Contents
of April 2009
COMMENT
River agencies recommended for cities
LETTERS
What to do about electronic waste?
UPFRONT
What’s new and happening?
GREEN BUILDINGS
How to specify environment-friendly
paint
GREEN BUILDING BRIEFS
CITY VISIT
Sustainability attainable
in Diepsloot?
ENVIRONMENTAL
PLANNING & DESIGN
Cost saving through water-efficient
landscape irrigation
WASTE &
POLLUTION MANAGEMENT
Recycling of construction and
demolition waste is on the up
WASTE
& POLLUTION MANAGEMENT BRIEFS
INSPIRATION
Ellis Park Precinct remade…
INSULT
…but many buildings remain derelict
VIEWPOINT
New emission standards
-----
COMMENT
River agency needed
Should
cities not establish dedicated agencies to take care of their natural watercourses?
Today
I woke up in a lovely house overlooking a river. I walked out through a lush, green
garden; grabbed my bicycle and cycled along the river bank. I encountered stables and
horse-riding schools, picnic spots and a golf course. As it was early morning, I rode for
extensive stretches without encountering a soul. I was not in the countryside. In fact, I
was slap bang in the middle of the sprawling suburbs of Johannesburg. I was cycling from
Craighall Park, along the Braamfontein Spruit, all the way to Urban Green File’s
offices in Woodmead – almost 20 km.
I
remain perplexed as to how such a spectacular natural resource could exist within the
boundaries of the city yet so few people are aware of it? The parkland stretches all the
way from Albert’s Farm and Emmarentia Dam, via Delta Park, to the Sandton Field &
Study Centre, past the River Club Golf Course and on through Bryanston to Sunninghill.
If
ever a city was blessed with a natural resource, this is it. Imagine the opportunities for
recreation, environmental management and conservation – importantly, stormwater and
water-quality management.
However,
in the case of the Braamfontein Spruit, Urban Green File believes more could be done to
develop and conserve this resource. Why, for instance, are city authorities missing the
opportunity to manage the stormwater situation through the development of attenuation dams
and wetlands? Not only could the quality of the river water be improved but a much-needed
resource for irrigation water could also be established (read the article on page 28 to
discover just how much money could be saved by using captured stormwater for irrigation
when compared to the cost of potable water).
In
addition, Urban Green File believes Johannesburg’s planners and landscape architects
should be encouraging property owners to remove their high walls along the banks of the
river. In places, it feels like moving through a tunnel and the lack of surveillance
significantly compromises the safety of a walker, runner or cyclist. Property owners
should be motivated to erect see-through fences as this would improve surveillance. The
installation and monitoring of security cameras would further improve a sense of security
along the river.
Also,
considering a 20 km cycle along the river is relatively easy as the topography is almost
flat, why not develop a proper cycling path or route; complete with lighting at night?
Perhaps
the ultimate answer is for cities to establish river agencies tasked with the management
and upkeep of the natural water system in a specific urban catchment area. The
Johannesburg Roads Agency and City Parks already exist, for example.
Wouldn’t
it be apt to add the Johannesburg Rivers Agency to the city’s management structure,
specifically tasked with taking care of the city’s most valuable natural resource?
-----
LETTERS
What to do about computer waste?
With
awareness of ‘green’ property development and management on the increase, the
safe disposal and recycling of waste is top of the agenda.
I
e-mailed you a few weeks ago about biodegradable detergents and the contact people you
gave me were most helpful. Unfortunately, Motorsport South Africa does not endorse any
products and it is not able to evaluate or verify claims made by manufacturers.
However
it will provide all of its competitors with information on biodegradable options for
cleaning, especially oil. I have a few old computers, screens and fax machines to discard.
Do
you know of an e-waste disposal site in Midrand, Johannesburg or Pretoria?
Your
article on the safe disposal of fluorescent bulbs and tubes was most interesting and I
will also pass this information on to Motorsport South Africa, which will, hopefully,
become the leader in the Kyalami Business Park in all “green” issues and set an
example for other businesses to follow.
–
David Brown
Urban
Green File is always glad to be of assistance when subscribers need information on green
products and services, or precedent studies on green projects.
In
terms of electronic waste, a useful contact would be the e-Waste Association of South
Africa. It operates a variety of disposal and collection points throughout the country. In
Gauteng, e-waste is collected from various Pikitup sites and shopping centres. You can
also contact Pikitup – the waste-management agency of the City of Johannesburg.
-----
UPFRONT
First ‘green’ stadium booklet is available now
As part of an initiative by the Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism’s
Urban Environmental Programme (UEMP), six booklets are being published detailing
sustainability initiatives in some of South Africa’s 2010 FIFA World Cup stadiums.
The initiative is being funded by the Royal Danish Embassy and, apart from the booklets,
entails review by a professional team of the environmental performance of various
stadiums. The reviews were undertaken by Green by Design WSP, PJ Carew Consulting and the
CSIR. The booklets will be published by Brooke Pattrick Publications – the owner of
Urban Green File.
The
first booklet covering Green Point Stadium has already been published. Copies – in
printed and CD format – can be obtained from www.uemp.org.za.
Water
requirements mapped to 2030
A
study is being undertaken to reconcile the water demand of South Africa’s
municipalities with the availability of water resources. Urban Green File can disclose the Department of
Water Affairs & Forestry (DWAF) has appointed SRK Consulting to undertake this study
in the northern part of South Africa.
SRK’s
study area compromises Limpopo and parts of Gauteng, North West Province and Mpumalanga. It
stretches over 11 district municipalities as well as 43 local municipalities. This
three-year project will, apparently, include gathering existing information on water
requirements, water-supply infrastructure and water availability for all the towns in the
study area.
It
also includes site visits, identification of main dams, water conservation and water
demand-management measures, groundwater supply sources and waterquality assessment, as
well as reserve determinations. The aim of the project is to develop a reconciliation
strategy of water requirements and water availability for each town within the study area
up to 2030.
Cape
Town to protect its coastline
The
City of Cape Town intends to establish a Coastal Protection Zone, Urban Green File can
disclose. According to government news agency, BuaNews, a dedicated unit to manage the
coastal environment will also be appointed.
This
follows a warning from the city’s Environmental Resource Management Department that
the coastline was under increasing threat from over-development and rising sea levels.
Cape
Town boasts 307 km of coastline stretching from Silwerstroomstrand near Atlantis to Gordon’s
Bay. The problem with this stretch is that all the areas outside recreational nodes are
effectively “unmanaged space” with no line function taking full responsibility
for its management.
In
addition, the coastline has been impacted by strip development along the shore.
The
establishment of a Coastal Protection Zone is in line with the new Coastal Management Bill
(see “viewpoint” on page 48 in the February 2009 edition of Urban Green File).
According
to Gregg Oelofse, head of environmental policy and strategy in the Environmental Resource
Management Department, the city has only two full-time posts dedicated to coastal
management and no specific coastal-engineering expertise – hence the need for a
dedicated unit.
-----
GREEN BUILDINGS
All colours ‘green’
When it comes to ‘green
building’, the choice of paint can have a significant impact on the health of a
building’s occupants. And the energy consumed and pollution caused during the
manufacture of paint products need to be considered.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are the main differentiator between conventional paint
products and their eco-friendly counterparts. In addition, the embodied energy required to
manufacture paints needs to be considered.
While
specific definitions vary broadly, depending on context, essentially VOCs are a large
group of carbon-based chemical compounds that easily evaporate at room temperature. Common
synthetic VOCs are present in paint thinners, most paints, varnishes and chemicals used
for sealing and finishing walls and built surfaces. Easily recognized examples include
acetone and white spirits. Better-controlled and less-used VOCs are benzene and
formaldehyde.
Cause
of ‘sick’ buildings
VOCs,
as referred to in this context, negatively affect indoor air quality and contribute to
“sick-building syndrome”. According to the sources interviewed by Urban Green
File, health impacts depend on a person’s sensitivity to the VOCs in the vicinity, as
well as the levels and exposure intervals.
Common
ailments associated with VOC exposure include fatigue, dizziness, nausea, respiratory
irritations, headaches and nosebleeds. Exposure can also cause mood disorders, such as
depression and irritability. More serious complaints include kidney damage and
immunological problems (including increased cancer rates and immuno-toxicity). Symptoms
can vary from diminished cognition, memory and reaction time to problems with hand-eye and
foot-eye coordination.
Impacts
are also dependent on the kind of VOC. Various solvents may cause allergies, eczema and
nervous disorders while biocides may have much more toxic effects. Interestingly, odour is
not a reliable indicator of the level of risk from inhalation of VOCs. “In most
coating formulations, the ingredients are binders, pigments and solvents,” says
Mossie Kruger of Envirocoat. “VOCs do not only reflect the amount of release of
solvents during application but also the decomposition of the cured coating formulation
when exposed to sunlight (UV) and the elements of nature. This includes the delayed
bond-breaking phenomenon seen when coating surfaces start to fade, crack, peel and chalk.”
No
legislation to govern VOC content
Xavier
Rijmenans of Dulux Trade expands on legislation. “VOCs are defined differently, based
on the legislation of a particular country. In South Africa, no legislation exists to
govern VOC content in products. Hence, while there is a move towards water-based as
opposed to solvent-based products, companies are not yet required by law to reduce or
remove VOCs from their products. Dulux South Africa has embarked on various initiatives to
align our company with global VOC standards. This includes substituting VOC contributing
raw materials with environment-friendly alternatives that offer the same performance in
our premium water-based lines. In addition, we are driving a programme to see all our
products in line with EU 2010 legislation and the local Green Star rating. AkzoNobel has
been instrumental in lobbying for the introduction of VOC regulations in Europe.”
