OIDUS FOCUS Registered at gpO as a newspaper P15.00 (Including VAT)
BOTSWANA’S BUILT ENVIRONMENT NEWSPAPER | Vol. 5, Issue 9 | Sep-Oct 2015 www.boidus.co.bw
GUEST COLUMNIST
INTERIOR DESIGN
The Space Inside – How our Spaces influence our Being. p7
Design Pad: Health, Happiness & your Space p14
LOCAL NEWS
BDC Sponsors conference on Sustainable Energy Services Provision for Sustainable Development p18
Start Building Your
HOUSE OF THE FUTURE NOW.
By H. Killion Mokwete
Building Your House OFF THE GRID is a necessity The Real Estate Advantage:
The Goose that Lay
the Golden Egg By Sethebe Manake
Property has been the Goose that lay the golden eggs for many investors in Botswana for many years but it is quite evident that the goose has somehow lost its charm over the last year and now sentiments are mixed as to who took away the its ability to lay Golden Eggs for us year after year.
• Passive house with zero energy bills • self sustainable water • Low carbon footprint
We look into the performance of the highly traded residential property with investors ranging from the sophisticated institutions to the private individual homeowner. p4
Defining Sustainable Building in Botswana: By Tlotlo Tsamaase
In the face of dwindling resources, acute shortage of power, water and stretched national budget, coupled with a stagnate economy, what can the built environment do to help drive industry growth and preserve long term sustainability in
the industry? How can individual property/homemakers develop property and buildings that wean themselves off of dependence on the resources from the grid?
p3,16
Conversations with Architect Paul Munnik, Climatologist David Lesolle (UB), and “The Game of Sustainability” by Architect/Town Planner Jan Wareus. p6,8,12
lOcAl nEwS P2
BOIDUS FOCUS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015
BHC initiates its Customer Care
Charter as a high priority area by Boidus Admin Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) has launched a Customer Care Charter that will ensure consistent level of provision to customer service across all department. The Corporation’s Chief Executive, Reginald Motswaiso said the effort reaffirms the parastatal’s promise to deal with queries and enquiries promptly and efficiently while demonstrating commitment to offer the best services to customers.
“It is of paramount importance that a Customer Care Charter must be in place to integrate and coordinate all our services standards and to be used as a frame work that defines our services delivery standards, the right of our customers an how customers complaints will be handled,” BHC boss said. BHC undertook other initiatives aimed at improving the quality of customers’ service, evinced by existing Customer Care Unit and Call Center Facility. Similarly, the initiatives are posited to be, by the housing organization, responsible for all customer related matters and ensuring that customers are assisted effectively and efficiently.
ban areas such as Gaborone, Francistown and Palapye, challenging dominant market share. They contend that consumers are becoming more prices sensitive and are increasingly demanding more value for their spend.
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The corporation has identified customer service as a high priority area. Motswaiso views this is also a submission of the corporation’s scrutiny given that charter contains obligations to customers, core values and the standard against which the corporation would be assesses and measured.
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The housing corporation seeks to complete the Customer Service Value Chain regularly and on pre-defined dates, review corporation’s Customer Satisfaction Index. The Chief Executive disclosed that they have embarked on a Customer Service Standard development process which involves employees and respective department within the corporation. These standard, are a commitment pledge by the corporation, to provide to customers with excellent and quality services at all times in an efficient and caring manner.
Cresta Marakanelo Ltd group fixed at p150 million
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Improving customer service involves, according to Motswaiso: keeping abreast of customer needs and wants, identifying customer service delivery areas throughout the corporation’s value chain, developing and implementing customer friendly processed that meet and exceed customer expectation, developing and committing to well-defined service delivery turnaround time. “All these are enshrined in the customer care charter,” he adds.
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Botswana Stock Exchange listed hospitality outlet, Cresta Marakanelo Limited group revenue tallied up to 7%, largely a product of robust core business and value of the brand, the group’s board of directors have said. The hotel operator closed its unaudited half year results for the period ended 30 June 2015, fixed at P150 million of revenue compared to P139 million the correspondent period of the prior year. “This growth exceeds inflation rate in the primary economy in which we operate”, directors said. “Owing to strict controls and improved marginal contribution at key units, Profit Before Tax increased by 63%, well in excess of the growth revenue,” they added.
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This is despite continued market changes both in Botswana and Zambia operations. Directors said Botswana market continues to challenge, with increased competition especially in the ur-
The company’s operation profit ballooned to P14 million reflecting an operating margin of 9.4 percent. Testifying this a sign of strong control, the board insists on an improved contribution to operating margins from most hotel during the first half of the year, stating that “the company continues to be innovate in order to attract and retain customer with the Cresta loyal card membership continuing to grow”. The company is seeing cumulative trends in spending and redemptions by the loyalt members hence pledge continued evaluation on a range of benefits and conditions attached to the schemes to enhance guest experience and loyalty. Owing to challenging market environment in Zambia, Cresta devised a strategy, beginning 2015, aimed at drawing home back lost business. “The strategy is bearing fruits as the company had recorded growth in revenues at Cresta Golfview hotel,” the board stated. Its revenue mounted up by 30 % compared to same period last year. However, on the back of continued strengthening of the Pula against the kwacha, the company recorded P2.1 million as foreign exchange loss on the Pula dominated loan to finance the acquisition of the Zambian assets. This resulted in, the board said, ended “in the hotel recording a loss of P2.7 million for the half year compared to a loss of P4 million in the corresponding period in 2014”.
mAIn FEATURE P3
BOIDUS FOCUS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015
Start Building Your
HOUSE OF THE FUTURE NOW. By H. Killion Mokwete
Continued from the FRONT PAGE In the face of dwindling resources, acute shortage of power, water and stretched national budget, coupled with a stagnate economy, what can the built environment do to help drive industry growth and preserve long term sustainability in the industry? How can individual property/ homemakers develop property and buildings that wean themselves off of dependence on the resources from the grid? The energy demands of buildings, especially housing places a huge burden on the nation’s energy demands, of the 40% energy demands from building, 18 % of energy load demand on the national grid comes from housing while commercial sector demands 12% according to the US, Energy Information Administration (EIA), while the International Energy Agency estimates that Households contribute some 209% energy consumption in comparison to other sectors such as Transport, manufacturing and services.
individual buildings that can embed strategies to self sustain themselves from demands from the grid. According to Kevin Bygate, Chief Executive of SPECIFIC who has recently been part of a team that built the first ever UK’s ‘smart’ carbon positive energy house: “Buildings that can generate, store and release their own renewable energy could be a game-changer.’ In Botswana, it is clear that energy and water challenges are here to stay even if supply is restored to normalcy, the costs of these are invariably likely to go up as suppliers triy to recover costs and reflect the true costs of supplying these resources. Therefore a building that can sustain itself by acting as an energy producer and water collector is the holy grail of our future house. Critical areas that intelligent buildings needs to tackle in Botswana’s climatic conditions are; • solar harvesting • rain water harvesting • sewage and waste treatment • energy conservation strategies (Passive energy)
Taking Advantage of NATURE
(designing with nature)
Solar Exposure - Botswana enjoys annual sunshine hour from 8.2 to 9.7 hours per day (Meteorological Services Botswana). Both residential and commercial building energy use are growing, and represent an everincreasing share of global energy consumption. While residential energy consumption exceeds commercial, the latter has been increasing more rapidly, rising from just 14 percent of total U.S. energy consumption in 1980 to 18 percent by 2005, a 70 percent increase (IEA). In Botswana, the current chronic lack of adequate power and water supply is all too familiar and has adverse effects in almost all aspects of family lives; • With no water, housing plumbing is none functional and toilets that rely on water grid cannot be flushed leading to other health and safety issues. • With no power, house lighting and its power demands such as television, electric cooking goes. Although at MARCO level, solutions to power and water lie with large infrastructure initiatives,
Solving the ENERGY STORAGE PROBLEM The aches in the heels of solar harvesting is storing the execess energy harvested during the day for use during the night or hours where there is no sunshine. Solutions to this are in two forms; At MACRO level this involves connection to the grid and operating a system of rebaites to individual houses that produce excess and sell it to the grid. This system makes every houseghold an ‘independent power producer’ and involves heavy government facilitation. The second option involves use of batteries to store excess energy for reuse. This depends on the availability and access to the latest improved
Product showcase -Tesla Powerwall Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors Inc., unveiled a product line of electric batteries the Tesla Powerwall, a wall-mounted lithium-ion electric battery for homes and small businesses, and the Tesla Powerpack, a heftier version of the same core product designed for utility-scale use. The Powerwall battery charging system, which can be stacked up to nine batteries high and mounted on an inner garage wall or outside, costs $3,000 for a 7-kilowatt-hour system and $3,500 for the 10 kWh option. The entire Powerwall system is roughly 3 feet wide and 4 feet long, and would stick out about 7 inches once mounted. It could easily take a home off the power grid, especially with the use of many solar panels, Musk said.
