2014 in certain categories of buildings.

This is expected to drive the design and management of buildings towards lower energy consumption. Hence, any move towards increased energy efficiency within buildings is seen as a positive.

South Africa has also experienced an immense increase in the cost of all forms of fossil fuel-based energy – providing a significant financial incentive for specifiers and owners to move to greater energy efficiency in all buildings, including domestic dwellings.

THE EFFECT OF SANS10400-XA The SANS10400-XA standard specifies minimum thermal resistance values (R-Values) to be achieved inside the roof of a building, depending on the SA Climatic Zone (per SANS 204) in which the building is located. The effect of this standard has been farreaching, even with developers of low-cost housing or a homeowner or contractor renovating an existing building having to comply.

Bulk insulation products such as cellulose fibre insulation offer an effective way of complying with the R-Value requirements, mandatory in all new property developments or refurbishments. The products lend themselves to retrofitting.

Retrofitting typically occurs where a homeowner (or office property owner) becomes concerned about a rising energy bill, or power blackouts (load shedding) meaning no climate control indoors; or by the ongoing discomfort of the occupants of a building caused by seasonal temperature extremes. Discomfort inside a building causes a loss in worker productivity, sick

Gareth Griffiths

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TECHNICAL PROFILE

Graph shows the temperature profile within the roof space over a 24-hour period – the first probe being placed immediately below the roof tiles and the second probe on top of the ceiling board or below the insulation layer when present. The red border indicates the period of maximum summertime heat - 10:00 - 16:00.

Light blue – Roof temp. – blanket Grey – Roof temp. – Thermguard Dark Blue – Roof temp. – no insulation

Orange – Room temp. – Blanket Yellow – Room temp. – Thermguard Green – Room temp. – no insulation

The graph displays the set of results in the insulated scenario where the ambient temperatures were similar for a 24-hour period. Note at peak period of heat, a differential of at least 2°C was observed between the two materials. The red border indicates the period of maximum summertime heat - 10:00 - 16:00.

Light blue - Roof temp. – blanket Grey – Roof temp. – Thermguard

Orange – Room temp. – Blanket Yellow – Room temp. – Thermguard

building syndrome or unhealthy living conditions, if in a home.

IN SITU EMPIRICAL TESTS Cellulose fibre insulation manufacturer, Thermguard, supplier of both the Eco-Insulation and Thermguard brands, recently undertook testing under real-life conditions to back up the generic deemed to comply methodology on which R-Values are described in SANS204:2011.

Testing began in summertime, mid-November 2019, ending in February 2020 in an average-sized family home on the highveld. Climatic Zone 2 (as per SANS 204:2011) applies.

Temperature probes were placed in standardised positions throughout a typical 3-bedroom home which was fitted with generic bulk blanket insulation. Real time temperature data was recorded on a data logger throughout the day for a period of four weeks. The blanket insulation was then removed, and recordings were taken for a further week to provide a baseline with no insulation. Finally, the house was fitted with Thermguard cellulose fibre insulation and temperature recordings were taken for a period of eight weeks. In both insulated scenarios, insulation was installed on the minimum deemed-to-satisfy thicknesses for Zone 2 (115mm thickness).

Under the guidance of an actuary, the three test scenarios were evaluated using an ‘insulation score’.

The score quantifies how well the insulation performs in regulating the internal temperature of the home.

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Prevailing outdoor climatic conditions had also been monitored to ensure an even comparison on days regarded as having similar weather.

As expected, the presence of insulation above the roof led to a much smoother variation in temperature through the day – lower highs and higher lows. The test results provide useful insight to interpreting the actual performance of insulation as opposed to the SANS204 deemed to comply methodology.

Significantly, the unaudited comment of the analyst is that the test analysis shows that at a 99% confidence level the cellulose fibre insulation employed is a better insulator than the generic blanket insulation and that both types are significantly better than no insulation at all.

