Green Building & Energy Management

Green building practices urged
12 June 2008
SOUTH AFRICA is lagging far behind other countries in the adoption of sustainable green building practices.
This was revealed at a conference held at Cedar Park Hotel on 9 June, to discuss green building practices and other techniques new buildings should embrace.
Speaking at the conference, Pristine Technology Solutions' managing director, Mazuro Gundidza, said green buildings still had a long way to go in South Africa.
"South Africa lags behind Europe and the United States in that eco-friendly design is not readily available - something that will hopefully be addressed by the newly established Green Building Council (GBCSA) in South Africa."
The GBSCA will provide guidelines and a certification system for commercial green building and in the long run, also for green commercial interior design.
"Internationally, the move to green building has been described as a phenomenon and the benefits are significant. South Africa may have been slow on the uptake of the concept, but the fact remains that it is striving towards establishing green building," he said.
Green buildings conserve the Earth's natural resources through the efficient and intelligent use of energy, materials, water and the building site. One of the greatest benefits of green buildings is their reduced use of electricity and energy, which helps to cut dependence on fossil fuels.
For green building to be driven forward, it needed to be accepted by all industry stakeholders and a fundamental mind shift needed to take place, focusing on the initial capital cost of a building, Gundidza said.
"Considering South Africa's current power crisis and a possible water crisis, green building will not only save energy, but also place our country on the map of protecting resources."
The chief executive officer for the Council for the Built Environment, Bheki Zule, said green building had a pivotal role to play in South's Africa's energy crisis.
"Green building will result in the saving of energy and the reduction of emissions. This provides opportunities for other investments by the consumer and contributes to creating a more economically comfortable life for households."
David Botha, the executive director of the South Africa Institution of Civil Engineering, said changing climatic patterns had raised awareness of the need to save energy and safeguard natural resources.
"We need a rational approach to green buildings and to assess the total costs not only to the pocket but also to the environment," he said.
"It's no use having a house that runs on computers and fancy climate controls, made in Singapore or Taiwan, if these computers are costing us more in terms of environmental impact than the use of simpler methods like opening and closing a window by hand."
Rodney Milford, of the Construction Industry Development Board, said the South African government had plans to retrofit its106 000 buildings countrywide with energy efficient measures. "This process is currently under way and over 100 buildings in Tshwane, Western Cape and Free State have already been completed."
The departments of Minerals and Energy and Public Works had set an overall target for energy demand reduction of 12 percent of the projected energy consumption, to be met by 2015.
Many countries have developed their own standards of energy efficiency for buildings. The United States Green Building Council developed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building rating system, which is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance buildings.
Canada has also implemented "R2000" guidelines for buildings built after the year 2000. Incentives are offered to builders to meet the R2000 standards in an effort to increase energy efficiency and promote sustainability.
The Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia also promotes green building techniques, while the UK Building Regulations set requirements for insulation levels and other aspects of sustainability in building construction.
Source: Joburg.org.za