Another
influence in South Africa at the moment is the Green Building Council of South Africa
(GBCSA)’s Green Star Rating Tool, which stipulates very low VOC levels for interior
products. According to Bobby Bhugwandin and Richard Nuss of Plascon Trade, they are in the
process of aligning their products with these requirements. “It is important to see
what the manufacturer is claiming,” Bhugwandin and Nuss note. “‘Green
washing’ has become very popular with many manufacturers claiming their products are
low-VOC, or VOC-free, without the support to prove these claims. Be vigilant in your
research before starting a project in order to find out what the best options are for the
specific case; without sacrificing performance and quality.”
Natural
products also contain VOCs
VOCs
also occur in nature and are used in natural paints; mostly to reduce the viscosity of
plant oils and to facilitate faster drying. Bernhard Lembeck of ProNature says: “For
example, gum turpentine consists mostly of the chemical compound, pinene, which is an
important constituent of pine resin. It is also found in the resins of many other conifers
and, more widely, in other plants.
Orange-peel
oil consists predominantly of d-limonene – a biodegradable solvent occurring in
nature as the main component of peel oil. It biodegrades completely within 28 days. Even
though dealing with 100% natural compounds, care should be taken when using them. For
instance, always work in a well-ventilated area. Natural compounds and paints are not
odour- and emission-free, and may cause allergies.”
Importation
increases embodied energy
Apart
from VOCs, a specifier of paint should also consider embodied energy – the energy
required to produce a product from sourcing the raw materials to final application. In
this regard, Andy Horn of Eco Design Architects notes, while certain imported paints
available in the South African market claim to be green, the very fact that they are
imported increases their carbon footprint dramatically. “When looking at local
paints, you also need to look at their ingredients. Are the raw materials sourced locally
or imported?” For companies producing and distributing paint worldwide, this provides
a challenge, particularly regarding expectations of quality. “It is important to
consider the entire value chain, including all the raw materials and where they originate,”
Rijmenans says. “These kinds of projects are very complex and require dealings with
suppliers, distributors and the full value chain in addition to completing a proper
analysis of the carbon footprint.” Rhom & Haas informs Urban Green File it is one
of the companies actively studying embodied carbon in paints and working on ways of
reducing this over the life cycle of the paint.
Dulux
Trade, in turn, claims it has pioneered this kind of initiative in the UK with its
successful Ecosure range of products. “It is necessary to source some of the major
raw materials from abroad as they are not produced locally and sometimes only a few
manufacturers of certain materials operate across the world. This said, the majority of
Dulux South Africa’s raw materials are sourced locally – up to 70% for most
products, and all of our plastic and metal packaging, is sourced locally too,”
remarks Rijmenans. Bhugwandin and Nuss note:
“Plascon
sources raw materials from local as well as international suppliers. Local supply that
meets our quality, performance and cost standard is preferred.”
Cracking
of crude oil energy-intensive
Lembeck
expands on the embodied energy of raw materials. “The highest energy input in
conventional paints stems from the manufacture of the polymers, which involves the
cracking of crude oil into suitable raw materials, which, then again, have very high
energy input, further modified to produce polymers like polyvinyl acrylate.
“One
strict rule for natural paint manufacturers is to select raw materials, which require
lowest-possible processing. In terms of our raw materials, some like beeswax and
orange-peel oil, lime, calcium carbonate, kaolin and sunflower oil, are sourced locally.
All other raw materials, like linseed oil, unfortunately, have to be imported. We have,
however, initiated first trials in growing these plant oils locally and are confident we
will be able to source all our raw materials locally within the next few years.”
Siegfried
Domröse of Breathecoat says: “The raw materials (polymers, binders, fillers,
pigment, water-repellant and processing aids) that go into the manufacturing of
BreatheCoat paints are all environment-friendly. However Breathe-Coat does not have any
control over the manufacturing of these raw materials as supplied to us. The bulk of our
raw materials are sourced locally and less than 10% is imported. Research and development
is ongoing to reduce this percentage”.
Water-based
technology preferred
In
terms of green products available from large paint companies in South Africa, there is a
move towards water-based technology because the VOC content is lower than it is for
solvent-based products and it means, in terms of site practice, brushes and rollers can be
washed with water and additional solvents, like turpentine, are not necessary. Water-based
paint also dries faster and the technology of water-based products has evolved so it is
now as durable as solvent-based products. Bhugwandin and Nuss note: “Plascon has
taken on a three-tiered approach to reduce its impact on the environment. Since 1999,
Plascon has reduced the levels of glycols and solvents used. The levels of ethylene and
propylene glycols used in water-based paint formulations have been reduced dramatically
during the past two years. Secondly, Plascon South Africa has reduced the levels of
titanium dioxide considerably in specific product ranges”.
Lead
and other toxins eliminated
Lead
driers, pigments and additives, as well as chromium (VI) pigments in the decorative range
of products, have been eliminated, claims Plascon. According to Rijmenans, Dulux has
removed toxic ingredients like lead, asbestos and added metals from its paints across the
world. “In terms of our commitments under our holding company, AkzoNobel, by 2009,
22% of our sales must be eco-premium products and, by 2015, it should be 30%.
As
a result, there is a big drive within the company to start creating, producing and
distributing products that are eco-friendly and will generate a substantial portion of our
revenue. In 2007, AkzoNobel was rated Number 1, according to the prestigious Dow Jones
Sustainability World Indexes (DJSI), in the global chemicals-industry category, and now we
are rated second by only a percent.” The DJSI is one of the world’s foremost
sustainability indices; rating companies on their environmental, social and economic
performance, including forward-looking financial indicators.
Local
products comply
In
terms of locally-manufactured products, Domröse notes BreatheCoat paints do not contain
any solvents, fluorocarbons, aromatics, chlorinated hydrocarbons, ethers, lead or
organochlorine compounds. “Health concerns are minimised to occupants of
BreatheCoat-painted premises as they do not allow dampness, dungeon-type odour, fungi or
microbes so painted surfaces do not contribute to chronic bronchial-tract infections. Our
paint is also used in wine cellars, trout and dusky-kob commercial farm dams, and koi
ponds as it is completely free of toxins, and has been certified environment-safe.”
Kruger
notes: “Envirocoat’s E-coat is non-toxic, non-hazardous, colourfast, waterproof
and non-flammable with no lead content. Unlike traditional paint, these coatings do not
harden, crack or peel from surfaces. This is made possible through research initiatives
for alternative, natural coatings over the past 20 years in order to move away from
synthetic, poisonous and hazardous material. With the correct primer, E-coat acts like a
natural membrane with hydrophobic properties, and remains elastic over time.”
Strict
legislation applies in Europe
In
terms of international legislation, Wayne Govender of Rohm & Haas points out: “Rohm
& Haas has a long history of dedication to environmental and social responsibility.
REACH, the new European Union (EU) chemicals regulation for registration, evaluation,
authorisation and restriction of chemicals, went into effect on June 1 2007. The
overarching goals of
REACH
are to protect human health and the environment better while further driving the
competitiveness of the EU chemical industry. At Rohm & Haas, we are fully engaged to
work with our customers and suppliers to ensure the required information is exchanged
along the supply chain”.
On-site
effluent a challenge
Lembeck
says the resulting waste from paint manufacture stems mostly from cleaning operations or
solvents that may evaporate during manufacture. “The latter can be avoided by using a
closed system that won’t allow evaporation. Cleaning materials or minimal wastage of
paint will always accumulate but can often be recycled or have to be incinerated. Paint
manufacture, traditionally, has not created much waste, which is produced during the
manufacture of raw materials instead. With natural raw materials, you virtually do not
have waste and the little waste there is can be composted and returned into the natural
cycle. Most water-based raw materials are readily biodegraded so washwater, within reason,
should not have a long-term effect on water quality. Brushes and rollers should be cleaned
where the contaminated water is returned to proper watertreatment works and should not be
discarded on site or left to pollute groundwater. Pollutants, like cleaning solvents,
should be collected and disposed of through proper facilities, such as recyclers or
incinerators. Legally, solvents may not be discarded on a dump site or into the soil or
local water systems.” A new innovation in terms of on-site practices is the Dulux
Trade Environmental Wash System; developed by Dulux Australia.
Rijmenans
elaborates: “On large construction sites, contractors wash brushes in drums, which
then have to be discarded. The new Dulux Trade Environmental Wash System helps painters
and contractors achieve best practice in their waste management by converting waterborne
paint washings into clear water and solid waste; allowing for greater control and
disposal.” The system is being used on the Moses Mabhida Stadium in
Durban.
The Environmental Wash units come in two sizes and comprise a sink with a separate
filtration tank. Once the unit is full, an additive is used to flocculate and separate the
solid matter and water from the paint washings. The clear water is then drawn off and
either recycled or disposed of while the remaining residue is pumped through a filter;
ready for removal and drying. Once dry, the solid residue can be bagged and thrown out as
non-hazardous solid waste. This technology is unique to Dulux worldwide.
Powder
reduces energy
In
terms of innovations in paint technology, Domröse says all BreatheCoat’s nonacrylic
paints are in dry-powder form so no water is used in manufacturing and, therefore, no
effluent is produced. “Any powder residues from the manufacturing process are
completely pollutant-free,” he says. “Transport carbon emissions are reduced up
to 50% because the paint is transported in powder form and mixed with water on site.
Packaging is reduced by 88% as the paint is not supplied in heavy-duty plastic buckets but
in plastic bags. As with other water-based products, painting utensils are cleaned with
water and turpentine or other solvents are not needed.”
Application
informs choice
Lembeck
says: “For each application, there are different requirements and you need different
systems and paint. This applies equally to green projects. Applications vary depending on
building typology – industrial versus residential, for example.
