Tag Archive: environmental sustainability
November 13, 2012 9:59 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
Nestled in Ixopo in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) midlands the Sisonke District office of the KZN Department of Public Works is the first provincial government building to receive a 5-star Green Star SA office design v.1 rating. The 5-star rating signifies excellence in green building.
The final cost of the new building was about R21 million, which is about 1.5% more than a conventional building would have cost, but the long-term savings through energy and water efficiency will more than balance out the additional expenditure.
November 13, 2012 9:55 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) has launched the pilot version of its Energy and Water Benchmarking tool for the commercial property industry. It provides for analysis of the energy and water usage in existing buildings and enables property owners and managers to see how their buildings’ usage levels compare to industry norms.
November 13, 2012 9:47 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
Magnet, in partnership with Energywise, has completed the installation of exchange showerheads in terms of its Eskom performance contract in six months – 13 months ahead of schedule. This joint initiative is expected to save 330 Gigawatt hours of energy over a three-year period, through the use of energy-saving showerheads and water restrictors.
November 13, 2012 9:43 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
eWasha offers a patented and environmentally responsible solution to recover and clean car- bus- and truck-wash water, providing for substantial reductions in water consumption and costs. The company has chosen to use JoJo tanks for its water recycling plants.
November 2, 2012 11:55 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
The importance of creating a positive working environment for employees is increasingly being recognised by business owners and corporate companies. Workspaces are being designed to create a lighter, brighter and more spacious look, not only to increase productivity, but also to promote energy efficiency.
November 2, 2012 11:34 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
The installation of four air-to-water heat pumps at an apartment building in Johannesburg has resulted in a reduction of electricity usage at the building of at least 70%.
Ai-Tec (Advanced Industrial Technology) installed the four 45.6kW ThermoWise heat pumps to reduce electricity consumption and minimise maintenance requirements on the building’s water heating system.
November 2, 2012 11:31 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
Global leader in solar energy solutions, 3W Power/ AEG Power Solutions, has established a new manufacturing facility in Milnerton, Cape Town, which is already producing state-of-the-art utility-scale solar inverters and combiner boxes for monitoring systems. The 3 400m² factory was built specifically to manufacture the company’s world-renowned solar products. It is the first facility of its kind in Southern Africa and has a manufacturing capacity equal to 200MW per year.
October 31, 2012 8:48 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
“The use of fibre-cement represents a small fraction of the energy embodied in a conventional brick and mortar structure…”
CapeNature, a public institution with the statutory responsibility for biodiversity conservation in the Western Cape, recently launched its flagship tourism facility, the Oudebosch Cabins in the Kogelberg Nature Reserve.
August 14, 2012 8:03 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
In many companies, environmental sustainability is not seen as a true driver of business value. Verbatim takes a different approach, combining its drive for technical excellence with its strong commitment to environmental sustainability to create a revolutionary approach to lighting. It’s a strategy that is paying off as Verbatim is on track to become a market leader in LED lighting.
July 16, 2012 1:22 pm
Published by Ruan van Heerden
ThermoWise, working with Eskom, will save an old age home in Durban more than R1.6 million in electricity costs over the next five years.
Bronwynn Fine, sales director at ThermoWise – a company that specialises in energy solutions, explains. “In April 2010, Eskom was commissioned by the old age home to log and monitor the monthly electrical consumption for the establishment’s hot water system. After thorough investigation and analysis, Eskom and ThermoWise recommended the installation of three air-to-water heat pumps to optimise electricity savings at the old age home.
July 9, 2012 10:19 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
One of the easiest and most effective ways to reduce energy consumption in buildings is to replace incandescent lamps with more energy-efficient solutions. However, some energy-efficient lamps contain mercury, which is dangerous to the environment, and they have a relatively short lifespan. For this and other reasons, the more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly light emitting diode (LED) technology is poised to replace conventional lighting technologies in both residential and commercial spaces.
Verbatim is at the cutting edge of LED technology and has recently announced a range of super-efficient LED lamps designed to replace conventional bulbs. They are easy to retro-fit into existing fixtures. South African distributor, Drive Control Corporation (DCC), will be stocking and distributing this innovative new range.