Maun has an average of 3332 hours of sunlight per year (of a possible 4383) with an average of 9:07 of sunlight per day and it is sunny 76% of daylight hours. This places Botswana among one of the best placed countries in potential for solar harvesting. In the Sunbelt regions of the Southwestern United States (which have the same solar irradiation as Kgalagadi Areas in Botswana, every square meter area exposed to direct sunlight will receive about 1 kilowatt-hour per hour of solar energy (American energy independence). Even after taking into account energy losses due PVC efficiencies and other losses due to wiring and bad weather, calculations show that residential dwellings in these areas can harvest more that the 1000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month which more than covers the average residential usage estimated at 500-900KW-hours per month. Therefore in Botswana where the solar exposure is above optimum throughout the country, typical houses can harvest their entire needs.
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batteries that can store longer hours of energy. The arrival of Tesla Wall ealier this year is set to change the conventional way of energy storage through batteries (See Feature below on Tesla Wall).
The Tesla Powerwall (www.teslamotors.com/powerwall)
BOIDUS FEATURE P4
BOIDUS FOCUS september/october 2015
The Real Estate Advantage:
The Goose that Lay
Residential Capital Growth Trends
the Golden Egg By Sethebe Manake
Continued from the FRONT PAGE
growth rates year on year from 2005.
Residential property is no longer delivering its promises of infinite capital growth and income growth. We undertook an analysis of Capital Growth of 5 different property types as follows, to watch the
The drop in capital growth is an indication half year of the current economic and market dynamics that have affected the effective demand for residential property accross the board. * 2015 figures are forecasted According to Econsult Botswana, Economic Review Quarter 1, 2015, there are few key economic factors that have imposed a slow start to the Botswana economy, there by having an impact on the effective demand. Some of which are the following;
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1. Increased Unemployment 2. Weakend demand for diamonds which are essential to Botswana’s economy. 3. Tightning of visa application requirements for expartrates and investors alike 4. Failure of key public services; Water and Electricity The impact of these factors and many others in Botswana’s economy is a reduced effective demand for residential property. Residential property as covered in prior reports is highly dependent on household income as such; pressure to household income as more households loose their means of earning income increases. Moreover the prevailing property financing criteria has further reduced the consumers ability to afford as such reduced the demand for residential property.
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Therefore since the effective demand for residential property has dropped, and supply is on the increase, the net effect of both factors is that prices on residential property drop.
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This drop is already witnessed at half year mark. Coming to the part that has most people on their toes, who have experienced a drop in the value of their properties.
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The economy...
ADvERTISIng P5
BOIDUS FOCUS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015
PRECAST CONCRETE ENGINEER’S
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CONCRETE DUSTBIN (1000mm wide)
CONCRETE DUSTBIN
The 1000 mm wide concrete dustbin is best suited for high populated areas as it can bear large amount of litter. The dustbin is an effective fire barrier to hold back the spread that help the spread of fire in the case the litter catches fire.
The 450 mm wide dustbin above is highly utilised when placed strategically within areas with bustling movements of people like like shopping malls, schools and hospitals.
BUS STOP SHELTER
KIOSK/VENDOR STALLS
The Bus Stop Shelter is a tough structure that can endure harsh weather conditions. It is best use on local roads, bus/taxi ranks, embarking and disembarking points, highways and intercity roads
This product is designed and manufactured by Kwena Rocla for selected use by street vendors in SMMEs/Poverty eradition campaigns. The Kiosk suits all weather conditions in the trading areas. It is also provided with strong locking devices for security.
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PIPE COLUMN PILLAR
The 300 interlocking joint pipes are widely used as support structures and pillars adding to the aesthetics of any building. The pillars are highly durable therefore guaranteeing a longlife structure.
OUTDOOR FURNITURE
The outdoor concrete furniture is ideal for resting places in highly populated areas like schools, hospitals, shooping outlets, colledges and universities. The outdoor furniture can be used for outdoor discussions in schools or in waiting zones at hospitals
BOIDUS FEATURE P6
BOIDUS FOCUS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015
Defining Sustainable Building in Botswana:
Conversation with Architect Paul Munnik By Tlotlo Tsamaase Continued from the FRONT PAGE Sustainability is a broad term used interchangeably with the terms green or ecological designs that combat the major adverse contribution buildings have to the environment. Although it has been perceived with subjective interpretation, and compromised, what does the term mean? It has been ubiquitously defined as: to meet the needs of the current generation without impinging resources that of the future generations, whilst its primary role in the urban ecosystem is to foster environmental consciousness in several aspects including the architectural realm. Currently, the country is devoid of a rating system to allow us to acknowledge just how green our buildings are. Local buildings are self-stamped with the label Green, but when architects employ sustainable approaches, what measures do they use to mark themselves Green? Below is a brief interview with Paul Munnik of Paul Munnik Architects.
has to do with material availability and people often overlook the manufacturing of materials. The manufacturing process of a lot of building materials is very harmful to the environment. You may have a material that uses sustainable product or source materials but the way that it’s actually manufactured and developed and the methods used is not sustainable. You’re taking a sustainable natural product and you’re turning it into a poisonous product.
How would Green be measured?
Why is sustainability essential to the built environment? It’s an economic issue. We need to build buildings that have a decent lifespan. Water resources, energy sustenance, durable and environmentally sensitive building materials are basic raw ingredients for sustainability. But those are just the ingredients to put in a pot to make a soup. Doesn’t mean you’ve got a delicious soup. For me the key ingredient is design. If you use these materials with poor design, there’s no benefit.
What are the parameters that should define sustainability in Botswana?
Definition of sustainability: People manipulate what sustainability is to suit their own needs, and their own ends. That’s my biggest concern, so it’s often crowded. They will talk the talk, but when it doesn’t suit them, they find ways around it, and they call it sustainable, and it’s not sustainable. So my definition is that sustainability must be true sustainability, it must be honest.
Sustainability in the built environment: Sustainability in the built environment globally
properties of this level, and it needs to be looked at globally in terms of the design. Design is to create a comfortable habitat for human beings to occupy. Often with design ethics, I have an issue with because so many designs are pre-conceived, conceptual designs. They are not fundamental, they don’t address the core issues of design which are creating a habitable space. They first and foremost create an icon, a sculpture, and then they try to fit a habitable space into it and try to manipulate it and make it work. And it doesn’t work, it will never work.
Design, Design, Design. The parameters that should define sustainability should be performbased. The problem with the new Development Control Code for building regulation is they are not necessarily perform-based. They give you guidelines that say a wall should be a minimum of 115 mm to 230mm thick, now that is meaningless because it’s not a performance criteria. What it should do is the wall needs to control the environment, keep the weather out, has to be impermeable to this extent, have insulation
There needs to be a standard of performance criteria. You can’t do everything all the time, so you’re going to do whatever you can, and where you’re going to score higher in one instance you can compromise on another, otherwise it becomes financially impossible. You’ve got BREEAM, LEED—if you look at the Green Building Council criteria for 4-5 star building. I don’t believe that it’s responsible for anybody to design a building that doesn’t comply with 4 stars; it’s a basic minimum requirement. It’s so easy to achieve. In fact, their 4 star criteria should be 1 star and should go from there, because it’s so easy to achieve.
Who do you feel is driving or should be driving the sustainable movement in the built environment? The designers, Clients, government? It’s a basic social responsibility, I think everybody from occupants, clients, designers to everybody. You’ve got to make people aware. It doesn’t help you provide a sustainable solution and people aren’t educated on why it is like it is. You can’t blame people if they’re not aware—so education is key. A very badly photocopied water utilities warning of dam levels stuck with sellotape onto a lift is not the way to make people aware. If people are not aware, they don’t know what to do. If you don’t know what’s good for you or the environment or your children you may not practice it. That’s really government’s responsibility;
there’s been a fantastic AIDS campaign, so sustainability needs to operate at that sort of level at an education point of view. Instead of making things difficult, government should make things easy. Why go spend 300 bucks on an LED lamp when you can spend 20 bucks on a dichroic lamp, and the lifespan of the LED lamp is not going to cover the cost of the power before it fails, because the technology is changing all the time. There needs to be some incentives in the form of tax rebates.
What are the costs to sustainable buildings and how can they be mitigated? There are costs because you need to provide a certain to increase the performance of certain elements of the building, you’re going to separate grey and black water, using a two-pipe system which increases costs, but are saving to the environment with reduction to consumption of water, is a long-term saving that’s going to be a benefit. The most passive design is free and that’s where you can make the biggest impact. You can reduce the energy consumption of your building by 30% without doing anything other than applying good fundamental design, and that costs you nothing. And there you go on from there to increase the efficiency by spending more money. For most designers it’s a pain in the ass, sustainability. You have to meet certain performance specifications and they don’t take it too serious. You can’t overdo basic design principles—you can overdo the technological aspect of it. I believe, to use batteries again, as an example is criminal to be using batteries, we know what they do to the environment, it’s an expensive process to recycle them. To say that I have 100% green building, I’m completely off the grid but you have a massive battery bank, it’s overdone for me. That’s where you have to manage the technology. From a fundamental passive point of view you can never do enough, but from a technological point of view you can do too much. It’s all back to first principles.