Firstly,
you need to understand the requirements of the building. For instance, is it exposed to
air pollutants and does it have roof overhangs that would protect walls? The modern
natural paint manufacturer offers paints for all surfaces. Before starting a green
project, it is advisable to ask the manufacturer for the suitable materials and
specifications.”
Water
vapour allowed to escape
In
addition to the many water-based, low-VOC paints on the market, Horn observes some
applications demand alternative solutions. “The older houses in Cape Town have soft,
sun-baked bricks that develop mould if waterproofed fully as moisture becomes trapped in
the walls – this is very unhealthy for the occupants. It requires paints that breathe
and allow water vapour through or alternative finishes like lime rendering. We have also
begun, more and more, to use earth plasters as finishes – either sealed or unsealed.
These create the most amazing textured finishes. They are beautiful and inexpensive.”
At
least three local manufacturers produce paints that take these requirements into
consideration – BreatheCoat, ProNature (Enviro-touch) and Envirocoat. Domröse notes:
“BreatheCoat manufactures and distributes breathable membrane paint with zero toxic
emissions. This, in simple terms, means moisture (in vapour form) can escape but the paint
does not allow water back in so the paint finish does not peel or blister. On
newlyplastered surfaces, no primer or base coat is required. BreatheCoat bonds
exceptionally well with the substrate, thus making it ideal on older or historic buildings”.
Kruger
adds: “Envirocoat’s E-coat acts like a natural membrane with hydrophonic
properties and remains elastic over time. It can be applied to old and new galvanized
roofs, plaster, brick, stone, cement, cloth, asbestos, concrete, face brick, gutters,
downpipes, wood, paper, fibreglass, canvas, aluminium, iron, steel, cardboard,
polystyrene, roof tiles, and interior and exterior walls.”
Reflective
paint delivers energy savings
Another
recent innovation is reflective paint technology. “Dulux Trade Light & Space aims
to address energy consumption issues in interior spaces,” says Rijmenans.
“The
product reflects up to twice as much light as conventional emulsions as a result of Dulux
Trade’s Lumitec technology and, therefore, makes a small room seem larger. Light
& Space makes it possible for occupants to save energy by optimising natural daylight,
so artificial lights can be turned on later in the day and 20% less light energy is
required in the room. Independent tests show energy savings of up to 20%, which makes it a
great innovation for countries trying to reduce their energy consumption. This innovation
has already been successfully specified in major projects like office building and hotels.”
However
Lembeck adds: “Any measure to save energy will improve the energy performance of a
building and reflective paints may be just one of them. A building should always be
constructed to make the most of natural light. However, providing that light colours are
used, the unique formulation of E-coat, can ensure an insulating property and temperature
difference of up to 15% cooler than the norm.”
Protection
and durability
When
opting for green solutions, the experts agree, being well-informed is the surest path to
success. Nuss and Bhugwandin advise: “Do not be afraid to ask questions. If you are
unsure, talk to people in the industry or speak to specialists in the field that are not
necessarily associated with a manufacturer – for example the GBCSA”. Horn says:
“I recommend that clients looking at green products ask the manufacturers for their
safety data sheets – this should give a good indication. Also do a smell test –
normally, the body is a good measure.”
Lembeck
notes: “Lots of factors need to be considered when selecting paints; price,
durability and colours, to name a few. When the main focus is on selecting a truly green
product then a visit to a natural paint manufacturer might be advisable”. Rijmenans
adds: “Remember specifying paint is also about the performance – paint is about
protection first. Compromising on quality, more often than not, will yield unsatisfactory
results”. Domröse agrees: “It’s about functionality, problem solving,
durability and cost-effectiveness. A durable product will help to save on future
maintenance costs”.
-----
GREEN BUILDING BRIEFS
Emissions reduced through RDP housing?
“RDP
housing should incorporate ‘green building’ principles.” So says Stefan
Raubenheimer of Genesis Analytics. Speaking at the recent Climate Change Summit,
Raubenheimer pointed out, in order to build 200 000 houses for the poor per annum,
R3,5-billion would be needed in subsidies alone. Added to this would be an additional
R10-million upfront and around R5,5-million per annum for carbon development and
operational costs. Raubenheimer stated carbon revenue could be tapped for RDP housing
projects by applying for clean development mechanism (CDM) status.
This
could earn 10 euro (about US$12,80) for every kWh saved, he claimed. The earnings on CDM
points could be in the range of R150-million to R1,5-billion at peak (year 14 of CDM
project). Further funding could be sourced from the demand-side management subsidy –
from R176-million up to R1,7-billion per annum. Raubenheimer stated a beneficiary
contribution should be considered to cultivate a mentality of ownership. A R1 000 upfront
payment would add up to R200-million in once-off earnings per annum. In addition,
Raubenheimer calculated the avoided costs – the country would save R91-billion in
coal-fired generation of electricity and R30-million of future carbon-tax payments. Health
savings would be in the region of R50-million and future homeowners will save R5,4-billion
over 10 years, he predicted.
Plans
for retrofit
In
a first for South Africa, FirstRand and Johnson Controls have signed a project-development
agreement, spearheaded by the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), Urban Green File can
disclose.
The
agreement forms part of the CCI Energy Efficiency Building Retrofit Programme – a
programme that brings together many of the world’s largest cities, real-estate firms,
financial institutions and energy-service companies in a landmark effort to reduce energy
consumption in existing buildings across the municipal, institutional, commercial,
private, educational and public- housing sectors. Under the agreement, Johnson Controls
will perform energy-efficiency audits and retrofits in three buildings – one in
central Johannesburg and two in Randburg.
“FirstRand
would be able to save energy significantly, and reduce its utility costs and carbon
footprint while using the savings to repay the project capital investment over the term of
the contract without increasing the bank’s operating budget,” Jose Fernandez,
business area operations manager at Johnson Controls tells Urban Green File. “Funds
that would normally pay for monthly utility expenses will be redirected to repay the
capital investment on the project.”
Johnson
Controls will review the bank’s energy use in terms of equipment sizes and
efficiencies, maintenance procedures, hours of operation and operating conditions. An
analysis will be done to determine if sustainable offerings, such as cogeneration and
renewable-energy sources, could be viable options.
Efficient
‘city’ planned
Cradle
City, adjacent to Lanseria International
Airport in Johannesburg, is being planned as a 912 ha
sustainable, ‘green’-driven development.
Comprising
a mixture of residential, commercial, office, retail, hotel, resort, entertainment,
warehousing and other elements, Cradle City is being developed by Amari Land.
Architectural and urban planning is being handled by Albonico Sack Mzumara, GAPP
Architects & Urban Designers and Van Brakel Town Planners with Strategic Environmental
Focus as environmental consultant.
Through
innovative design, the developers have a vision to create a city that uses 40% of the
electricity of an existing city of the same composition and size, 50% of the potable
water, 50% of the sewerage, 50% of the stormwater, 60% of the solid waste and a mere 35%
of the CO2 emissions from vehicles.
Stormwater,
greywater reused
Stormwater
collection into attenuation dams, for irrigation purposes, is one of the “green
building” principles being incorporated into the new R400-million premises of ABB at
Longmeadow, Johannesburg. The company also plans to reuse its greywater on site. After
factory workers have finished the first day of work at the new premises in April 2009, the
water from the ablution facilities will have been treated in the in-situ water-treatment
plant and fed back into the same facilities to flush toilets. ABB has also installed a
water-efficient flushing system in the ablution facilities. Other green-building aspects
of the modern manufacturing centre will be solar heating and an automated
building-management system to control all energy-consuming equipment.
-----
CITY VISIT
Diepsloot - sustainability
unattainable?
Although
many development initiatives are under way in Diepsloot, it seems not everyone has
sustainability in mind. But what is the outlook for this sprawling Johannesburg township?
Urban Green File asks.
As
a marginalised area situated in a “transition zone” between Johannesburg and
Tshwane, Diepsloot, until recently, fell outside the official urban boundary. However,
with a population of more than 60 000, it is a densely-settled urban precinct that begs
planning and management input from city authorities.
A
wide array of upgrade projects is on the cards
“When
looking at research and planning, it is important to view Diepsloot within a context of
sustainable human settlement – an overall framework from which the current upgrade
will take place,” the City of Johannesburg’s Peter Ahmed tells Urban Green File.
The city’s Department of Planning & Urban Management is applying a set of
sustainability principles to the upgrade process; over and above complying with policy.
The aim is to add value to the policy and plans.
Densely-populated
precinct
Statistics
from Riaana du Plessis’s Activity Streets Urban Development Framework paint a
realistic picture of Diepsloot’s development: the population in 2008 amounted to 61
880 (projected to 66 000 by 2010) and an unemployment rate of 42%. In 2001, Diepsloot had
16 293 dwelling units of which 60% were informal shacks, 34% formal houses and 6% backyard
rooms. Now about 61% of “Diepsloters” have education up to Grade 8 and 10,6%
have no education at all. In terms of public transport, the majority – 62% – use
public transport, 23% walk, 8% have private cars and 7% use the bus service.
Diepsloot
already displays incredible density with people having started to build double-storey
shacks. Densities in the informal sectors reach upwards of 120 units/ha. Diepsloot has a
very transient and fluid population with people following the location of employment;
often renting out their accommodation. It is evident Diepsloot is an extremely complex
area, fragile in parts, characterized by dominant informality, a development that has
grown organically over time and shaped to a large extent by the energy generated along its
movement paths. Aspects of Diepsloot may be dysfunctional yet it works.
This
article does not go into the why and wherefore of Diepsloot’s raison d’être,
and it does not explore or review the planning processes and extensive research that has
gone into Diepsloot but rather looks at progress and perspectives on the upgrade to date;
gathered from various stakeholders.