June 23, 2012 12:48 pm
Published by Ruan van Heerden
Holms and Friends, formerly Omnibus Engineering and a member of SESSA, the Sustainable Energy Society of Southern Africa, has installed a solar water heating system at the University of Pretoria’s Onderstepoort campus. With a total collector surface of 672m2 this is the biggest glazed installation in Southern Africa.
The installation meets the warm water needs of the university’s new energy-efficient residences which house 550 students. It also prevents the output of 450 tons CO2 and saves 600 980 litres of water per year.
June 7, 2012 9:15 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
The 2012 Eskom Energy Efficient Lighting Design Competition invites design students and professionals as well as design-minded secondary school learners and amateur designers to design an innovative energy-efficient luminaire or lighting system for residential use.
The competition has been run biennially since 1999 and this year aims to demonstrate that efficient lighting technologies, such as gas discharge, fluorescent and LED technologies, can be used in contemporary and attractive luminaires and lighting systems for residential applications.
There are substantial cash prizes on offer – a total sum of R214 000 – for the most innovative designs across the four entry categories.
June 7, 2012 9:12 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA), in partnership with SAPOA (South African Property Owners Association), launched the new Green Lease Toolkit at the 44th annual SAPOA Convention held at the Durban International Convention Centre at the end of May 2012.
The Green Lease Toolkit was developed in response to growing market demand from South African landlords and tenants. Landlords have consistently requested guidance and resources to help them harness the benefits of well-designed, well-built, and, importantly, well-operated buildings. Tenants too are increasingly seeking out ‘green’ space in a bid to gain the advantage of the healthier and more productive working environment that green buildings offer. A ‘green lease’ is structured to ensure that a building that has been designed and built for sustainability is operated in a sustainable way.
May 22, 2012 12:05 pm
Published by Ruan van Heerden
The new corporate headquarters for the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) in Pretoria has been awarded a 4-star Green Star SA - Office Design v1 rating by the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA), the country’s green building authority.
As the first parastatal in South Africa to achieve a Green Star SA rating for one of its buildings, SANRAL, an agency of the Department of Transport, is leading the way for government and state-owned enterprises to move towards green building standards.
Worldwide, buildings are reportedly responsible for a third of all carbon emissions. Given that SA has boldly committed to reducing its carbon emissions by 34% by 2020 and 42% by 2025, the reduction of carbon emissions via buildings and the built environment presents one of the most efficient ways of achieving these commitments.
May 22, 2012 11:16 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) has announced that the use of PVC products in buildings seeking Green Star SA ratings will no longer be penalised. This means that environmentally conscious building contractors in South Africa can now make use of the full benefits of PVC piping products.
The GBCSA developed its Green Star SA rating system to provide the local property industry with an objective measurement for green buildings, and to recognise and reward environmental leadership in the industry. The council initially introduced the clause to minimise the use of PVC products in buildings due to environmental concerns regarding their formulation, manufacturing and end-of-life disposal.
May 17, 2012 11:50 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
Chryso SA has introduced a new biodegradable, vegetable-based de-moulding oil – Chryso Dem Aqua 100 – which can be used with all types of formwork, including formwork not usually suited to mineral-based mould release agents.
Unlike many de-moulding oils that are toxic and non-biodegradable and pollute the soil and groundwater when the formwork is washed or rainwater runs down it, Chryso Dem Aqua 100 will not contaminate the environment. Tests from a certified laboratory have shown that Chryso Dem Aqua 100 has an ultimate biodegradability above 60% at 28 days.
May 17, 2012 11:41 am
Published by Ruan van Heerden
In the current economic crunch, architects and designers are considering plastics for certain applications in order to cut costs, but a recurring question is whether it is an environmentally friendly option.
Christo Pienaar, marketing director of the Ampaglas Plastics Group, says, “The perception is that glass is the more eco-friendly option because it is seen as a ‘natural’ product. But sustainability and eco-friendliness are dependent on a number of factors besides biodegrability.”
Pienaar points out that to make glass, a high-powered oven is used at a temperature of 1500°C or higher. All this heat means high levels of energy consumption and results in a substantial amount of CO2 being released into the atmosphere. Some calculations – factoring in the transport of glass, which is a relatively heavy product – indicate that this could be as much as two tons of CO2 per ton of glass.