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OIDUS FOCUS Registered at GPO as a Newspaper | P8.00 (Including VAT)
OIDUS FOCUS
BOTSWANA’S BUILT ENVIRONMENT NEWSPAPER
www.boidus.co.bw |
lucky winner
Sustainability Today: 06 Starting blocks with
change Botswana’s Architecture Design and Urban Landscape Newspaperclimate | JUN E 2013
www.boidus.co.bw
NEWS | page 02
EDITORIAL | page 04
Letlole Larona Breaks Ground at the Kromberg and Schubert Botswana (Pty) Plant
Intro Government to Promote IntroHow ready is Botswana for Develop duction of Residential Developthe Inevitable Change towards BOIDUS FEATURE > Decarbonisation targets? ment into the CBD Global
| Volume 4, Issue 7 | AUGUST 2014
Education Feature: Factors to Consider 18 When 15 Botho University Builds Establishing Francistown Campus
Sector Regulation
EDUCATION | pages 15
SUSTAINABILITY | page 06
www.boidus.co.bw
Guide to School Programmes: 2013 Built Environment Careers Guide
BOIDUS EXCLUSIVE >
by Kibo Ngowi Bringing together key CBD stakeholders such as landowners and develop ers to engage on issues that affect their developments and investment
BR Properties - Botswana’s first Parastatal Property Investment Subsidiary by Kibo Ngowi
BR Properties is a pioneer organisation as it is the first example of a by Kibo Ngowi / H. Killion Mokwete
departments with ambitions of creating similar entities. Boidus Focus met
company established to commer-
with BR Properties Managing Director
serve as a test case for many other
>>> CONTINUED PAGE 05
cially exploit the real estate assets of a Botswana Government enterprise. The performance of this company will
Oarabile Zhikhwa to explore the brief history and long-term ambitions of her organisation.
>>> CONTINUED PAGE 07
LEFT: Felix Chavaphi, MIDDLE: Tapa Moseki, RIGHT: Matlhodi Keaikitse
“I would say that as an engineer, especially in the construction field, experience is crucial, which is why firms tend to only hire engineers with a high amount of experience for senior project roles. And that’s understandable to me, because as much as you can go to school and read books, there’s no substitute for actually being involved in a project...” - Matlhodi Keaikitse
The Boidus Media, State of our CitiesCBD Executive Seminar recently held
and the public in sharing of ideas and opportunities about our upcoming
at Masa Centre was by any measure
CBD. Envisaged as the future heart of Gaborone City, the CBD is slowly taktak ing shape and the seminar sought to
time ever in Botswana, key stakeholders of the New CBD development
make it a centre stage focus of discusdiscus sions and professional deliberations.
such as investors, development owners, government, industry champions
In this Boidus Focus Special, find event abstracts:
by Boidus Admin
A Successful CBD represents among other things; • A success CBD Image of the city and the country Felix Chavaphi Portfolio • Generation of the country’s prosperity • Successful partnership between the Government & PVT[TOP] sector University of Botswana Library Dimitri Kokinos: Portfolio Structuring Manager (Stanlib) million with Murray & Roberts
at a cost of P54
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“In this line of work you need to put your yourself in a position where you have interest and ownership of the projects you’re dealing with because structural engineering is a sensitive field in that we are dealing with peoples’ safety. We are putting up structures which are going to house lives so you can’t approach this profession as simply a job. You have to see it as a responsibility and a privilege.” - Tapa Moseki >>> CONTINUED PAGE 04 >>> CONTINUED PAGES 03, 04, & 06
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PRACTICE | pages 14, 18
Buy or Build a new Home: The Pros and Cons
Disentangling the Web – A Look at Infrastructure Project Management
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“Public Piazza, Mixed Use Podium and Sky gardens coming to Gaborone”
FIND CREATIVE
PALAPYE tel:4920300 fax:4920721
Registered at GPO as a Newspaper | Volume 3, Issue #2
HOUSING | page 16
BOIDUS EXCLUSIVE >
by Kibo Ngowi & HK Mokwete
IDEAS EXPO BOTSWANA is an event designed to combine the best of creativity, business and technology in which participants are invited to give talks, do demonstrations, and show their work.
FRANCISTOWN tel:2412301 fax:2412308
The Idea of Eco Cities: Need for harmony between policy and green initiatives
Felix Chavaphi, founder of Norcon Group; Tapa Moseki, partner at Engineering CBD Executive Seminar Event Partners International; Matlhodi Keaikitse, partner at Ezra’s Contracting Services Realm of Splendor - Live, Work & Play With Breath taking Views
As you reflect on the ‘challenges and opportunities’ of developing a CBD, I would like to encourage all of you to think of this as what our generation will be remembered for having done, not only for this City, but for the nation, albeit through the toughest times. Assistant Min. of Trade & Industry, Hon. Keletso J. Rakhudu
GABORONE tel:3951001 fax:3951003
BUILDINGS | page 06
BOIDUS EXCLUSIVE FEATURE >
by Kibo Ngowi & HK Mokwete
a resounding success. The Seminar event brought together for the first
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Top: Guests and delegates at the CBD Event Bottom: Architect and Urban Designer Jo Noero from Noero Architects and University of Cape Town Right: Hon. Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry, Keletso J. Rakhudu, officially opening the event
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OIDUS FOCUS Botswana’s Architecture design & Urban Landscape Newspaper | M A R C H 2 0 1 3
Meet three of Botswana’s best Event Feature: State of our CitiesBDC FAIRSCAPE PRECINCT, The rising engineers
BOIDUS EXCLUSIVE FEATURE >
Interactive session for learning and networks.
Exhibition with the latest innovation.
Certification of attendance.
Latest trends and technology.
FNB’s CBD HQ – Intelligent Corporate Architecture by Kibo Ngowi
First National Bank (FNB) has moved into its newly built headquarters in
the office facilities accommodating all the Bank’s divisions such as Electronic
Gaborone’s rapidly developing Cen Central Business District (CBD). Located in
Banking, Private Banking, Property Finance, WesBank, Firstcard to mention
plot 54362, the Head Office called First Place, boasts the banks’ “one-stop-
but a few, customers get a full bouquet of FNBB products under one roof.
shop” capability. With an expansion of
>>> CONTINUED PAGE 07
Birds-eye view
A Fresh Approach to Buiding a Home - Inside House Agolen II
by Leago Public Piazza
Office of the President
Sebina
As an architect, the opportunity to design a building offers, not only the creation of a physical expression of the building itself, but also the possibility for architecture to mould the life and memories of its inhabitants. There-
fore, one could argue that architecture should be thought of as being alive as
opposed to the way it is usually viewed, views from across the City. Boidus as being static. There is no other was buildrecently given exclusive tour of
the construction site to experience ing typology that embodies such a nofirst hand tion of architecture than the house, the this exciting project as it most basic and primal form of shelter
for human beings.
>>> CONTINUED PAGES 08, 13
The Relocation of the Office of The President Is it the Right Move Or Not? by HK Mokwete
The current debate in parliament over
the President (OP) is missing the big-
a budget allocation request of P195
ger picture of what should be debated
million for the purposes of augment augmenting funds to either- acquire or build a
when procuring the office space for the ‘Highest Office in the Land.’
new office block to house the Office of
>>> CONTINUED PAGE 04
>>> CONTINUED PAGE 14
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BOIDUS FOCUS september/october 2015
The Space Inside – How our
Spaces influence our Being. By Tlotlego Gaogakwe The Company@Maitsisong.
I recently journeyed to Mpumalanga in South Africa. Until that point, I always felt like I had co-existed alongside that name—hearing it often but never really locating it in my mind.
Some spaces draw happiness out of us, others a sense of calm, and others still a keen nostalgia. Such is the often ignored but inevitable power of space and environment.
I am terrible with direction, but for those unaware, Mpumalanga is about 300km east from Johannesburg-I think. Previously, my end point had always been the cosmopolitan sphere of Joburg.
Over time, I have learnt to become more aware of this influence of environment on my being. Usually, big, demanding cities ignite a sense of possibility within me. Quieter environments are more challenging. I often vanish into a more pensive, quasi-philosophical mood when I am somewhere open and quiet. I go to that very Oprah “Am I living my best life?” moment.
Mpumalanga is much more bucolic. A stark countryside with gently sloping hills opening into a distant forever. I was driving in a combi with fellow artists. We were on our way to an intense, week-long retreat with very specific aims. Most of the characters in that car knew each other from the previous workshop/retreat and I had been invited as a newcomer. As I drifted in and out of stiff sleep, I could hear my compatriots singing, what I presumed to be a Portuguese song, as the concrete of Johannesburg relented and gave way to pasture. I’d remain awake for a few minutes and then drift off again, carried by their boisterous melody. Something always happens to me when I travel: a dislocation of sorts. A sense of being pulled out of a very specific time and space frame can be jarring to say the least, but I am a fan of that vortex of uncertainty. We drove through the Mpumalanga country towards evening and the darker it got and the deeper we relayed into that land, the more I felt myself shifting. My sense of self mutating. Like a chameleon, I often become the new space I find myself in.