Overloaded
infrastructure fails
Over
and above the visible poverty and socio-economic challenges, from a purely developmental
point of view, the challenges in Diepsloot are complex and many. A lack of, and failing,
infrastructure seems to be the most pressing. Sanitation is a problem with most of the
sewers having collapsed or continually overflowing; allowing raw sewage to flood down the
roads and paths. This situation is often exacerbated by a blocked and inadequate
stormwater system.
According
to Paul Arnott-Job, senior development manager for the Johannesburg Development Agency
(JDA), the city has to redo infrastructural maintenance work it did three years ago due to
the overload on the system. The pressure on the environment is significant with inadequate
waste management leading to an excessively-polluted stretch of river. “We’ve had
to resurvey the entire river and flood line as dumping and litter have led to silting,”
Arnott-Job informs Urban Green File. “This, in turn, has raised the level of the
river and the land on either side. In addition, people have settled within the flood line
and need to be relocated.”
From
the point of view of urban form, the environment is unstructured (although this is not
necessarily always a problem) and illegible; displaying potholes and the collapse of road
surfaces, inadequate pedestrian walkways, a desperate lack of public open space and an
inadequate public-transport system.
Sizable
housing backlog
Housing,
in itself, is clearly a challenge in Diepsloot with an estimated backlog of some 24 000
units – of which, according to Jon Busser of Urban Dynamics, around 17 000 informal
structures were surveyed in 2005 by the Gauteng Department of Housing. This presents its
own challenges as a lot of the people within this backlog are non-qualifiers because they
are outside of the subsidy range or foreign nationals.
Land
ownership is another challenge when it comes to attracting private-sector investment.
According to Zakele Mayasa of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), a land
formalisation programme is pending. “We now have plans but the challenge is to
fast-track implementation.” The project manager for the DBSA’s Sustainable
Communities initiative in Diepsloot is Orapeleng Letholonyane. He is tasked with
coordinating developments in Dieplsoot with the ultimate goal of achieving sustainable
human settlement.
Low-cost
area in high-growth region
Originally
located on the urban edge, far from any employment opportunities, amenity, infrastructure
and public transport, it could be argued Diepsloot’s location has “changed”
for the better. It would seem, although far from the CBD of Johannesburg, the area is well
located in terms of growth corridors and future economic development. “In a sense, it
is a low-cost area situated in an area experiencing the highest growth within
Johannesburg,” says Alan Dinnie, project and development manager for Johannesburg
Property Company (JPC).
Many
frameworks
In
terms of the City of Johannesburg, Diepsloot falls within many frameworks and policy
documents guiding development in the north of Johannesburg. Diepsloot forms part of the
Upgrading of Marginalised Areas Programme, which has a “five-year objective to
spatially integrate neglected and deteriorating urban environments” within
Johannesburg, writes Riaana du Plessis in Activity Streets Urban Development Framework
(2007).
• The
Integrated Development Plan and the Spatial Development Framework for Johannesburg (2008).
•
The Northern Areas
Framework/Northern Farm Framework (2006), which is, in itself, made up of eight precinct
frameworks.
•
Johannesburg Northern
Works, Diepsloot Township Establishment Programme (2007).
•
A Development
Programme for Diepsloot (2007).
•
A Central Sub-Region
Precinct Plan (2008).
•
A Regional Urban
Management Plan (2007).
•
The Diepsloot
Development Framework (2020).
•
Frameworks also exist
for each of the three projects discussed in detail in this article.
•
On the basis of this
list of plans and frameworks, one cannot say that the area is not in the planning. However
funding and implementation is another matter.
Provincial
housing department an obstacle?
All
role players interviewed shared a similar opinion when asked about “housing”.
They felt the Gauteng Department of Housing, specifically, is holding up the development
and housing process in Diepsloot. This department, they maintain, does not have sufficient
plans in place for the delivery of sustainable housing to Diepsloot and it does not have
any plans in terms of how or where to relocate people needing to be moved from the
floodplain. Granted, the Department of Housing does not own any land within the Diepsloot
area but the problem has existed for many years and one would have thought a workable
solution could have been found by now.
Connectivity
is top of mind
Previously,
the Northern Farm area adjacent to Diepsloot fell beyond the urban boundary. However the
City of Johannesburg has decided to extend this boundary; incorporating Diepsloot and the
proposed mixed-income housing projects on the land east of William Nicol – an area
known as Diepsloot East.
Tshwane
seems to have picked up on the positive energy of the northern growth corridor and is
considering the area just north of Diepsloot for development. While this northern corridor
is an opportunity, challenges exist around the east-west linkages to ensure Diepsloot is
integrated into the city – from Midrand through to Lanseria. Given the future growth
of the Lanseria node, this connection should possibly be given more attention; taking into
account the importance of preserving the integrity of the nature reserve it traverses.
It
seems integration and connectivity have been debated intensely and researched thoroughly
by the City of Johannesburg, and considered in all city plans and policy documents for
Diepsloot. Existing and proposed new land use along William Nicol, such as the new retail
mall and the district node, takes this into account. Land use promoting economic
opportunities are located closest to the road to be serviced by the bus rapid transit
system in future. Concern has been raised about the integration of Diepsloot with the
proposed housing developments at Diepsloot East yet the private sector assures Urban Green
File this is being taken into account in planning.
On
the ground – almost!
So
what’s planned for or being done in Diepsloot? As a point of departure, it’s
important to note all work is still in the really early phases; nothing has been
implemented yet. In terms of immediately “implementable” projects, one can
distinguish between private-sector and government initiatives. Out of the overall
Diepsloot Development Framework, four projects are being implemented first; each with its
own precinct framework.
These
are the JPC’s Northern Farm development around the Northern Wastewater Treatment
Works (NWWTW) and three projects spearheaded by the JDA: the government precinct to the
north, the activity street (central) and the district node to the south. The Northern Farm
development is being designed by ASM Architects while the JDA has appointed 26’10
South Architects to carry out design and implementation of its three projects. The JDA’s
consulting team also includes Hlaganani Consulting Engineers (lead consultant),
Envirolution, Selanya Consulting Engineers, Triviron Project Management and PC Quantity
Surveyors.
JDA
undertakes unprecedented work
The
JDA is doing unprecedented work on three fronts. Firstly, it is working on upgrading an
existing informal settlement whereas it usually works within more formalised urban
environments. Secondly, it is upgrading infrastructure outside of its project boundaries
where it has been found the lack of, or malfunctioning, infrastructure would have had a
negative impact on the sustainability of the projects. Thirdly, it is getting involved in
housing to the extent of exploring innovative initiatives within the project boundaries
through the appointed consultants. A basket of funding for the projects has been provided
by the Municipal Infrastructure Grant, Treasury’s Neighbourhood Development
Partnership Grant, the DBSA, as well as the City of Johannesburg.
A
‘green’ taxi rank
Here
is where the work gets exciting: 26’10 South has possibly designed the first “green”
taxi rank upgrade in South Africa and it will be constructed within the government
precinct. The existing taxi rank is vibrant and exceptionally busy at peak times. Existing
traders will be accommodated in a new linear market to front the taxi rank; addressing
socio-economic development and encouraging entrepreneurial activities. The existing
traders have all been mapped, documented and consulted by Envirolution to ensure buy-in to
the completed spaces.
In
terms of the green taxi rank, the roof has been extended, cut and angled upwards; allowing
maximum natural light into the entire space. This has also resulted in additional
north-facing surfaces onto which solar panels will be fixed. The rank will have a battery
pack at the rear to store the captured solar energy, which will, in turn, be used for
lighting the rank and powering the water pump. Rainwater will be captured off the roofs of
the rank and trading shelters, and stored in tanks from where it will be pumped (by means
of stored solar power) up to the wash bay; creating a sustainable means of washing taxis.
The
design of the taxi rank is completely oriented to human scale and usability – taking
its form from what already exists organically on the site – for example, an open and
welcoming entrance, as well as a meeting place behind the existing ablution facilities.
This space is graded at different levels to allow people to use the space creatively; even
providing for a “stage” if necessary.
26’10
South has proposed supporting pillars made out of gum poles (mirroring the building
materials used on the site); bound with strips of rubber or leather to introduce a tactile
dimension and ensure a hint of comfort when passengers need to lean against them. The taxi
rank will also be self-sustaining; using income from advertising on billboards to fund its
management and maintenance rather than taking rental from traders and taxi drivers in an
already fragile economy.
Management
structure in place
The
city’s Metropolitan Trading Company will manage the rank and trading stalls, which
will have all the usual facilities as well as built-in “braai” places
accommodating the many people using drum braziers on the sidewalk with the aim of freeing
up space for pedestrians. The rank will include artwork by local artists on walls at the
entrance.
The
remainder of the precinct is still undergoing planning but, mostly, the upgrading will
focus on the installation of sidewalks and streetscaping. In addition, 26’10 South is
looking at densifying the housing by fronting units directly onto the main road to create
“live-work” units – a flexible ground floor (possibly retail) with living
space above; all can be rented out and, therefore, increase the possibility of the units
being bonded. “We will propose a suitable housing type with the hope that it will be
taken up by the housing department,” comments Deckler.
Vital
link planned — activity street
A
linear mixed-use commercial street between Diepsloot extensions 1 and 3, and the informal
settlement of Tanganani will be turned into an activity street. This street will link the
formal townships on the north-western side of the watercourse with the informal settlement
to the southeast.
It
is an incredibly interesting and busy street with retail and service activities, as well
as dense residential use scattered along its entire length. The implementation scope
includes:
• accommodating
the pedestrian-intensive uses;
•
provision of informal
trading facilities;
•
roads upgrade;
•
stormwater-management
system upgrade;
•
integration with
existing services
•
infrastructure to
explore upgrade opportunities;
•
street lighting; and
•
public open-space
upgrade.
