Seven Awards and four Commended projects were announced in the 2015/2016 AfriSam-SAIA Award for Sustainable Architecture + Innovation at the gala event in Cape Town. The eleven projects chosen by the award adjudicators were among a total of 22 final qualifying entries that had been selected from a record number of eligible submissions earlier this year. “The Awarded and … [Read more...]
Waste into home building materials brings new hope
Here is a beautiful fusion of human and environmental needs addressed through innovative design and creative solutions. The Polystyrene Packaging Council (“PSPC”) in partnership with the Mobile Education and Training Trust (“METT”), a Non-Profit Organisation, recently launched the new Village of Hope, a R285 million project that is nearing completion in Kosmos in the North … [Read more...]
Green Building Council calls for total energy debate in SA
As the country receives Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's 2016 Budget Speech, the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA) has called for a total energy debate. Gordhan, who was recently re-appointed as Finance Minister by President Jacob Zuma, faces a difficult challenges: energy, restoring confidence in economic policy, keeping the nation from losing its … [Read more...]
Cape Town office block achieves SA’s first socio-economic impact certification
Karl Bremer Office Block in Bellville, Cape Town, is the first project to achieve a Socio-Economic Category (SEC) Pilot rating in Africa as part of its 5-Star Green Star SA rating, achieved at the same time, announced the Green Building Council of SA (GBCSA). The office block is a project of the Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works. The Socio-Economic … [Read more...]
Hemp house coming for Khayelitsha soup kitchen
The Yiza Ekhaya Soup Kitchen feeds, cares for and offers a safe place for around 200 - 250 children in the local community. Recently, some of the children have started sleeping there as their home situations are unsafe. Up until now, it has operated from founder, Mickey Linda’s RDP house. Mickey and the children need a safer building. Tony Budden from Hemporium, Wolf Oliver, … [Read more...]
Save your rands, build with sand
Sand has been the most widely used construction material for the last 10 000 years and even today at least a third of the world’s population live in houses built of sand. The idea of making walls by stacking bags of sand or earth has been around for at least a century. Sandbags have been used for flood control and military bunkers because they are easy to transport to where … [Read more...]
Natural Building part 3: Plaster & mortar mixes
Plasters and mortars are by far the process that I get asked about the most, and for good reason as plasters are what protect the building from the elements and give them their beautiful finish. Understanding how the material is going to behave right the way through the process, plasters and mortars should be planned for from the beginning. Plasters that are not planned are … [Read more...]
Monitoring energy consumption leads to savings
Business can use the National Energy Barometer Survey as an opportunity to calculate their energy consumption to make improvements. This is what The Clicks Group did when they used the National Energy Barometer Survey (NEBS) as an opportunity to collate energy use information for the entry. This enabled them to see what the Group’s energy baseline was, in order to improve … [Read more...]
Natural Building part 2: Understanding & testing different earths
One of the challenges of working with earth is that no two sites are the same. The recipes one learns on one site may not work on another, because the earths found there are composed differently. Most earth building relies on a mix of sand and clay, which may be present in a single earth or need to be blended together. Sand has many faces Sand has a particular particle … [Read more...]
Most energy efficient buildings announced
Each year building owners and facility managers enter their buildings in the National Energy Barometer Survey (NEBS) to compare how they have improved their energy use against others in a similar industry – hospitals, offices, car dealers, hotels and shopping centers. The latest results are out and the top performing buildings for the 2012 utility year are: Head office: The … [Read more...]
Give your office a green thumbprint this Green Office Week
Next week is Green Office Week (GOW) which is intended to raise awareness of the importance of eco-friendly offices and inform office workers that they too can make a positive impact on the environment whilst at work. Your office will be healthier and make financial sense Although some organisations are already making clear statements about their green products or services … [Read more...]
Green living with style
Environment Response Architecture (ERA Architects) were approached by a client with a very exciting and challenging request. The client wanted a Johannesburg home that has a unique and intriguing look, but most importantly could also function if the Johannesburg municipality should fail completely; a luxury home that offered comfortable living no matter what the … [Read more...]
Africa’s greenest hotel rests on values
“We did not inherit the planet from our parents, but are borrowing it from our children,” said Mario Delicio, co-owner of Hotel Verde, together with his wife Annemarie, at the grand opening of Africa’s greenest hotel this week. And it was his love for his three daughters that prompted this Italian German businessman to create an iconic building for others in the hotel industry … [Read more...]