Being in Mpumalanga was no different. In fact, I felt it more intensely there. The retreat happened on a quaint hotel-like estate. A hotel in Mpumalanga is not a hotel in Cape Town. The entire place felt like we were staying on a rich, English uncle’s hunting lodge. It was very homely. To reach the place, you had to drive deep into Mpumalanga farm land. Take the gravel road there and look out for a smaller one to the left. It was that kinda place. As you drive into the main gate, you reckon with more driving, this time up a winding, steep road that snakes up a hill—quite some way—to the front door.
The response: “You just do…” And boy, had they survived. Their art was thriving in that environment. That space had allowed them to turn inwards in such a prophetic, forceful and determined way. They became that wondrous Mpumalanga landscape and the landscape embraced and became them. Their artistic work flourished. They witnessed some of our works in progress and we in turn bore witness to theirs.
I was particularly moved by one of the presentations. The sole female dancer from the resident company showcased a ritualistic performance. She was outside at dusk. In the background hung a silver coin of a rising moon. It was that time of day when the twilight colours of night mix with the last resisting ones of day. She clothed her body in some mud as she sang gently. Once her body was shrouded in Mpumalanga soil, she stripped naked and sank into a pond-like pool. Towards the end she exited—in her full natural glory—and perched at the edge of the pool. My description is not doing her extraordinary performance justice. However, I felt the world could not do any better in that moment; seeing an artist merge into their environment so effortlessly, and seeing that same environment carry her courage and message. There in that moment I could not help but feel like I was existing in a beguiling painting. I was absolutely living my best life.
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We were up what felt like a mountain, in what sometimes felt like nowhere. There is really no better place to question oneself than up a mountain in the middle of the nowhere. Really, there is no better place for artists to be. And so there we were. Each morning consisted
Plant Insuranace By Christopher Burton With mining mobile equipment it is however possible to have this plant insured under the main mining assets programme where the rates are far lower but the excesses are likely to be in excess of USD$ 250,000. Occasionally one can also find plant insured under a motor policy. Plant All Risks insurance is mainly found as a standalone policy though with Construction Insurance it may form the third section of a Contractors All Risks policy after the Works Damage and Liability Sections. Types of construction and mining plant vary considerably from, for example, a relatively unsophisticated water bowser to the more complex tower crane. All forms of plant and equipment are generally insured under what is called a “Plant All Risks” policy.
of workshopping, scripting, planning etc. The usual things that artists do, were done, and more. Our residency coincided with another; a dancers had been there for about 3 weeks already by the time we arrived. I couldn’t help but ask: “How have you survived for three weeks in this isolation?”
As the name implies Plant All Risks covers against physical loss or damage to the plant and equipment not otherwise excluded. The main exclusions being electrical and mechanical breakdown and wear and tear.
Most policies require the sum insured to reflect the replacement value of the equipment insured as the policy pays for new second parts in the event of damage. The maximum payable however, is the market value of the item in the event of a total loss. Insurers will in most cases consider using a market value sum insured similar to a motor policy which should in theory cause the insurer to increase the rate charged. All losses will be subject to a first amount payable, normally of 10% of claim subject to a minimum depending on the total value of an individual item. Policies may cover both owned plant and plant hired under a contract of hire. In the latter case, a rate is applied to the hired-in plant fees to generate a premium. Insurer’s liability is limited to the insured’s legal liability for loss or damage to such property. Extensions to the policy may include:
Costs and Expenses incurred in the provision of hoarding; shoring; propping; covering and protection of damaged property; extinguishing and fighting of fire, demolition and removal of property; professional fees; removing property to suitable premises for repair etc. Continuing Hire Charges (as defined in the Hire Agreement) incurred during a specified period consequent upon loss or damage to the hired-in property. Substitute Hire Charges incurred for the temporary replacement of property during a specified period consequent upon loss or damage to the property insured. Stripping Costs and Expenses necessarily incurred in order to assess the damage to property insured. Recovery of Property Insured which becomes accidentally immobilised in any physical situation.
BOIDUS FEATURE P8
BOIDUS FOCUS september/october 2015
What lessons on sustainability can Botswana learn from other countries Conversation with Climatologist David Lesolle, UB
By Tlotlo Tsamaase Continued from the FRONT PAGE
What are the lessons that Botswana can learn from other countries initiatives and strategies on sustainability in buildings? Currently, throughout the world, there has been persistent regard for sustainability a call for eco-friendly materials considered in buildings and the implementation of green processes to minimize destruction to the environment. In many cities worldwide, a rating system has been implemented to measure and qualify the green factor of buildings by intemperately reviewing them in several categories to gain that achievement. Several established green rating systems are in existence: LEED (US), BREEAM (UK), GREEN STAR (AUSTRALIA), and Green Star South Africa. Locally, despite the word-of-mouth publicity adopted for green buildings, the Green Building Council of Botswana is in its infancy stages. The most popular rating system is LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design has several categories, which for example are materials and resources in buildings, sustainable sites, water efficiency etc to attain utopian sustainability. Buildings receive points that award them either one of the following certificates progressing to the highest attainable: Certified, Silver, Gold, Platinum. In 2009, a New York Times article illustrated that “Some Buildings Not Living Up To Green Label” when building’s energy data was released to expose their green authenticity. What was found instead was that these buildings were environmentally poisonous than non-sustainable buildings. Therefore, despite its advocacy, LEED has its fall-backs: it certifies buildings before they’re occupied and doesn’t monitor the energy consumption of buildings during their lifespan, and despite evidence that some green-certified buildings aren’t living up to their green label, LEED doesn’t rescind the obtained certificate.
Interview with Daniel Lesolle, a lecture in Climatology at the University of Botswana on what Botswana can learn on sustainability and ratings from other countries; Definition of sustainability I’m concerned about the built environment which is the infrastructure, infrastructure meaning road and rail. The built environment for infrastructures, unfortunately, some of it is not robust. It takes a lot of money to build a road, and when one little event, a disaster happens, the cost of repairs and the associated costs, the associated costs meaning cost of inconvenience to the users, the time when the road is not useful, the time when trucks have to run while the bridge is not available, and the transport sector—all of those are major concerns. The concern about sustainability is further aggravated by the fact that we have the unknown. The unknown is that under global warming and climate changes. There is increased evidence that the number of extreme events have increased, not only in their number but in their extremity. Therefore, how do I define sustainability: whatever we do we must make sure it is not only built for today’s environment but for the future as well. It can withstand the current and withstand at least 90% of the future. Must change the mind-set, moving away from the norm, and learning how to do things better. There’s a lot of opportunity for the physical sciences be talking with the social sciences, because most of the issues around sustainability have to address the social aspect. So how humans respond to and after drought, or how humans respond to calamity, will have an impact on whether our programs are sustainable or not. Sometimes it’s an outright rejection—people don’t like sustainable options, because sometimes they are expensive, sometimes they are not necessarily cool in terms of the norm.
What are the parameters that should define sustainability in Botswana? We should try to define it for ourselves. For example, some of the parameters that we could use and apply,
would include incentives to thrive sustainability—for example, your allocation for petrol is 500 litres per annum, we spend less then you get some bit of money as an incentive. We must have a target; we must define what we mean by sustainability, in terms of Botswana, in terms of the rural, etc. If we’re going to saying the water sector is sustainable, it has reached a certain level of sustainability, what do we mean how do we measure that—the amount of leaks, the amount of recycling, contributing, what are the targets, similarly for your built environment, similarly for electricity, similarly for the agricultural sector and many other sectors. We have to agree to say what is the food production per capita? What is the consumption of energy per capita if it’s an energy sector and set targets for them, and determine the measures and indicators.
If you were to idealise a future where sustainability is in full-throttle existence throughout architecture and design, how would you epitomise it? The people who can be involved are architects on what’s possible and what’s not possible. Say, I could draw a house but maybe it’ll be the most expensive house to live in, it could cause more environmental damage, etc. We need to get together and talk together. I could sit here and say a good sustainable environment has 100% solar energy, it must have zero-wastage, etc. Are those things attainable?
Prepare Your Garden for Spring Planting Taking time in spring to build fertility and loosen soil will set you up for a more productive year. First, a few weeks before you plan to plant, work in any cover crops and then cover your garden bed with a layer of good compost (2- cm). The compost will provide the soil with a fresh infusion of nutrient-rich organic matter, and improve the soil’s ability to both retain and drain water and nourish your crops. Second, focus on cultivating your soil. The soil becomes compacted over time, so loosening it before planting is always a priority. If you are creating a new planter bed, you then need to cultivate in order to remove rocks or roots, use a spade or digging fork to turn the soil. In established beds, use a garden fork to break up the soil. This will prepare your soil for planting. Finally, apply fertilizer as per specifications of the fertilizer you are using.