Here
26’10 South has mapped the entire activity street and knows exactly what the urban
form looks like as well as what activities and business typologies are taking place. Apart
from the infrastructural and streetscape work, the upgrade will be mostly in-situ;
preserving the character of the street and ensuring feet remain on the street yet
providing much-needed amenities and services. Again a suitable housing typology is being
developed so as to maximise the potential of a living and trading street in the context of
informal settlements. “The proposed incorporation of housing development into this
street will, hopefully, encourage the national or provincial Department of Housing to come
on board.
In
case of the Activity Street, design by 26’10 South has been organic, involving
extensive local research and public participation and “replicating”, so to
speak, the ad-hoc nature of the development. This has allowed the designers to respond to
very specific local conditions and needs.
Investment
opportunities - district node
By
facilitating development, the City of Johannesburg hopes it will attract opportunities for
economic development. This project has not been identified for implementation yet but, to
date, the JDA has employed 26’10 South to develop an urban design framework for the
precinct, having identified the following opportunities:
• high-density
residential;
•
potential for retail
development;
•
public-transport
facilities;
•
informal trade and
African markets; and
•
commercial use.
Mixed
use, many developers – northern farm
A
mixed-use development is planned on the Northern Farm – city-owned land situated
around the NWWTW. The intention is to develop the land in “super blocks” –
all with mixed use and all fully integrated. The JPC and its consultant, Urban
Sky-Walkers, brought urban specialist, Greg Clarke, out from the UK to give advice on the
development approach. “Focus on good schools and facilities, and on a public
environment that will bring about maximum interaction and move away from monolithic
implementation,” he suggested. The JPC seems to have followed this as the urban
design framework (developed by ASM Architects) stipulates a mix of land uses including
commercial, retail, light industrial and mini factories, as well as mixed-income
residential. In this regard, densities varying between 60 duplex units/ha and 120 duplex
units/ha is recommended.
This
should comprise 50% subsidized housing, 25% RDP and 25% social housing. In the framework,
public facilities, including open spaces and nature areas, are indicated. Within this
project, the JPC is moving away from the traditional approach where a single developer
implements a framework. The approach in this case is rather to engage many smaller
developers as this should ensure the integrity of the urban fabric, the JPD argues.
Individual “blocks” will be released with 4 000 units per block and this should
ensure about 500 developers are involved. The biggest challenge, so far, has been the
buffer zone required by Johannesburg Water. This would leave a lot of land around the
treatment works vacant. The team has carried out extensive air-quality sampling, taken
into account health issues as well as nuisance issues, looked at mitigating the problem
and found the zone can be reduced once mitigation measures have been put in place in the
near future.
It
is interesting to note the JPC was, originally, looking at developing this land along One
Planet Living principles. However the JPC came under severe pressure from the provincial
government to deliver RDP housing so it was forced to abandon ideas of sustainable human
settlements and development.
Much
private-sector involvement
The private sector has adopted a coordinated approach, having decided to work together. As
a result, it has been relatively easy to reach agreement on processes and principles with
only a few players able to take action and move forward on development quickly. Proposed
private-sector residential developments, as well as other uses identified in the Northern
Areas Framework, will allow increased density in Diepsloot East and support the nodal
development on the western side, as well as create new economic development opportunities.
Private-sector developments include:
• Tanganani
(planned originally with 7 000 units to be developed) owned by Safdev Tanganani - in which
Nedbank has a substantial stake to further its commitment to the delivery of affordable
and sustainable housing. The development is, therefore, on hold due to negotiations with
the Gauteng Department of Housing as this department wishes to purchase the land.
•
Proposed residential
development at Riversands (2 947 mixed-income and Financial Services Charter units) by
Century Property Development.
•
River Glen, north of
Dainfern (10 350 units – mostly middle- to upper-income development by Golden Creek
Investments.
•
Tanganani Ext 7 (7 851
units) to be developed by Golden Creek Investments.
Investment
zone needed
The
private developers have suggested Diepsloot and Diepsloot East should be declared an
“investment zone”, similar to that of a recent initiative in Sunninghill related
to the construction of provincial route K60. If it goes ahead, a special levy would
facilitate the development of distributor roads, such as William Nicol Drive and the K56,
as well as the upgrading of bulk services.
“Developers
and the public sector are, together, trying to come up with a mechanism for such funding,”
claims Busser. “The private sector and the city are working together in partnership
and are on the right track in terms of future initiatives.” The private sector wants
to participate and contribute to the development and upgrading of Diepsloot as it realises
its contribution will benefit the area as a whole and, ultimately, developments there. It
is keen to stabilise the housing market due to concern about land invasions. Examples of
partnerships include support for the relocation of Zevenfontein to Cosmo City by Golden
Creek Investments, and upgrading and maintenance of Porcupine Park. Century Property
Developments will accommodate an evicted informal-settlement community in its Riversands
project.
Informality
becoming sustainable
Despite
the criticisms (opposite page), a lot of positive work is planned for Diepsloot by the
City of Johannesburg and the Johannesburg Development Agency. But what is sustainable
about the upgrade? Firstly, Diepsloot, in itself, is sustainable in many ways through
maximum use of space, creative use of materials for shelter, settlement at density and
maximum use of available public transport. Complementing this, upgrade projects are
embracing sustainability through:
• Installation
of infrastructure for a start.
•
Installation of
rainwater-collection tanks below ground with the water pumped to an elevated reservoir.
•
A programme to clean
up and maintain the river.
•
A policy of
densification along main paths of movement to stop urban sprawl.
•
The bus rapid-transit
system will eventually pass Diepsloot, along William Nicol Drive, and provide much needed,
quality public transport.
•
A green taxi rank.
•
The DBSA is partnering
with Unilever and Enviroserv on the installation of a waste buy-back centre for Diepsloot.
•
DBSA is lending money
to City Parks to establish a new park in the overcrowded dense urban fabric. On this note,
the one park that already exists in Diepsloot has been upgraded by City Parks and is
incredibly well-used.
•
It has a large
Township TV and is really well-maintained – good job again City Parks!
•
In-situ upgrades of
some of the residential units; preserving the organic urban form and respecting people’s
ability to house themselves.
•
Connectivity into the
broader city’s fabric.
•
The development will
create some form of economic development and job creation in the future.
•
A lot of work lies
ahead but, undoubtedly, most of it will improve the quality of the lives of Diepsloot
residents significantly!
Constructive
criticism
Diepsloot’s
situation is overwhelming in scale and any intervention that improves the quality of the
urban environment needs to be given recognition. However Urban Green File has identified
areas of concern in the development approach.
1
Location, location, location
The
largest criticism and concern is that Diepsloot shouldn’t really have been on the
urban periphery in the first place but it is and it is home to thousands of people.
2
Failure of housing department to plan
Most
of the criticism, though, has to be levelled at the provincial housing department for not
taking action sooner to address desperate housing issues in Diepsloot and for not having a
plan for any future housing. For example, it seems there isn’t a plan detailing where
to move those who need to be moved.
All
the role players Urban Green File spoke to share a similar opinion on the Gauteng
Department of Housing. They feel the department is holding up the development and housing
process in Diepsloot without sufficient plans for delivery of sustainable housing. It is
critically important that the department has an action plan for people who need to be
relocated away from the flood plain.
One
has to acknowledge the housing department does not own any land within the Diepsloot area
but the problem has been there for many years and one would have thought a workable
solution would have been found by now! However the department’s recent initiative to
acquire, plan and design the Safdev Tanganani land and to make use of Safdev Tanganani’s
development capacity to deliver services and housing on this land seems to be a step,
albeit rather late, in the right direction.
3
Attempts at sustainable development sabotaged
Given
the focus of this publication, most criticism needs to be directed at the provincial
government for sabotaging genuine attempts at developing sustainable human settlements on
two fronts: regarding the public sector (JPC’s One Planet Living possibility was
missed) and the private sector.
In
the case of the latter, Safdev Tanganani was ready to implement a sustainable mixeduse
development in an extension of Tanganani.
Safdev
Tanganani went to great lengths in preparing plans for a development with the intention of
finding the highest value and best use for a piece of land well-located along a future
activity corridor of the city. The development would incorporate residential and
commercial use, retail, public-sector facilities, and public open space.
It
was designed with sustainability in mind and to protect the endangered bullfrogs in the
area – incidentally, considered a local delicacy at R10/bullfrog! In terms of green
development, all units were planned to be energy-efficient.
A
cogeneration combination of alternative-energy supply and demand to each household was
proposed – consistent with the municipality’s initiative to undertake a
feasibility study around private-public partnerships on alternative waste treatment and
energy supply.
This
would leave only the plugs reliant on the grid while maximising the use of solar energy,
natural light, gas cookers and a waste incinerator.
The
latter would reduce Pikitup’s carbon footprint by making it unnecessary for waste
trucks to drive to landfills in the south of Johannesburg. At the same time, it would
generate energy, which could be harvested to power street lighting in the development.
Extensive
research went into the sustainability of the development; even down to the level of
utilising materials sourced from suppliers boasting energy-efficient production plants,
such as Corobrik.
However
Gauteng’s Department of Housing is purchasing the land and will be replanning the
development in its entirety in order to attain a high proportion of RDP housing. The
department intends to increase densities without compromising sustainable development and
urban form. Concern, however, has been raised about how long land invasion at Tanganani
can be prevented if further protracted delays are experienced.
4
Inappropriate land use allowed
A
South African Police Services station is being constructed on government- owned land
directly adjacent to William Nicol; at the entrance to Diepsloot. Surely this is not the
best use of this land?
