Tag Archive: environmental sustainability
April 19, 2011 11:05 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
Leading South African brick manufacturer, Corobrik, supplied over 600 000 bricks for the construction of new residential accommodation at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s (UKZN’s) Pietermaritzburg campus.
The university needed a modern, practical building to accommodate medical students. According to Llew Bryan Architects, the architects appointed to the project, the client specifically required that low maintenance materials should be used and energy efficiency, in terms of ongoing operational costs, was a further key consideration.
April 19, 2011 9:39 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
The latest technology Wilo and Salmson pumps are controlling essential water services in some of South Africa’s newest hotels, delivering high performance with the bonus of substantial savings in electricity consumption.
At the new Radisson Blu Hotel in Johannesburg’s Sandton Eye business and shopping complex, the pump systems manage hot and cold water circulation as well as underground disposal of sewage and wastewater, for the hotel and the adjacent shopping mall.
April 19, 2011 9:35 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
Care for the environment does not have to come at the expense of product performance. Adding to its range of Ecosure paints, Dulux Trade recently launched its Ecosure plaster primer – a further example of the company’s continuing commitment to reducing the ecological footprint of every aspect of its business. For Dulux Trade, the Ecosure range represents the first step in the journey of developing sustainable products for the future.
“Ecosure exemplifies our ‘Step towards Greener’ philosophy in action,” says communications manager, Bennum van Jaarsveld. “While the range offers best-in-class coverage and application characteristics as well as a balance between sustainability and performance, we acknowledge that there is still much to be done if significant environmental progress is to be made.”
April 11, 2011 7:48 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
As a proud member of the Green Building Council of South Africa, Van Dyck Carpets is a local manufacturer that pays a great deal of attention to the impact its processes and products have on the environment.
The company is making great strides in minimising waste, reducing energy usage, reducing the use of hazardous materials, and reducing emissions – such that it operates with very low CO2 emissions.
April 8, 2011 12:27 pm
Published by Ruan van Heerden
The third SOLTRAIN technical training course was held in Pretoria in February. The objective behind SOLTRAIN (Southern African Solar Thermal Training and Demonstration Initiative), which is sponsored by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), is to contribute to the switch from a fossil fuel-based energy supply to a sustainable energy supply system based on renewable energies by building up training capacities and improving the quality, performance and lifetime of solar thermal systems.
April 8, 2011 12:07 pm
Published by Ruan van Heerden
The Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality has approved an amount of R500 million to install low pressure solar water heaters to households that form part of government’s low cost housing programme.
The three-year rollout will begin in this first quarter of 2011 and is aimed at reducing poverty levels by helping residents to save significantly on their energy costs while, at the same time, reducing electricity demand and contributing to the reduction in carbon emissions.
April 8, 2011 12:01 pm
Published by Ruan van Heerden
The Vineyard Hotel and Spa in Cape Town runs its conference centre on certified Green Power; the Worldwide Fund for Nature in South Africa (WWF-SA) runs its Stellenbosch offices on certified Green Power, and the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (as it was then) used Green Power for its March 2009 Climate Change Summit which was held at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand. In this case, the green energy, made available by GreenX Energy in the form of Tradable Renewable Energy Certificates (TRECs), represented 66MWh of green power generated from bio-energy at Illovo Sugar’s Umzimkulu Mill in KwaZulu-Natal.
April 6, 2011 7:48 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
Stefan van Biljon, a graduate of the School of Architecture at the University of Cape Town, is the winner of the Corobrik Architectural Student of the Year Award for 2010. This announcement was made on 30 March at a function hosted by Corobrik at The Wanderers Club in Johannesburg. With all the finalists present except van Biljon – who is currently working at the offices of Renzo Piano in Milan – Corobrik set up a Skype link so that he could be a part of the event and could hear the news live.
March 30, 2011 3:07 pm
Published by Ruan van Heerden
The rubble that resulted from the implosion last year of Cape Town’s landmark cooling towers at the old Athlone Power Station is being put to good use in the manufacture of concrete masonry and paving blocks.
Cape Brick, a member of the Concrete Manufacturers Association (CMA), has been sourcing up to 75% of its raw material from demolished buildings and other structures with a high percentage of concrete for the past 11 years.
March 22, 2011 6:42 pm
Published by Ruan van Heerden
Having lived in Khayelitsha their whole lives, with informal housing being their only option, local residents were delighted when plans for formal housing came to pass – and even more so when they learned that Corobrik clay bricks would be used to build their new homes.
Marthinus Williams, internal sales planner for Corobrik Cape Town, says, “This was a rewarding experience for us, having dealt directly with most of the residents. Many of them, although in their 50s, had never lived in a formal house before.”
March 16, 2011 8:36 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
The regional winners in the 24th Corobrik Architectural Student of the Year Award are the top thesis students of 2010 from the seven participating universities and universities of technology around the country. All the regional finalists go forward to the national finals at the end of March where each of them has the opportunity to present their thesis project to the panel of judges. The national winner will be announced at a function to be hosted by Corobrik on 30 March 2011.
At the University of Cape Town (UCT), first place was awarded to Stefan van Biljon for his thesis entitled KL-Metamatic: Ghost Ship.
March 8, 2011 12:28 pm
Published by Ruan van Heerden
It's a good thing when a leading global figure asserts himself (or herself) on the subject of global warming and climate change. Charles, Prince of Wales, recently stated that people who do not accept the reality of climate change are "playing a reckless game of roulette". He went on to ask, "How are these people going to face their grandchildren and admit to them that they failed their future?"
February 16, 2011 6:32 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
At 8.30pm on Saturday 26 March 2011, Earth Hour will celebrate a worldwide commitment to ongoing change for the betterment of the one thing that unites us all – the planet.
From its inception as a single-city initiative in 2007, Earth Hour has grown into a global movement where hundreds of millions of people from every continent join together to acknowledge the importance of protecting our planet.
February 4, 2011 3:21 pm
Published by Ruan van Heerden
With rising electricity tariffs in South Africa and a powerful global drive for environmental responsibility, Lighting Innovations has developed a recessed fluorescent luminaire that offers customers over 93% energy efficiency. Designed and manufactured locally, the Pinnacle range is ideal for commercial office applications and is the only fluorescent luminaire of its kind in the country.
December 6, 2010 3:52 pm
Published by Ruan van Heerden
The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) is calling on multi-unit residential property developers to put forward projects for the new Green Star SA – Multi Unit Residential Pilot rating tool.
November 16, 2010 2:21 pm
Published by Ruan van Heerden
While historical buildings remind us of the enduring and aesthetic attributes of clay brick in architecture, the current focus on global warming, the need to optimise energy efficiency in buildings and the renewed interest in passive solar design principles are all reminders of the thermal properties of clay brick walling.
November 15, 2010 10:00 pm
Published by Louise Coetzee
New support for the South African Paint Manufacturing Association’s drive to remove paints containing lead from the coatings industry has come from painting contractors.
Deryck Spence, executive director of SAPMA, recently addressed a meeting of leading paint contractors at SAPMA’s head office in Bedfordview. Feedback from the contractors present was very supportive, with several indicating that they were interested in joining SAPMA and following its lead-free philosophy.
November 15, 2010 10:00 pm
Published by Ruan van Heerden
According to John Sheath, strategy and marketing manager at Ash Resources, the inclusion of fly ash in concrete mixes can substantially reduce concrete’s carbon footprint and contribute significantly to sustainable construction.
Sheath says fly ash has a number of specific environmental benefits.