What do you believe are the misconception of sustainable/green buildings? It’s just about what you want to measure in sustainability. Right now, there’s about fifteen sustainable development goals. So imagine that we can use those sustainable development goals to see how they will measure sustainability at a global level. But the challenge comes: we want to domesticate that global approach to your own country. At the country level it’s all different, so you can’t say you’re going to apply the same things. But, people are afraid of change, and maybe that’s one great misconception of sustainability: it’s unattainable, it’s too expensive, it’s going to compromise taste, preferences, and human rights to choice.
What challenges do designers face when it comes to designing for sustainability as opposed to unsustainable projects? Cost is one. The designer’s problem is what technologies are there. Today we have this type of technology, maybe it’s made in Botswana, and it’s not good. Tomorrow a better technology comes. Ten years ago, we had a cell phone that didn’t use GPS, today we have a different technology. Those are the challenges in design in terms of sustainability. How do you futuristically employ technology when you don’t know the future technology? It’s always going to be an evolving thing.
In what way can the country make sustainable building design a part of building regulations? What challenges have been faced in trying to do so?
It’s very easy: issue the regulations. There is a Green Building Council headed by very nice young people like Bakang Palai. They’ve been planning an inaugural conference, trying to get it together—it’s not easy to do those things. But, I think the concepts are there. Government must listen to them, must work with them, including the public, because ultimately it’s going to be the public who decides I’m going to build this house or not. Therefore, regulations and strategies must be pre-determined.
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BOIDUS FOCUS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015
Implications of automatic extensions of time for subcontractors
when the subcontract sets the time for completion “in accordance with the contractor’s programme” – a contractor’s perspective. By Natalie Reyneke Introduction Where a subcontract sets the time for completion “in accordance with the contractor’s programme”, does the subcontractor automatically get an extension of time when the contractor changes his programme and delays the date for completion? Time for Completion and the JBCC - Generally ‘Time for completion’ in the JBCC Series 2000 Principal Building Agreement (Edition 5.0) (“PBA”) refers to the date for practical completion (ie. when the employer can take occupation and use the works for the purposes intended), where after the Contractor will be required to remedy defects. The Contract Data [41.2.8] of the PBA refers to an “intended practical completion date” and records penalties per day for not achieving practical completion by such date. On the other hand, the Contract Data for the JBCC Series 2000 N/S Subcontract Agreement Edition 5.0 (“N/S Subcontract”) refers to “intended dates of completion” and provides for “interim completion” and for “practical completion” [41.2.8]. For the purposes of this article, it is assumed that the Contract Data for the N/S Subcontract does not provide a specified date for intended and/ or practical completion, but provides that such dates are “in accordance with the contractor’s programme”, as happens in practice all too often. The Programme Clause 15.2 of the N/S Subcontract states that: “The contractor shall: … 15.2.2 prepare, implement and where necessary, modify the programme allowing sufficient time for the subcontractor to achieve stage completions and interim completion of the n/s works all as agreed with the subcontractor to enable the contractor in turn to achieve practical completion…” Clause 15.6 of the N/S Subcontract states: “The contractor in consultation with the subcontractor shall: 15.6.1 regularly update the subcontractor’s programme in relation to the n/s works together with a schedule of outstanding construction information in sufficient detail to enable the principal agent to assess the progress of the n/s works and timeously provide the informant required; and
15.6.2 coordinate the subcontractor’s programme with his own; and 15.6.3 continuously revise and modify the programme and the schedule of outstanding construction information and issue copies timeously to the subcontractor and principal agent.” The programming clauses in both the PBA and the N/S Subcontract do not specifically state that the parties must adhere to any programme. The purpose of the programme is to demonstrate how the parties intend to execute and complete the works, and to enable a principal agent to monitor the progress of the works. There are obligations on both the contractor and the subcontractor to modify the programme, however, the modification of the programme in itself does not change the contractual dates for completion. So if the contractor and the subcontractor have a discussion regarding revisions to the programme, is this discussion and subsequent revision to the programme enough to entitle the subcontractor to any extension to the time for completion that he may require as a result of such revision? We would say “no”. There are no automatic extensions of time under the N/S Subcontract. The N/S Subcontract has very specific conditions (found in Clause 29) regarding revisions to the interim date for completion. Clauses 29.1 and 29.2 set out the circumstances where the subcontractor is entitled to a revision of the date for interim completion, either where the N/S contract value shall not be adjusted, or the N/S contract value shall be adjusted. Should there be any requirements for the subcontractor to extend the interim completion date, he has to follow the process contained in Clause 29. It is not an option. As soon as the subcontractor becomes aware of an event that in his opinion, will cause a delay to interim completion, he has to comply with Clause 29.4. Clause 29.4 provides that: “29.4 Should a circumstance as listed … occur which could, in the opinion of the subcontractor, cause a delay to interim completion, the subcontractor shall: 29.4.1 Give the contractor reasonable notice and timeous notice of such circumstance, and 29.4.2 Take all reasonable steps to avoid the delays, 29.4.3 Within fifteen (15) working days from the date upon which the subcontractor became
aware or ought reasonably to have become aware of the potential delay notify the contractor of his intention to submit a claim for the revision to the date for interim completion or any previous revision thereof resulting from such delay, failing which the subcontractor’s right to claim shall lapse.” This means, in our view, that once it is established that any programme revisions will require a revision to the date for interim completion, the subcontractor has to submit his notice of intention to claim, within the time frames in Clause 29.4.3. This flies in the face of a presumed automatic extension of time. No amount of discussion, consultation or agreement on a programme can revise the subcontractor’s date for interim completion. What exactly would the date of interim completion be if the date in the Contract Data is recorded as being “in accordance with the contractor’s programme”? The first accepted programme usually represents a “baseline” against which the progress of the works may be measured and against which events of delay may be measured[1]. In our view, this baseline programme represents the date for interim completion, and it is this date that should be revised, under the auspices of Clause 29. . So now that we have clarified that the programme and the date for interim completion and revisions thereof are two separate concepts under the JBCC and are administered very differently, can a subcontractor surprise the contractor with additional costs when he acts in accordance with the contractor’s “extended” programme but fails to contractually revise the date for interim completion? We would say no, he may try, but the wording of clause 29.4.3 is clear: No claim submitted timeously = no claim. This clause may refer to a claim for a revision to the date for interim completion, but ultimately how would a subcontractor justify any adjustment to the Contract Value if no revision to the interim date for completion has been granted? With regards to expense and loss of the subcontractor (for example for scaffolding erected that may have to remain erected for a longer period) has to be claimed under Clause 32.5. Clause 32.6 states that: “The subcontractor shall notify the contractor within thirty five (35) working days from becoming aware or from when he ought reasonably to have become aware of such expense and loss [32.5] failing which no compensation will be made …” [Our emphasis].
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This, at least, puts the contractor in the position that he will be aware of the additional costs as they happen and may have the opportunity to mitigate such additional costs before they escalate out of control. No surprises for the contractor after the end of the project at least! What will happen when the contractor wants to shorten his programme and this may have the effect of bringing the interim date for completion to an earlier date? In our view, the subcontractor has been given a certain number of days to complete the subcontract works (which is initially set out in the baseline programme) and remains entitled to such number of days, whether or not his programme is “in accordance with the contractor’s programme”. If the contractor’s date for completion is brought forward, this may affect the subcontractor’s interim completion date according to the baseline. If so, the contractor will be required to issue an instruction to the subcontractor to accelerate the subcontract works. If, during the execution of the n/s works, the subcontractor suffers a delay and requires an extension to the time for completion in accordance with the contractor’s programme, what then? In this scenario, the time for completion of the subcontract works does not automatically extend. The N/S Subcontract contains specific procedures for a revision to the date for interim completion. Clause 29 is dealt with more specifically above and the procedures contained therein it must be followed by the subcontractor. Upon submission of a successful claim, the contractor will be forced to shift the time for completion of its programme to cater for the time for completion required by the subcontractor. Conclusion In conclusion, when the interim completion date of a N/S Subcontract is "in accordance with the contractor's programme" it is a common misconception that the time for completion of the subcontract works shall automatically shift in accordance with such programme, as and when amended by the contractor. However, this is not the correct interpretation. The programming clause and the clause regarding revision of the date of interim completion are two separate and distinct clauses, each having their own administrative function. Any revisions to the date for interim completion by the subcontractor have to be processed in accordance with clause 29.
home improvement 2015 P11 BOIDUS FOCUS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
BOIDUS FOCUS september/october 2015 HOME IMPROVEMENT P10
DIY Projects - How to Install New Kitchen Cabinets - PART 2 8. Installing a Toekick
[Source: www.diynetwork.com] Last Month: How to Install New Kitchen Cabinets - PART I Planning and Preparation, Lay out, Drilling Pilot Holes, Installing Cabinet Doors
5. Aligning Doors
Moving the Door Left and Right Tightening or loosening the screw, as shown in Image 1, will move the door to the right or left.