“The
land could be better used to generate economic development opportunities,” Deckler
argues. Perhaps a police station could have been built into a mixed-use,
economically-sound development?
5
Quick, political wins chased
The
pressure on government to provide solutions and upgrading in Diepsloot is immense with the
result that all interviewees noted intense time frames due to political pressure to
deliver visibly quick wins.
I
participated in the Runners’ World Dirt Festival (trail running) on Johannesburg’s
Northern Farm recently – a splendid piece of nature that is well located as a
recreation area for city dwellers. I was alarmed to read a portion of the Northern Farm
would be developed by the JPC after I had been exposed to the splendour of this open
space. However it seems, judging by the plans in front of me, the JPC intends to develop
the southern portion adjacent to the NWWTW and not the larger piece against the N14
highway.
The
two sections are separated by the NWWTW. Nevertheless I do hope enough effort will be made
by the city council to develop the main part of Northern Farm into a fully-fledged nature
and recreation area for the city
–
Ed.
-----
ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING & DESIGN
Potable water Wastage pre-empted
In terms of water and cost savings in property
development, the use of non-potable water for irrigation can have a significant impact
– often more so than ‘green building’ interventions do.
One
of the 30 driest out of 180 countries monitored in the world is South Africa. Added to
this dry outlook is a population that does not yet enjoy access to clean drinking water as
a standard in each household. But this is the same country where many lush,
artificially-created landscapes are irrigated with potable water. These landscapes are
thirsty and the irony is obvious: verdant landscapes are, in fact, contributing to South
Africa’s water stress.
Urban
Green File has often argued landscaping within urban areas is essential. “Without
beauty, people are, generally, miserable and miserable people are unable to build a
thriving and productive society”, the editorial comment in the
February
2009 print edition of Urban Green File stated. But, if this beauty comes at the expense of
our country’s most precious commodity, water, can it be justified?
Water-efficient
landscaping possible?
Can
landscaping be done in such a way that it only consumes essential water resources rather
than wasting potable water? To answer this question, it is necessary to first understand
the demand landscaping, as an aspect of property development, is placing on water
resources. This is particularly relevant when the momentum of the “green building”
movement is considered.
While
a lot of pressure is exerted on property owners to use less water, and recycle greywater
within buildings, few consider the often much bigger impact of a thirsty landscape. Green
Point Stadium, being built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, is a case in point. Here the
surrounding urban park – the Green Point Common – could consume as much as 58%
of the total water consumption, a baseline study by the stadium’s sustainability
review team predicted. It was, therefore, decided to pipe irrigation water from the
Oranjezicht springs to the Green Point Common rather than using costly and precious
potable water. In addition the sustainability review team pointed out, by using
intelligent and drip irrigation, 30% of the water consumption, when compared to a
conventional irrigation system, would be saved. This, they claimed, would equal a further
4% saving on the total water consumption at Green Point.
Two
examples prove the point
Two
more examples clearly illustrate landscaping is often the most significant water consumer
on any property. At the Woolworths Distribution Centre in Midrand, Johannesburg, as much
as R750 000 per year is saved in potable water costs, Johan Barnard of Newtown Landscape
Architects
and Pierre Brits of GWIS tells Urban Green File. At Montecasino, also in Johannesburg, up
to R14 000 per day or more than R5-million per year is saved as potable water is not used
for irrigation purposes, Janet Davies of Real Landscapes and Steven Latimer of Controlled
Irrigation claims.
When
it comes to water efficiency in landscaping, a property owner can make use of various
approaches. The most common and successful interventions seem to be stormwater harvesting,
the recycling of greywater and blackwater, and the use of special irrigation equipment,
such as drip systems and weather stations. Often, when it comes to property development,
so much effort is placed on the engineering complexities involved in the buildings that
the massive water and cost savings achievable through proper site and landscape planning
are overlooked. However the case studies mentioned should be proof positive that extra
effort expended in terms of landscape design could result in substantial and ongoing
operational savings.
Stormwater
harvested
In
the case of Montecasino, the property is landscaped extensively and consumes as much as
800 000 l/day in mid-summer. However the water is sourced from an on-site dam with
capacity of 1-million l rather than municipal supply. The dam forms part of the Fourways
area’s municipal stormwater and floodattenuation system and eventually con-nects to a
tributary of the Jukskei River.
In
addition to collected stormwater, the dam is fed by four boreholes on the property. In the
case of a rainstorm, excessive water flows from this dam down an on-site artificial
riverbed – the “eco link” – into a silt dam. From here water is pumped
back to the irrigation dam as and when needed. Greywater emanating from the washing of
concrete floors, cars and parking lots also flows into the silt dam and is eventually
reused for irrigation purposes.
Even
though Montecasino does not make use of potable water and, therefore, does not need to pay
for the water, it treats its irrigation source as precious. A rain sensor is connected to
the controller of the irrigation system and, when it rains, the entire system is switched
off. The irrigation system delivers about 840 l/minute at a pressure of 4,5 bar. However
the landscape maintenance team is constantly striving to reduce water demand. The aim is
to reduce irrigation to 25 mm per week.
Plant
choice matters
However
water efficiency does not only involve the reuse of stormwater and greywater. At
Montecasino emphasis is being placed on improving the plant choice. “We have been
experimenting with plants and found, even though the landscape was designed with an exotic
Tuscan palette, it is possible to improve water demand,” Davis tells Urban Green
File. “For instance, we have been changing all the lavenders with a variety sourced
from Margaret Roberts as they need less water.”
Davis
is also bringing in more ornamental grasses and indigenous, drought-resistant plants to
the Montecasino gardens. But she identifies the choice of lawn species at Montecasino as
“thirsty”. The All Seasons Evergreen need lots of water but, fortunately, ample
captured water is available.
Quick
payback on dams
The
developers of Montecasino were fortunate in that the bentonite-lined stormwater
attenuation dam already existed on site. But Latimer points out, even if the dam had to be
constructed, the upfront cost would be a worthwhile investment. The payback is very short
when one considers the costs if Montecasino had to pay for municipal water in order to
irrigate its gardens.
R250
000/annum saved
The
scale of water demand from an extensive landscape is also obvious at the Woolworths
Distribution Centre in Midrand. Although this site is landscaped in a natural way –
mostly with indigenous grasses and trees – water consumption is significant. “The
irrigation cost, if potable water was used, would be as much as R1-million per year but we
have managed to save 90 692 m³ of water through stormwater harvesting per annum while the
shortfall of 1 345 m³ is sourced from borehole water,” Barnard points out. As is the
case with Montecasino, the Woolworths Distribution Centre makes use of captured stormwater
as well as boreholes to feed its irrigation network.
Stormwater
from roads, parking lots and the landscape, and rainwater from roofs is channeled to a
series of dams. The water flows from one dam to the next and irrigation water is taken
from the last dam with the cleanest water.
Irrigation
design optimised
However,
Brits points out, the entire irrigation system for Woolworths was first simulated on a
hydrological model; making use of his own custom-developed software. This was in order to
select the best combination of pipe sizes and sprinklers as well as pumps. “The
diameter of a pipe, for instance, would have an impact on energy required to pump the
water,” Brits says. “It is important to ensure an irrigation system is also
energy-efficient and not only waterefficient.
Often
a developer is tempted to save on pipe sizes in order to lower the initial installation
cost. But narrower pipes will endure more friction and require a bigger pump. In the long
term, the costs could be much higher.”
Blackwater
and greywater reused
In
terms of stormwater attenuation, it is important to realise water cannot simply be dammed
without considering the city-wide stormwater and flood-prevention system.
The
need for rivers and streams to be fed with this water on an ongoing basis must never be
overlooked. However other options for water reuse are also available to property owners.
In this regard, the Kyalami Country Club has, for almost a decade, been using a
wastewater-treatment package plant. All the blackwater and greywater from the estate
facilities, including the housing for ground staff and management, as well as the
conference centre and clubhouse is treated biologically and reused for irrigation
purposes.
The
clean effluent produced by the Gauteng Environmental Services (GES)-PAC plant is said to
meet Department of Water Affairs & Forestry standards, and gravity flows to the
irrigation ponds on the golf course. Here it is mixed with captured stormwater as well as
“raw” treated water received from Johannesburg’s Northern
Wastewater-Treatment Works. This water is, in turn, used for irrigation of the golf course
– once again a major saving when compared to the cost of potable water as a source
for irrigation.
As
gravity flow is used throughout and no pumps are needed, the GES-PAC plant is energy
efficient. The treatment plant comprises five chambers. In the first chamber, solids
settle out. Once every three or four years, the solids need to be pumped out of this
chamber. The second chamber allows for further settlement of solids.
When
water enters the first two anaerobic and anoxic chambers, it comes into contact with
bacteria, which start digesting the waste. An air blower supplies oxygen to the third
chamber with the result that anoxic and anaerobic bacteria are killed off and aerobic
bacteria complete the digestion process. In the fourth chamber, bacteria and finasolids
settle out. The last chamber is for disinfecting but George Lee of PD&M Services
– agent for the GESPAC plant – tells Urban Green File the system does not need
any additional disinfection, such as chlorine.
The
system is packed with bacteria at commissioning and activated sludge is recycled from the
fourth chamber to the first. This facilitates continual seeding of the incoming waste.
Property owners do not have to add any dosage of bacteria or disinfecting chemicals during
the system’s life cycle.
Drip
irrigation effective
“Apart
from alternative water sources, irrigation equipment can also make a significant
difference in terms of water consumption,” Manfred Gebers of Gebco tells Urban Green
File. Gebco is the Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal agent for Netafim irrigation, including the
company’s drip-irrigation systems. “Both aboveground and subsurface drip
irrigation systems work well in terms of water efficiency as evaporation and the impact of
wind is reduced,” elaborates Gebers.
