Latest edition

UGF_masthead.jpg (170323 bytes)

Contents of June 2010

COMMENT
“Green economy”: common sense

LETTERS
Johannesburg needs to restore environmental health

UPFRONT
What is new and happening?

GREEN BUILDINGS
The case for green roofs
Planted roofs as usable spaces

GREEN BUILDINGS BRIEFS

CITY VISIT
Road map for urban open space
The Tshwane Open Space Framework unpacked

ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING & DESIGN
A sense of ‘publicness’?
Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium Precinct Waste & pollution management

WASTE & POLLUTION MANAGEMENT
Cape Town composts its ‘green waste’
A winning composting initiative

WASTE & POLLUTION MANAGEMENT BRIEFS

INSPIRATION
Ekurhuleni’s remarkable Spruitview multi-purpose park

INSULT
Water-management conundrum

VIEWPOINT
Water security addressed

-----

COMMENT

It is common sense
A “green economy” is not only about creating new jobs but a common-sense approach to business that will make the most of the opportunity to share resources.

The “green economy” is the latest buzz phrase to become part of public discourse in South Africa. Recently, the South African government staged its Green Economy Summit – an event that Urban Green File embraced enthusiastically by exhibiting and delivering a paper at the conference. But what is all the hype about? What does a green economy entail?

My answer is simple and straightforward. A green economy is about common sense. It is about being more efficient and avoiding “unforeseen” downstream consequences. Ultimately, a green economy requires a more holistic view for resources to be better shared rather than only for the benefit of one entity at a time. It also means avoiding the pollution of resources for the greater good of all.

Driving to the offices of our publisher, Brooke Pattrick Publications, I always notice a prime example of how a green approach to the economy could make a difference. Adjacent to the recently upgraded N1 Highway in Woodmead, Johannesburg, our publisher’s building forms part of an office park set within landscaped, irrigated gardens. Next door, the Country Club Johannesburg has two golf courses and, down the road, is a sizable piece of wasteland; wedged between the highway and two roads. Part of the new highway system includes concrete stormwater culverts that direct run-off away, as fast as possible, to the nearby Sand Spruit.

If each of these facilities was viewed in isolation, all would appear to operate efficiently. However, the holistic picture shows many missed shared opportunities which would underpin a green economy. For example, the stormwater from the highway could be directed to various small attenuation dams which, in turn, could feed the irrigation needs of the office park while excess water could be channelled to the golf course for irrigation. In addition, an urban- agriculture initiative could make productive use of the wasteland between the roads with a ready source of irrigation from the dammed stormwater.

The office park also suffers a water problem in the parking basements where groundwater is pushing through the retaining walls. Again this water could be made available for the integrated water network rather than wasted. Not only would the costs of consuming potable water for irrigation be reduced significantly but a new viable urban-agriculture business could be created with the advantage of a workable stormwater-management system. At the same time, the eroding impact of fast-moving stormwater on the Sand Spruit would be reduced. Yes, the green economy is about new technology, especially in the field of renewable energy, which could create many new jobs in manufacturing and operations. It is also about reducing the negative impact of development on natural resources, such as our water systems, in order to avoid costly clean-up operations at a later stage. More importantly, though, the green economy is about a new way of looking at business, government and civil society sharing resources to build a more effective and successful nation that could make the most of its resources – and safeguard our natural heritage to underpin ongoing progress.

-----

LETTERS

Focus on ecological health
Referring to the article “Inner-city park possible?” in the April 2010 print edition of Urban Green File, I do not necessarily agree with the concept of place-making alone as a solution to Johannesburg’s inner city, especially if place-making is seen as the starting point for motivating a large-scale park for the city.

More relevant is how one creates an environmentally healthy city that places ecological systems firmly on the agenda and on equal footing with man-made systems. The single-minded focus on the development of systems to support the functioning of the city – such as transport infrastructure, housing and water services – has left us with a city that is terminally ill or environmentally dead! However, an elevated status of the environment will set up an ideal dialogue in exploring the city as an incubator for a new kind of ecology and, therefore, a new way of place-making.

Johannesburg is not unique in this sense. Post-industrial cities like Detroit suffer from the same symptoms and this is exacerbated by the mass exodus of its population to places that offer greater opportunity. This situation has forced city officials and politicians to find ways of retaining businesses and citizens in the inner city. They are working very hard at this. Large multidisciplinary consortiums of highly specialised professionals are seeking answers to this dilemma. We need to join in this search.

In Johannesburg, a handful of urban designers working in the city have made inroads in the notion of place-making but none have tackled systemic environmental redress. In my opinion, this is partly due to the lack of understanding of natural systems but also due to the glaring absence of professionals (in the case of consultants and client bodies) who understand complex environmental systems.