7. Attaching a Handle
Clamp a scrap of wood firmly against the front face of the door at the position where the drill bit will emerge. Using a drill bit slightly larger in diameter than the threaded screw of the knob or handle, drill through the door until you penetrate the block (Image 1). This should prevent the front surface from splitting.
Moving the Door Up and Down Loosen the screws in the hinge plate, as shown in Image 2, and reposition the door before tightening them again.
Position the toekick, pushing the clips in place onto the legs of the cabinets. Continue to add further sections of toekick until you have covered all areas. A toekick is easy to remove, allowing new floor coverings to lap under cabinets. Toekick height may then be trimmed to accommodate any floor-level change.
8. Installing a Scribe Molding
9. Putting on Drawer Fronts
Remove the block. You should have a perfect pilot hole, with no splintering or other damage around its edge. Insert a screw.
Moving the Door In and Out To position the door farther away from the carcass, loosen the central screw in the hinge plate and adjust the door accordingly (Image 3). Retighten the screw to secure the door.
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Because a handle is being installed here, a second hole is required. Position the handle against the door and secure the screw in place.
First attach the handles to the drawer using the same method for attaching door handles. Hold the front against the drawer (Image 1). Insert screws through the front of the drawer from the inside, so that they are driven into the drawer fronts, and tighten them securel.
• Cut the molding to the lengths needed. Cut mitered joints with a miter saw. Screw in place the piece of molding that fits against the wall. • Apply some wood glue to the mitered end to add extra strength. • Butt the next piece of molding against the first and press the mitered joints together firmly. • Secure this length of scribe molding using wood screws.
BOIDUS FEATURE P12
BOIDUS FOCUS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015
The Game of Sustainability By Jan Wareus
Continued from the FRONT PAGE
The man who never understand his defeats will take nothing with him into the future (Aksel Sandemose) The topic implied in the heading above is so important that I have to take a deep look into my professional morals and my experiences here in Botswana – so I begin with my adventures when arriving to Gaborone January 1979 (in an old DC-3). It was quite a mind changing experience. The town was new and modeled upon the garden city concept as per my university text books – charming, tiny and green. A new-town with curving streets and functional environment friendly roundabouts perfectly serving the traffic volumes planned for at the time and possible to extend to swallow more cars. Let me contemplate: Where did the concept that this little garden city of 20-30 000 inhabitants could forever grow without denying its origin? Instead of, as per the book, be repeated at some distance and conveniently connected with public transport? Sorry to say, my predecessors, planners from Europe, should have known better. Gaborone quickly became unsustainable! The interested reader probably know the so called Gaborone Growth Study of 1978 – never have a capital had a less convincing growth study that this one! The murky side of aid dependency is not so much the aid money spent as the intellectual capacity of the imported expats! I soon discovered a western, “proper” Mall and an “indigenous” African Mall in the small garden city. The functional reason for this was quite confusing to me, until I realized that the letting of retails in the proper one was skewed. The proper Mall had no possibilities for traditional low income outlets! It was fine spun for high income inhabitants north of the Mall! Why? Well, the garden city was made by planners from a very class-minded country and the implemented concept from the books indicated separation of income groups! Astonishingly, the initial garden city concept was familiar to me. Neighbourhood housing concept used by the first planners of the 1963/64 layout was assumed to be invented in the western world and frequently used in layouts for suburbs, new towns and expansion areas there. But soon, and to my surprise, I discovered that it was not new to the Tswana tradition. Most rural towns and villages had a similar concept for creating living space. This became a basis for the layouts and plans I had to produce as a Government planner and later presented in a paper “The Traditional Tswana Village – a neglected planning prototype”. In my view, most rural towns and villages had a
very clear concept for creating living space long before planning pundits in the west “invented” it. Interestingly, on the subject of the traditional housing mix concept, Sir Seretse Khama directed the planners to adhere to it literally in the 70’s – it was functional and made possible future cost effective upgrading and was even accepted by Dir/BHC and Dir/Surveys and Lands. The upgrading and cross-subsidy issues were so important that it was supported even by these CEO’s from UK.
to Patric van Rensburg. His ideas and educational concept was, however, neglected by the western orientated part of the establishment. His practical concepts were highly appreciated, though, by Scandinavian governments of the time (prior to the neo-liberal paradigms) and if I recall properly, he even received a highly regarded distinction for his noble work. But prophets at home are never admired, they say! True, but recent problems for the educational arm of the government was early pointed out to no avail.
Most astonishing though was the fact that the small capital of Gaborone had its own power plant in 1979. Situated in the old industrial area and with coal from north regularly delivered by train. A solution that nowadays many cities are longing for instead of long, impediment creating power lines from far away (loosing 1/3 of the expensive energy in the transmission and another 1/3 in local in-house wiring). This is very unsustainable in the long-run and we pay the full costs for the inefficiency. I’ll be back to this fact, later.
As a retired architect/physical planner I will now on basis of my early experiences noted above, go into the devastating state of our infrastructure and concentrate on the power delivery system as it is currently the most discussed problem.
We are now into “Small is Beautiful” and we need some explanations: It’s the title of a book from 1973 by E F Schumacher (EFS) - “Small is Beautiful – A Study of Economics as if People Mattered” - and it became one of the 100 most influential books published since WW2 (Wikipedia). He was a Keynesian economist that for many years was an important member of the British Coal Board. His economic and technical experience convinced him of the importance of “appropriate technology”, in line with the general experience (and skills) by people and their leaders in many 3rd world countries. He died already in 1977, well aware of the first oil crisis and the limping steps into the digital, electronic society. His thinking was taken further by the Schumacher Centre for New Economics. Books and papers have been produced in large numbers and it is astonishing that he is almost totally unknown here. EFS clearly saw the future of the 3rd world economies and its inherited dependence on cheap oil and energy as he had experienced the finite coal resources in Britain and the so called first oil crisis in 1972/73. Furthermore, he didn’t see any lasting blessings in the petrol and electronic high tech as it was based on finite, more and more expensive resources. It also depended to a high degree on very skilled and specialized engineers, resulting in alienation of ordinary mechanics and also the users of the digital apps, not being able to maintain the high-tech blessings themselves. Interestingly, Botswana had her own EFS working, preaching and starting up appropriate technology projects since the 60’s. I’m referring
The modern power delivery concept for Botswana is forced upon us by the western, now postindustrial countries. The technological side of it has been developed over a century marked by cheap, abundant fossil fuel. Thus the efficiency of the system was not a serious question until today when fossil fuel is peaking and economy decreasing. Even the western countries can’t pay the bills! But this is what they have developed and must face and the same for us – we have to maintain the dubious concepts we have, at least for a generation as investments continue. Consequently, we have to look into the wastefulness of the system and if it can be corrected, at least partially – the price of power depends on this. Already in the 90’s it was clear that there was a problem to maintain the infrastructure given us, based initially on cheap fossil fuel and money in abundance - the basis for mirroring western developments in Africa. And the western industries were spitting out products, more or less obsolete to them, as “needed” for developing countries. That didn’t have economy to buy at shop/prime price but so called Aid Money came (with conditions). The so called legitimate expectations by African countries were met by obsolete products and technology from west. Let’s call it neo-colonialism supported by local, in-house colonialism. And we must face it – there are mighty corporate interests behind the power solutions we are now implementing. For instance, we know now that modern economies run at less than 5% for the full chain from extraction to delivery (“Factor Four” by Weisacker, Lovins and Lovins 1998). So, there is a considerable scope for advance. The book also tells us that we can do everything we do on a quarter (1/4) of energy and materials now used. Remember, long-haul electricity looses about 1/3 of energy in the transmission and another
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1/3 is lost in the local wiring, gadgets and plugs. Inefficiency, yes! And totally unacceptable but might be improved (and must be) as we have to pay fully for this inefficiency. As ex-president Masire is pointing out in a paper recently - Botswana has signed the Kyoto Protocol regarding the use of solar power in the country. Furthermore, Vision 2016 is pointing out that Botswana has a tremendous potential for solar energy that must be exploited, especially for rural communities not catered for by national grid. Despite this, BPC (together with a alien corporations) has extended the inefficient and expensive national grid to more than a hundred rural settlements! For a short while I was part of this conceptually imperfect project, assisting the involved Swedish partner to BPC with surveys. And to my perplexed mind, some far away villages had schools, clinics, administration offices and more with “defunct” solar power. I’m not an electrician but I could see that the wiring was as for 220 Volts, i.e. tiny slim wires. As far as I know from my grandfather and my old father-in-law that had old kind of windmills for pumping water and charging batteries – wiring for low voltage (12 V) is quite different from high voltage (220 V) tiny wires (as 220 can push through minimal wires with heat losses but 12 volt cannot). I’m not sure, but I think that as usual it was a management/ supervision problem. I’m glad to be corrected if need be. Maybe, the local users didn’t know how to handle the batteries (read prof. Grynberg in Mmegi of March 28, 2014). However, the new expensive grid was just replacing existing solar panels, probably wrongly installed. Made right, the low voltage solar panels would have done a good job as most modern electronics works fine on 12 V and lights, too. And we must realize that there are very few households with money for BPC power. I hope some disused solar panels came into use by them! Don’t take my comments for being some death sentence to BPC and the work done so far. I’m in full understanding of the working climate they have. The lack of in-house skills to supervise multimillion projects is depending on very expensive consultants (often with a double agenda) and it escalates the price for power. But we now have to take a step by step walk away from the main road to bankruptcy to a sustainable situation – the one we have signed treaties about. There are similar problems for water and roads and I hope other dissident professionals can jump the confession train. For roads, I’ve many times said – leave them out from “electrical upgrading” and don’t add more lanes for private cars – it’s like curing obesity by loosening the belt! Reserve one lane for public transport and the combis we have as they are necessary for the time being. Grand scale public transport will never happen in times of descending economy, unfortunately - we have to live with what we have. Upgrading is needed, though!