Netafim
claims its drip-irrigation systems can save between 30% to 70% of water when compared to
sprinklers “as the water is immediately available to the root zone and isn’t
wasted through evaporation, wind, overspray, mist or surface runoff”.
Gebers
mentions the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Grand West Casino and Green Point Stadium
– all in Cape Town – as South African sites making use of drip irrigation. Drip
irrigation was also used in Athens, Greece, for green spaces during the 2004 Olympics. “One
of the major challenges was converting the arid landscape into a world-class playing
surface while conserving water,” Netafim informs Urban Green File. In Athens, the
Netafim UniBioline AS Dripperline for reclaimed water was specified for the utilisation of
recycled water for irrigation purposes. The underground installation also minimised the
possibility of vandalism.
At
Green Point, large-radius rotors (lawns), short- and medium-radius sprays (beds) and drip
irrigation (trees and beds) will be used, according to Adrian White of Arid Earth
Solutions.
A
weather-based central control system will adjust irrigation schedules in accordance with
local weather conditions. It will accurately replace moisture lost through
evapotranspiration. The controller will match irrigation with the landscape’s water
requirements and avoid over-watering. “Initially, the irrigation system will use
potable water until the springwater infrastructure is in place,” White points out.
Landscape
design plays a role
“Considering
landscape needs may account for 20% to 50% of the 359 000 l of water consumed annually by
the average household in the US, it is an important part of the solution to the
water-scarcity problem,” irrigation equipment manufacturer, Rainbird, states,
concurring with Urban Green File’s view that water saving is not only a
green-building issue but also a concern in terms of landscape design and maintenance.
Brett
Hart of Rainbird International, based in South Africa, points out irrigation is not only
about pipes and sprinklers. “Landscape design plays a very important role. Proper
design depends largely on adequate analysis of the different areas of the landscape. The
most efficient irrigation systems divide the landscape into separate irrigation zones to
accommodate different watering needs of plants.”
In
terms of plant choice, landscape architect Dr Erika van den Berg says it is simple: “Plant
indigenous but a problem these days is the changing climate. Succulents and bulbs have
become popular, especially as they retain water and can survive in drier areas.
However,
for the past two years with so much excessive rain, many of these have rotted. It is
important to specify plants that can handle drought but that would also survive in times
of high rainfall. Tropical is out but so are sensitive succulents from very arid regions
when it comes to landscaping in Gauteng”.
Automatic
systems preferred
Hart
is a proponent of automatic irrigation systems. “These systems are able to provide
different volumes of water to different plants at a rate it can be absorbed.” In the
past decade, significant advances in technology have made irrigation systems even more
water-efficient. Innovations include rain, moisture and wind sensors, as well as drip
systems.
Rain
sensors essential
A
1992 case study undertaken in Gainesville, Florida, USA, determined, if rain sensors had
been in place from 1977 to 1991, up to 25% of all automatic watering in the Gainesville
area would have been stopped. Not surprising then, in the US, an increasing number of
municipalities have mandates and cost-saving programmes for the use of rain sensors.
Convincing
cost argument
Through
water-efficient landscaping, significant cost savings can be achieved for the property
owner. Especially so if the real cost of treating water to potable standard is considered.
Take the St Peter’s schools in northern Johannesburg where the water bill for
irrigation of sports fields amounts to R80 000 a month. Not surprising, stormwater dams
are being constructed and rainwater is harvested from the roofs. The school believes it
will be able to supply all of its irrigation water through the stormwater dams.
Isn’t
it time you revisited the irrigation scenario on your property or considered water
consumption more carefully when undertaking the next landscape design?
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WASTE
& POLLUTION MANAGEMENT
Double
saving, triple benefit
By
crushing and recycling demolition waste into new construction materials, a double saving
is realised – in the transportation and dumping of waste, as well as the purchase and
delivery of new material. The third benefit is to the environment.
With
the “green building” movement growing rapidly in South Africa, pressure is
increasing to build in a more sustainable way. In this regard, Urban Green File is
delighted to announce the use of recycled materials in new building projects is on the
increase.
This
is a departure from the standard practice of past years when demolition waste was simply
discarded on municipal landfills. Today this waste is often crushed and reworked into
aggregates for new construction projects – in the building and civils sectors.
Just
as the Green Building Council of South Africa was only established in 2008, so too is the
recycling of construction and demolition waste a relatively new concept for South Africa.
Sandro Scherf, CEO of Pilot Crushtec, tells Urban Green File how difficult it was to
introduce this idea to the mainstream construction industry. “When I started
manufacturing crushing and recycling equipment, I was very familiar with trends around the
world. I knew a big recycling movement was taking off in Europe. So, within a year of
starting Pilot Crushtec, I travelled to a trade show in Munich and came back charged with
lots of knowledge on how waste was being successfully recycled around the world.”
On
his return to South Africa, Scherf felt it was important to start working on the recycling
concept here. “I tried very hard to get it going but all my attempts failed as I came
up against brick walls,” he elaborates.
“It
was too early and nobody was interested.” Despite Pilot Crushtec offering a mobile
“Rubble Buster”, which was designed and developed to crush construction and
demolition rubble, and offered free of charge to several large construction companies,
they all said they weren’t interested. But, just as Scherf was ready to throw in the
towel, the “building boom” started in South Africa and dumping rubble on
landfills became an expensive exercise that started people thinking maybe recycling had
merit.
It
was at about the same time that Cape Brick – situated about 3 km from the Cape Town
city centre – began to think about manufacturing bricks out of crushed building
rubble. According to Jean Tresfon of Cape Brick, “quarried material was becoming
increasingly expensive and we started looking at recycling building rubble as an
alternative.”
Dump
and source in one go
Since
then the use of recycled materials has grown significantly. The construction sector has
realised dumping of waste can be expensive while sourcing of virgin stone and aggregate
has become even more costly. Stones & Stones is one company in Johannesburg turning
this challenge into an opportunity.
“The
answer to convincing construction companies to divert all the demolition waste they
normally send to landfill to a crushing plant is canvassing,” Kamil Meer-Motala of
Stones & Stones informs Urban Green File. At Crown Mines, just outside the
Johannesburg CBD, Stones & Stones has set up a plant like this. It is conveniently
located to create easy access from the city centre. Due to space constraints on building
sites within the CBD, this often makes the option of setting up a mobile crusher
impossible. “Instead, the rubble is transported a relatively short distance and we
offer a low dumping fee,” Meer-Motala points out.
Stones
& Stones also offers a “round-trip concept”, he adds. “In other words,
construction vehicles are able to dump the demolition waste collected from a building site
and, in turn, leave with a full load of either aggregates or sand that has been recycled
from building rubble. This material is transported back to the construction site; saving
time and diesel and, of course, reducing carbon emissions.”
A
similar scenario applies in the case of Cape Brick’s site chosen strategically for
its location. “As most demolition takes place in the Cape Town CBD and the nearest
landfill site at Vissershok is nearly 38 km away, it makes financial and environmental
sense to send construction and demolition waste to Cape Brick,” Tresfon states.
“Savings in the cost of transportation and energy apply when the finished product
(brick) has to be transported back to site. It is all about having the lowest possible
embodied energy.”
Waste
turned into aggregate
Tresfon
and Meer-Motala say, once they have sourced construction and demolition waste, it is
processed in a primary crushing facility at their plants. It is crushed down to -100 mm
and all the steel rebar is removed. The resulting material is fed into a secondary
crushing and sieving process in which all other contaminants, such as wood, paper,
plastic, tar and metals are removed. Most of these can be removed by blower while the
ferrous metals are removed by electro-magnets and sent for recycling. “The
non-ferrous metals are picked out by hand and we get good prices for the recycling of
these,” says Tresfon. “Tar and other heavy metals are taken out at one of the
seven hand-picking stations. The amount of contaminants is generally low as we pay the
demolishers for only the best construction and demolition waste, and the bulk of this is
the settle reinforcing bar, which is a valuable commodity at the scrap dealers.”
The
material is then crushed further and sieved into a 6 mm stone aggregate as well as sand.
“We refer to the product as recycled crushed aggregate, which is then used as the
main ingredient in our entire brick product,” elaborates Tresfon. Cape Brick uses a
minimum of 70% recycled material in all of its products with some products containing up
to 90%. The result is a brand-new manufactured brick made almost entirely from recycled
material.
Clean
material essential
“A
crusher is just like a computer,” remarks Scherf. “If you put junk into it, you
will get junk out. You can’t make quality recycled materials if it is contaminated by
other products.” A good example is when ceiling board is mixed with concrete rubble.
The result will be a compromised by-product. “When demolishing a building, all the
components have to be separated. If this is done, one would be able to produce a
good-quality crushed aggregate, such as G4/5/6/7/9 as well as building sand. This can be
used for fill when constructing the base of a road.”
According
to Tresfon, Cape Brick has a strategic partnership with the larger demolition contractors
in the Cape who effectively control the bigger waste streams. “Clean stripping and
on-site sorting of construction and demolition waste by the demolition contractor is
crucial as not all the waste can be used for brick-making. We buy the waste from
contractors at a premium rate to ensure we get only the cleanest and best sorted material
directly from the site.”
Civils
sector drives demand
Not
only buildings are constructed from recycled demolition waste. Often the aggregates for
roads, especially sub-bases of roads, are sourced from recycled demolition waste. The
Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) is a case in point. Much of the building rubble
recycled by Stones & Stones – and turned into G5, G7 and building sand – is
destined for the massive GFIP.” Quarry SA – Urban Green File’s sister
journal – writes in its March 2009 print edition that the Stones & Stones
strategy of making it as easy as possible to dump by doing away with the weighbridge and
charging an extremely low dumping fee, considering its main form of revenue is from
recycling, has spread far and wide. Add to this its strategic location and you are looking
at an ongoing source of raw material for recycling.”