The unaudited conclusions of the independent analyst were that cellulose fibre was 6.8 times more effective than no insulation, while the generic blanket insulation was 2.8 times more effective than no insulation. Although both types of insulation complied with the deemed to comply requirements of SANS204:2011, cellulose fibre was 2.4 times more effective as an insulator compared to the insulation blanket material.

The tests pointed to cellulose fibre being a superior insulation material, even when R-Values are the same.

This brings into question the reliance on R-Value as the only factor when considering insulation thermal performance. Potentially, another factor to consider is the more efficient method of application of cellulose fibre into the ceiling where it flows under pneumatic pressure into every nook and cranny, creating a seamless fill above the ceiling.

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PROFILE

From the roots up Greenhill Estate celebrates their off-grid approval by City of Tshwane mayor Randall Williams and his team, and the launch of the estate’s self-sustainable development solutions for power, water and sewer.

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abulously positioned at the top of Waterkloof Heights, Greenhill Estate offers 360-degree views and energy-efficient, sustainable living in an exclusive, secure lifestyle estate.

Founder, Brett Petzer, has over 30 years’ experience in the property industry, and has been involved in the construction of over 100 residential estates. Petzer’s experience and skill set includes identifying real estate opportunities, conceptualising property development plans, and building to the highest green building standards in the country.

The concept of an off-grid housing development occurred to him after he bought a large tract of land that he was unable to develop because, at the time, Eskom had a moratorium on supplying power to new developments, which led to his coming up with the green housing concept. Rather than just offer buyers a solar-assisted house, he decided to offer them the opportunity to live free of the the problems associated with power delivery in South Africa.

Water will be tanked at the guardhouse, with a tank provided at each home, ensuring an indefinite water supply to every household. Thereby alleviating future water supply issues, which Petzer believes are imminent.

The 39 stands average about 600 square metres, with homes ranging from 273 to 358 square metres.

Off-plan buyers can customise footprint, design and finishes – with expert advice from the design team at every step of the construction process.

Conceptualised and developed by the Green Housing Company, the estate features insulative advanced tech buildings, ensuring that the contemporary-styled homes will require minimal (if any) heating and cooling. Solar energy generation also offers the potential for residents to live with zero power costs and independent of the issues surrounding the supply of commercial energy.

The team has focused on the need to move around within the estate with 120 visitor parking bays available in the road design alongside indigenous gardens that look beautiful at all times – and that minimise the water required to keep the environment.

Highlights: • 24-hour robotics and off-site security • Indigenous, water-wise gardens • Stunning views

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• Easy access to pretoria and the n1 • Smart homes with ftth • Living right in the city

THE BUILDING TECHNOLOGY Working from the roots up, our constructions feature foundations with air pockets, insulated concrete form (ICF) walling, double-glazing and advanced insulated roofing. The improvement in acoustic and thermal insulation means that the homes we build are 500% more insulated, 500% stronger, and twice as acoustically insulated as our closest competitor.

Our renewable energy generation backed up by state-of-the-art high-capacity batteries, and our indigenous gardening combined with a comprehensive water management system enables us to offer a completely off-grid living solution.

Perhaps even more importantly, our product is predominantly made in South Africa, which contributes to job creation while conserving foreign exchange. And, from a broader economic perspective, it also means that we are not beholden to fluctuating exchange rates, nor do we ever have project holdups due to stock being held up at customs.

Our engagement with local government and Eskom at the highest-level means that we are constantly informing stakeholders of every aspect of the green building process. What this ultimately means is that eco homes are opening to more people in South Africa at grassroots level.

We offer a complete and sustainable housing, power and water solution with more than 10 years’ experience.

We have moved way beyond our initial proof of concept to being able to state proudly that we are the market leaders in sustainable green housing in South Africa.

The Green Housing Company team is dedicated to providing the people of South Africa with sustainable housing that is not harmful to the environment.

For more information: Brett Petzer 081 736 6165 vip@tghc.co.za www.tghc.co.za

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Green Building Council South Africa is leading the way in respect to sustainability in the property and construction industry.

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