EDUcATIOn P13
BOIDUS FOCUS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015
MOESD, New Era College Focus on Scarce Skills Correction to article published in Boidus Focus August 2015
The importance of focusing on scare skills in order to foster entrepreneurship is becoming increasingly evident in the presentstate of unemployment and economic downturn. The Ministry of Education, Skills and Development (MoESD) is now collaborating with Tertiary Educational Institutions to retool for better skilled young Batswana.
In partnership with New Era College of Arts, Science and Technology the ministry has decided to ease restriction on entry points for college acceptance to cater for students who did not qualify for further education and government sponsorship. Currently, the cut off for government sponsorship is 36 points but with this new program the government will allow students scoring below this threshold to enter college and develop skills. “The Ministry of Education has taken this initiative to go below cut off points in favour
of the Junior Certificates and O-level students who did not access college to develop scares skills as artisans, New Era College Director for Academic Affairs Mr. Clement Didimalang told Boidus Focus in an exclusive interview.
“Our programs include Construction Industry; Telecommunications Systems, Electrical and Electronic Engineering as well as Business Studies, which we believe can help students to gain hands-on experience and ultimately be able to employ themselves and others.” According to Didimalang, the program will take two and a half years to complete for those with JC and two years for those with BGCSE or equivalents and while it is a youth empowerment program it will still follow the college and national regulations and laws. For the two years that the course will be running, one year will be for theory and the second year will be more on practical assignments. Similar to other programs, students will go for internships after they complete their studies, before they graduate. He said as a norm, proper selection processes will be followed, but they will not necessarily be conducted to reject people. Applicants will be guided to ensure suitability of programs. “We have a wide range of programmes; there are alternative short programmes in case we find that there are those who cannot cope with the more advanced courses,” says Didimalang. “If we believe that a student cannot manage a course, we have a responsibility to advise the student to consider a more suitable one. We may not allow students to register for courses we consider
unsuitable because their failure would be our failure and the nation’s failure too” New Era plans to accept the first intake in September 2015. All matters pertaining to sponsorship, including students’ allowances are the prerogative of the MoESD.
“The intention of this project is to increase access to scares skills training programs, develop independence and reduce unemployment rates”. Mr. Didimalang further said that up-skilling the students they are targeting will help put a dent in the high youth unemployment rates Botswana is currently experiencing. New Era College is also discussing possibility of partnerships with some Brigades and other institutions such as Madirelo Training and Testing Centre in order to gain from the experience these institutions have in this area. Furthermore, discussions are ongoing between the college and the Ministry of Trade and Industry to form a partnership aimed at supporting youth to develop self-employment skills and to form business clusters. Didimalang added that it is good for government to educate people but it is important for trainees to not focus only on employment by others but to think of creating employment for themselves and others.
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gUEST cOlUmnIST P14
BOIDUS FOCUS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015
Design Pad:
Health, Happiness
and your Space By Tshepiso Motlogelwa, Interior Designer tsmotlogelwa@gmail.com We are surrounded by interior design in our homes, our work place and even our favourite restaurant. Inspired interior design however does more than simply furnishing those spaces or splashing the walls with paint; it can promote good health and good relationships. It affects every aspect of our physical and mental wellbeing whether or not its done properly! Interior design can contribute to a better night’s sleep, a healthier kitchen, improve the quality of the air in your home and much more. Everything from the flooring to the light bulbs in the ceiling represents a design decision that
can have profound effects on your health and environment. An interior designer for example may be working with a client with respiratory problems such as asthma and by selecting products that don’t emit gases, the quality of the interior air can be improved in a living space. For a client with seasonal depression, or a mental condition, utilizing full colour spectrum lighting or day light LED bulbs can positively improve their mental outlook. Colour has been scientifically shown to have an
impact on our blood pressure, physical activity level and our moods.
Here are just a few of the specific ways design choices can impact personal health:
Cool hues are selected to make us feel calmer. Warm colors can rev us up for the day. But color psychology is a much more complex science that when applied with an overall and detailed plan can lessen anxiety, improve productivity and foster a sense of well-being.
COLOUR AFFECTS MOOD.
A skilled interior designer can offer the specialized knowledge of the furniture, fixtures and equipment that promote good indoor air quality, are toxin-free, and are water/energyefficient. Area rugs can be used in place of carpeting to avoid exposure to mold and microorganisms as they clean better, this is an ideal alternative for some with respiratory problems. The interior design of your space is more than just personal taste or preference; the colours you choose, materials and space you use directly affect your personal health.
Colour has been scientifically shown to have an impact on our blood pressure, physical activity level and our moods. Cool hues are selected to make us feel calmer. Warm colors can rev us up for the day. But color psychology is a much more complex science that when applied with an overall and detailed plan can lessen anxiety, improve productivity and foster a sense of wellbeing. The use of colour can help enhance the mood in the interior space and at the same time serve to put an accent to objects in relation to each other. Specifically, red invokes boldness, power and passion, orange is connected with innovation and energy, green is renowned for its soothing qualities, blue brings about a feeling of calmness, and white conveys a sense of purity and clarity.
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gUEST cOlUmnIST & nEwS P15
BOIDUS FOCUS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015
Health, Happiness and your Space (cont’d) Continued from the PAGE 14
SPATIAL ARRANGEMENTS INFLUENCE PERCEPTION. For a very long time, interior designers have always paid close attention to the space perception concept, which says certain design features and colors can make a room appear large or smaller. This essentially allows you to control your perception of each room by altering it to fit your desired mood. One of the obvious ways to make a room look bigger is to use lighter colours on the floors and walls, this automatically gives a space an airy and spacious feel. For a more cosy ambience you can opt for darker colours for both the walls and floors.
Travelodge Hotel Phase 2
nears completion
By Boidus Admin
Hospitality outfit, Travelodge Hotel, is on the verge of completing the expansion of its flagship hotel domiciled in block 3, bringing total count of rooms to a 115 and an adding state-of-theart TraveLodge Conference Centre (TLCC), TraveLodge Operations Director, Justin Jose said. The move, he insists, is an effort to cater for the growing demand for top quality and affordable eventing facilities. Recent developments open doors for an additional 31 bedrooms. The showpiece, TLCC, occupying 1100 square metres is designed to accommodate 800 delegates with a main hall seating up to 600 people. Jose said it’s a key element of Phase Two of Travelodge strategy. “With this brand new venue and rooms we are essentially extending our promise of ‘We take Care of you’ to reach even more Batswana,” he pronounced, expressing the Group’s excitement and commitment “to offer the accommodation and conferencing market in Gaborone a fresh new affordable option”.
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level offer the perfect gateway for strategic planning events. With 4 access points in and out of Block 3, parking for over 300 vehicles, Travelodge Group contends its an ideal venue to host exhibitions, conferences, launches, Gala dinners and live entertainment events. Cameron Thompson, TraveLodge General Manager maintains, the hotel still will “be able to accommodate regular guests”. He said, “we have grown steadily over the last three years and are proud to be able to offer Gaborone a fantastic experience at a good price,” reiterating committed to contributing immensely to Botswana’s growing and promising hospitality industry. As a result, Thompson expects to be employing a total of 100 Batswana at TraveLodge Hotel and Travelodge Conference Centre. The new showpiece will be equipped with high speed free Wi-Fi and state-of-the-art audio visual equipment guaranteeing maximum satisfaction for clients. Sound proofing the venue and reducing the amount of echo created by large spaces has been a priority in the development of travel lodge centre conference.