It
pays to recycle
It
would appear the construction industry has realised it pays to crush on site rather than
transporting the rubble away. There is huge value in this if one considers the
transportation cost of ferrying rubble from a site to a dump and then the cost ofdumping
the waste. Scherf emphasizes this point when he states “the savings are doubled.”
Firstly, because one is not paying to dump the waste and, secondly, one can reuse the
material that has been crushed – another cost-saving. This point is reiterated by
Tresfon when he adds that, over the years, Cape Brick has saved many hundreds of tons of
material from landfill. “In a sense, we helped create the market for these ‘waste’
materials,” says Tresfon. “This, obviously, did not help our own cause as the
cost to us has risen.” While many have knocked efforts by Cape Brick in the past,
there is more than enough evidence to suggest this is a viable option.
According
to Meer-Motala, the total construction and demolition waste Stones & Stones has saved
from municipal landfills in the period from June 2007 to February 2009 amounts to
approximately 150 000 m³ or 210 000 t. “That’s a lot of waste by anyone’s
standard,” he says. “Of this, we have sold back in the region of 87 000 m³ and
our profit on the recycled material is approximately R7/m³.”
Dust
contained
While
some would argue crusher dust can have a negative environmental impact; degrading local
air quality, the effective methods implemented by Cape Brick have all but eradicated this
issue. “We use a sophisticated dust-monitoring system combined with a weather station
and we have found, because we are based in the Cape, the greatest pollution occurs when
the ‘South-Easter’ is blowing,” claims Tresfon.
“So
we cease operation on the windiest days. We also use a borehole water-spray system to
settle the dust, as well as a tanker truck with a Dustex chemical to bind the surface of
the stockpiles. As no washing is taking place, the actual water use is minimal. Obviously,
as we have winter rainfall in the Cape, dust mitigation is only needed in the dry summer
months.”
Separation
at source
Perhaps
Scherf sums it up best by saying the most cost-effective approach to crushing construction
and demolition waste has to be done at source. “So, just as one should separate
domestic waste into glass, plastic and organic material, one has to do the same with
building rubble.” This is, of course, the mantra repeated by all waste experts.
Scherf
is also of the opinion that green building should be legislated. “Only then will it
happen on the scale it is achieved in other countries around the world. The irony is,
while companies would like to be known as having built green buildings and used recycled
materials, most of them don’t realise it is, more often than not, financially viable
to do so.”
-----
WASTE & POLLUTION MANAGEMENT BRIEFS
70% of cans RECOVERED
Collect-a-Can
has increased its recovery rate from 67,5% in 2007 to 70% in 2008, the company’s new
MD, Funani Mojono, informs Urban Green File. He attributes the increase to the
partnerships Collect- a-Can has fostered within the metal-recycling community and with
small recycling organisations. Many budding entrepreneurs have launched their own
successful recycling businesses under the mentorship of Collect-a-Can, Mojono claims.
Billboard
‘recycled’
In
a world first, a Nedbank billboard has been made from recycled plastic bags. Vying for the
attention of motorists at OR Tambo International Airport, the billboard comprises 2 000
plastic bags woven together by self-employed crafters to create a 40 m² “canvas”
for Nedbank and its advertising-agency partner, Network BBDO, to spread a message of
commitment to the preservation of the environment. It took six weeks to produce and was a
challenge for crafters who had never made anything larger than a door mat. Conceptualised
by Network BBDO, the billboard is the third in a series. The first was the solar-panel
billboard that powers a kitchen in Alexandra, and the second boasted a wind turbine and
solar panels powering the kitchen, security lights and geysers at the Cape Mission School
in Cape Town.
While
Urban Green File maintains billboards are unsightly scars on the urban landscape, a
recycled version is, no doubt, preferable to the usual canvas versions – Ed.
Two-bin
system for world cup
When
it comes to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, focus will be on waste avoidance. This is according
to the local organizing committee’s Ike Ndlovu who told Urban Green File’s
sister publication, JFM Sports Facilities, an integrated waste-management strategy is
being developed for the World Cup.
Apparently
packaging materials, such as polystyrene containers, will not be allowed at World Cup
games. Instead reusable cups will be introduced, as well as a two-bin system for
recyclables and mixed waste in all stadiums. All the facilities will make use of “Green
Goal” labels for their waste fractions; with a waste pictogram embedded within the
logo.
Healthcare
waste under the spotlight
With
illegal dumping and stockpiling of healthcare waste a major concern, the Health Care Waste
Forum (HCWF) is joining forces with the departments of Environmental Affairs & Tourism
and Health to curb illegal dumping of infectious waste in South Africa. A two-day
conference and expo on this subject will be held in Kempton Park from May 18 to 19 2009 to
work on a strategy to curb the looming crisis, HCWF informs Urban Green File.
The
forum operates under the auspices of the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa.
Speakers at the conference will include Frank-Michael Phieler, a German expert operating
within the international medical-waste arena, and Terry Grimmond, an Australian medical
microbiologist employed by the Daniels Corporation.
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INSPIRATION
The public realm remade
Some design elements in the Ellis Park Precinct are simply inspirational.
Johannesburg’s
Ellis Park Precinct – a derelict and depressed place until now – is receiving a
make-over. Work is progressing rapidly in preparation for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup
and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This is not the first time the area around Coca-Cola Park and
the Johannesburg Stadium has been revamped. The previous attempt went to waste with the
entire area falling into complete disrepair. The cause? Absent city management. The newest
attempt at reviving the area seems to hold much more promise. On a recent site visit by
Urban Green File, the central water feature and public square between the two stadiums was
nearing completion. In terms of its sense of place and detailed design, the intervention
is superb.
Here,
at last, is a quality public space in the city. However Urban Green File remains concerned
about the sustainability of the massive investment. In our June 2008 print edition, we
asked whether or not, after staging the soccer tournaments, the area would once again be
left to decline. Already some of the landscape vegetation installed in the earlier part of
this revamp is not maintained properly.
The
Johannesburg Development Agency and its consultants, specifically Albonico Sack Mzumara
Architects & Urban Designers, as well as Newtown Landscape Architects, should be
complemented for their work here. But Urban Green File sincerely hopes the precinct will
not, in a year or two, feature in our “insult” column for lack of maintenance
and upkeep!
-----
INSULT
World-class yet unkempt
From a world-class Rea Vaya bus, a commuter will look out at derelict buildings.What
a strange city Johannesburg has become! In many ways it boasts world-class infrastructure.
Soon one will be able to commute freely with state-of-the-art public transport offering a
choice between the Gautrain and the Rea Vaya bus rapid transit (BRT) system. In terms of
its public realm, the city is also making improvements (see “inspiration”
opposite). But it seems the city council remains unable to effect change on
privately-owned property. In the Ellis Park region and neighbouring Hillbrow, many of the
buildings flanking the streets hosting the BRT remain in a state of disrepair.
How
strange it would be to approach Ellis Park for a World Cup soccer match in a modern and
efficient BRT bus but to look out at buildings worse for the wear? Is the city hoping
renewed property investment will follow after its sizable investment in upgrading the
public environment? Urban Green File hopes this will happen but, in the meantime, the city
and its many property owners deserve a massive “insult award”. How could we
allow the environment to degrade to this extent?
-----
VIEWPOINT
Tough new emission standards
A
new schedule will list emission standards for various business and manufacturing
activities. Municipalities will be empowered to enforce these standards. Everyone is
talking about climate change. Scientific studies confirm an increase in the concentration
of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The largest growth of GHG emissions between 1970 and 2004 has
come from energy supply, transport and industry while residential and commercial
buildings, forestry and deforestation and agricultural sectors have been growing at a
lower rate. South Africa is among the top 20 emitters of GHGs internationally when
measured per capita; making up 1,6% of the global total.
South
Africa is vulnerable to the impact of climate change and, as a signatory to the Kyoto
Protocol, has begun implementing mitigation measures to reduce the emission of GHGs. The
National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act of 2004 came into place on September 11
2005 with the exception of a number of sections, including Section 21. This section deals
with listed activities and states the minister must publish a list of activities that
result in atmospheric emissions, and have or may have a significant detrimental effect on
the environment. Once the section has been promulgated, a schedule listing the activities
will establish minimum emission standards and may contain transitional arrangements.
A
draft schedule is with the standards division of the South African Bureau of Standards
(SABS), which will finalise the emission standards and deal with new and existing
facilities, as well as compliance with time frames. It is anticipated the schedule will be
finalised by September 2009. But what are the implications for industry? Companies that
operate an activity listed in the schedule will have to ensure their emissions, as listed
in the schedule, comply with the stipulated emission standards and time frames. Costs may
be substantial and will include costs to test the levels of emissions, as well as costs to
implement technology in order to reduce emission limits.
Compliance
and monitoring will be at local-government level, and it will be an offence to conduct a
listed activity without a licence, or to emit air pollutants at concentrations above the
emission limits. Industries, such as printing works (previously unregulated), have been
included in the schedule. Works using more than and equal to 25 tpa of solvent will have
to limit their volatile organic compound levels to 90 mg/Nm³ within four years of the
schedule coming into effect and to 75 mg/Nm3³ within eight years.
Armed
with stipulated testing methods, vigilant municipalities will no longer just be talking
about climate change and, to prevent future adverse consequences for South Africa’s
sustainable development, neither should we. The mg/Nm³ refers to the unit of measurement,
which will be used to measure minimum emission standards for point source emissions. Nm³
is m³ at 0°C and 101,3 kPa (standard conditions of temperature and pressure).
By
Tina Costas, senior associate at Garlicke & Bousfield Inc.
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