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local/international news P16
BOIDUS FOCUS september/october 2015
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mAIn FEATURE P17
BOIDUS FOCUS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015
The Solcer House: Eco-friendly home of the future
GENERATES MORE ENERGY THAN IT USES By H. Killion Mokwete
Continued from the FRONT PAGE Introducing the house of the future - which generates more energy than it consumes. The walls of The Solcer house, which was designed and constructed by the Welsh School of Architecture, collect and store thermal and electrical energy. Located at Stormy Down, near Bridgend, the building also has a photo voltaic (solar panel) roof system and has been funded through the Low Carbon Research Institute (LCRI) programme funded by Wales European Funding Office (WEFO). The house took just 16 weeks to construct and cost £1,000 per sq m - that’s within the range for social housing of £800 to £1,000 per sq m, the designers said. In future, they say its owners will make money from selling excess energy. The property, has insulated render on the outside and air heating systems that rely on the sun. The designers say it will need to import energy in the winter, but the imports will be trumped by energy exports during summer months. Solar power is key to how the house works. The Solcer House has a PV (photo voltaic) roof system, not PV bolted on to a roof, and the wall is a thermal energy generator from the sun which collects thermal and electrical energy and stores it.
The demands of the building are then reduced.
“When the sun is out we use the sun for heat and electricity, we store it so it can used at night,” Prof Jones said. “In that way it is an energy positive building.”
High-tech components The Bridgend house has glazed solar photovoltaic (PV) panels fitted into the south-facing roof, allowing the space below to be naturally lit. This reduced the cost of bolting on solar panels to a standard roof. The house uses solar generation and battery storage to run both the combined heating, ventilation and hot water system, and the electrical power system, which includes appliances, LED lighting and a heat pump. The solar air system preheats the ventilation air, which is also warmed by a warm water store. (www.bbc.com )
Installation: • 5.2 Kwp roof mounted solar array (16 x 330W black monocrystalline panels) • bespoke Welsh slate roof fixings/rail system • 8 string optimised DC array / DC fuseboard • 5 KVA bi-directional inverter • Lithium battery storage system • DC lithium curve battery charger • Generator automated start/stop (available to back-up batteries) • Winter switch (25% solar pv boost) • Water heating via an immersion using excess solar electricity • Battery monitoring system • Full web based remote system monitoring (VRM portal)
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The SOLCER team are working with the Low Carbon Built Environment Project, to implement the systems based approach. (The Cenin House example)
EDITOR’S nOTE P18
BOIDUS FOCUS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015
Editor’s Note:
Boidus coming of age by H. Killion Mokwete / RIBA Chartered Architect
Sustainability now
This month we re-introduce Boidus Focus as it was in its original style in 2011 when we first printed the maiden copy. The idea of Boidus has always been to develop into a broad-leaf paper that is distinct from weekly newspapers which are printed on ‘newsprint’ with timeless content that would hold relevance over longer periods. This means that the quality of the medium and feel of the paper has to be durable overtime and remain attractive to the reader. To this end, we have always planned to reintroduce Boidus Focus in this form whenever an opportunity arose. We also have taken time and steps to review our content strategy to ensure that we remain relevant to our readers and to this end, we invite comments and feedback from you our esteemed reader on aspects of the built environment that you feel is under represented and is worth of exploring that we should look into.
Botswana is experiencing the worst water and power shortages in a generation. The continued drop in rainfall levels and unreliability of our power supplies means that everyone must not only be conserving these resources but thinking creatively ways that can provide long term sustainable solutions to these crisis. The building industry consumes some significant amount of energy and as such needs to be at the forefront of reducing demands and also ways in which it can harness the natural resources such as solar and rain water. In a country that receives enough sunshine on average to power every household with renewable energy, it is still baffling that much of the nation is wallowing in darkness due to the power cuts.
Our new content strategy will revolve around researched feature articles, either by industry experts and or through our own in-house writers focused on pertinent topics and subjects that need research and investigation within the built environment. We will also invest time in bringing showcases of successful projects, initiatives and also feature of industry champions to learn on their stories and how they made into their respective fields.
It si time that building owners and homemakers invest in sustainable technologies and building techniques to sustain themselves. Boidus will run a series of informational articles over the next issues aimed at providing basic content to make a case for why and how we should all be building sustainable buildings going forward. We will also showcase successful examples and projects elsewhere that can serve as an inspiration to those looking to take the leap.
For feedback, please send emails to; Killion@boidus.co.bw
Boidus Team - September/October 2015 MANAGING EDITOR H. Killion Mokwete
ART DIRECTOR Bridget MacKean
DISTRIBUTION Mogapi Ketletseng
GENERAL MANAGER Phenyo Motlhagodi
GRAPHICS ASSISTANT Taelo Maphorisa
ACCOUNTS Ngwewabo Mokwete
SALES Tebogo Sekwenyane Susan Benjamin Amantle Letsweletse Eric Matebu
GUEST COLUMNISTS Jan Wareus Natalie Reyneke Sethebe Manake Tlotlo Tsamaase Tshepiso Motlogelwa
STAFF WRITER Kitso Dickson
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BDC Sponsors conference on Sustainable Energy Services Provision for Sustainable Development By Kitso Dickson
The Government of Botswana is encouraged to stimulate more tripartite linkages with the private sector and Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) to engineer far-reaching remedies that will mitigate challenges saddling energy provision. Professor Oladiran, Chairperson of the Local Organising Committee expressed this at the recent energy International Conference on Clean Energy for Sustainable Growth in Developing Countries, an annual platform for debate and idea sharing. The conference, hosted by Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) recently, was earmarked to “provide, facilitate and support financing of commercially viable enterprises in order to contribute to the sustainable development and economic growth of the Botswana economy”. The champions economic sustainability, invited impressive panel of speakers mightily aimed to address issues of clean energy and sustainable growth. Professor Oladiran estimates a count of beings with zero access to either electricity, cooking systems or infrastructure to be well over 1.3 billion. On the back of abound energy challenges, he testifies, the “UN(United
Nation) has adopted Sustainable Energy for All, which makes cleaner, more efficient and more accessible energy a priority agenda for nations”. “Clean energy should be prominent because it can be provided in distributed systems without requiring massive generation facilities, extensive grid networks and other challenges associated with traditional energy services,” he continued, adding that “energy availability is a fundamental requirement for wealth generation, poverty eradication and sustainable growth of nations”. Without a reliable and efficient provision of energy services, the chairman views modern society as “hamstrung”. Largely on account that the “industry, agriculture, commerce, public service and administration, all depend on sufficient and reliable energy supply,” he uttered. This year’s theme circled closer to the “Trends in Energy Service Provision for Sustainable Development”, a product of increased energy demand, environmental constraints, and fluctuating prices that can inhibit energy supply systems. The conference charged to enhance capabilities to undertake broad national energy studies, integrating available energy resources, infrastructure, and the current and future demand and supply options. This works to develop comprehensive and robust energy strategies, projects and procedures. Bashi Gaetsaloe, the Managing Director, at Botswana Development Corporation (BDC), event sponsor, said these platforms are integral in their ability to promote the exchange of ideas and provide intellectual, rational debate on some of the big questions of our society. “We as BDC fully support this kind of engagement and action.” He said.
The Tesla Powerwall
How much energy will Tesla PowerWall units store? In a recent review of the Tesla Powerwall by the respected magazine WIRED (http://www. wired.com/ ), they conclude that with the 10kWh Tesla unit, you could run your house for 5hours (3 hours taking into account efficiency AC/DC translations) at night. When stacked into 20Kwh units, this would translate into around 10hours (6 hours) run time making it possible to last through the night, especially that there should be less power demand during the night. In a recent review of the Tesla Powerwall by the respected magazine WIRED (http://www. wired.com/ ), they conclude that with the 10kWh Tesla unit, you could run your house for 5hours (3 hours taking into account efficiency AC/DC translations) at night. When stacked into 20Kwh units, this would translate into around
10hours (6 hours) run time making it possible to last through the night, especially that there should be less power demand during the night.
BOIDUS FOCUS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015
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WE OFFER THE FOLLOWING SKILL DEVELOPMENT PRACTICAL BASED CERTIFICATE COUSES
construction
SWIMMING POOLS premium
renovate
excellence in
WATERPROOFING
THATCHING
PROPERTY MAINTENANCE
best in
CONSTRUCTION
PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONTRACTS MANAGEMENT SITE MANAGEMENT ROADS MAINTENANCE BUILDINGS MANAGEMENT TENDERING & ESTIMATING ENTREPRENEURAL SKILLS
First Training (Pty.) Ltd. is a Construction Management Training Academy established in Botswana in 2009.All courses provided are designed in Botswana for Batswana to serve the needs of our country. Our courses are Skills-Development, practical based courses, focusing on "First Principles" for active learning. Our main objective is to work in partnership with all the operators and stakeholders in the Construction Industry. With the vision that together we will build a Nation with strong foundations; a Nation filled with an efficient, proud and empowered work force.
ANNA Tel: 393 5188 Fax: 390 1376 Email: anna@firsttraining.co.bw
CONTACT US cell: 77023629/74798572 . email: tmaunga@gmail.com . P.O. Box AD27ADC . Kgale View . Gaborone
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BOIDUS FOCUS september/october 2015