An environmentally healthy inner city is a great goal to work towards. This can only be achieved with the patronage of politicians and city officials with vision and skill. My hope for the city is that political and management performance will be gauged against the backdrop of moving towards this goal. If not, as citizens, we should become activists, get our hands dirty and become involved!
Anton Comrie, PrLArch

-----

UPFRONT

Klip River initiative progresses
Implementation of the Klip River/Klipspruit (KK) Greening & Rehabilitation Project by Johannesburg City Parks and the city’s Department of Environmental Management (DEM) holds some hope of improving the dire state of urban rivers and streams in South African cities. The KK project is one of Johannesburg’s Mayoral Legacy Projects and part of the city’s greening initiatives for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The KK project sets out to develop a continuous system of functional green open spaces and parks along the Klip River. “To date, the project has developed an open-space master plan and designs for various nodes along the river,” Lovejoy Mokutu of the City of Johannesburg’s DEM informs Urban Green File. “The Mofolo and Orlando nodes were completed in 2009 and development is taking place in Dlamini Node while many additional nodes are planned for the future. However, one of the problems facing the KK Greening & Rehabilitation Project is the fragmented nature of urban management with many different municipal departments and agencies responsible for various aspects of its upkeep – from the Johannesburg Roads Agency’s responsibility for stormwater management to Pikitup for waste management and Johannesburg City Parks for urban greening. According to Mokutu, though, this problem is being overcome. “In order to address the water quality and the general riverine environment within the project area, a steering committee, comprising all the relevant sector departments and municipality-owned entities, has been established. This forum deals with service-delivery issues impacting on the project and, thus, results in quicker responses to problems related to the project area in most cases.”

Rural development boosted
Rural development in the Eastern Cape has received a boost with the approval of the proposed R3,4-billion Crossways Farm Village next to the Van Stadens River Gorge. The project has been approved by the Eastern Cape Department of Economic Affairs, Environment & Tourism and has, reportedly, also received the blessing of the national-government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry.

An initiative of Dr Chris Mulder of CMAI, Crossways Farm Village will form part of an existing dairy enterprise and comprise 780 residential units spanning a wide income spectrum. The development will include extensive sporting and outdoor recreational facilities, as well as light “cottage” industries with related retail, commercial and office components. Run by the future homeowners’ association, it will have its own “mini” municipality that will provide all essential services – from electricity and water to refuse removal and sanitation.

Land use determines transport success
South Africa’s public-transport system is not sustainable due to poor land-use policies. This is according to Bill Cameron, director of public transport-strategy monitoring for the Department of Transport, who spoke at the recent Sustainable Transport & Mobility Conference. Cameron believes that, in order to achieve sustainability, land-use regulatory authorities must come to the party. Public-transport systems need to be integrated with a focus on long-term service delivery rather than the short term. Speaking at the same event, Peter Copely, transport specialist for the Development Bank of Southern Africa, noted that South African transport facilities needed to form part of the urban framework and that the different nodes had to be linked to create a sustainable transport solution. He stressed the importance of continued funding after the FIFA World Cup – at city rather than government level.

Urban agriculture in practice
A permaculture garden at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) campus in Illovo, Johannesburg, shows potential for urban agriculture. Developed in conjunction with Food & Trees for Africa, the garden provides GIBS’s cleaning, garden and security staff with a source of inexpensive, nutritious food. This is according to GIBS director, Professor Nick Binedell, in an interview with the University of Pretoria’s Tukkie publication. Produce will also be sold to restaurants on the campus which could generate a little extra revenue. According to Tukkie, the garden grows a variety of vegetables, culinary and medicinal herbs, and various fruit trees as well as perennials.

Gas works to be redeveloped
Redevelopment of the prominent Egoli Gas site – adjacent to the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg – is on the cards. An EIA is being undertaken by V&L Landscape Architects while the urban-design framework for the project is the responsibility of GAPP Architects & Urban Designers. The site is complex and presents many challenges, including severely contaminated land. Depending on the outcome of the EIA, a mixed-used project, comprising 10 000 m² of retail/lifestyle shopping, combined with student and upmarket residential apartments and office space, is envisaged. Naturally, the project will, in all likelihood, rely on the clean-energy gas available, on site, from Egoli Gas.

‘Green’ jobs pushed
A “green” economic-growth path is envisaged for South Africa. Speaking at the recent Green Economy Summit in Sandton, Johannesburg, President Jacob Zuma stated that the country planned to invest significantly in renewable-energy technologies and projects such as wind and solar – with resultant manufacturing and construction spin-offs – also in projects and industries within the fields of marine-aquaculture development, wildlife management and waste services, as well as ecosystem-rehabilitation programmes.

Urban Green File can disclose that the Industrial Development Corporation is busy calculating the potential of the “green economy”. According to Minister of Economic Development, Ebrahim Patel, preliminary results indicate that 300 000 jobs could be created within 10 years in the field of energy generation – in construction, manufacturing, and the operation and maintenance of power plants – making use of solar, biofuel, small hydro and pyrolysis technologies. Patel believes that 20 000 is achievable within the next two years.

Municipal skills boosted
The new Municipal Systems Amendment Bill, recently approved by Cabinet, has won the acclaim of Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA). The Bill seeks to depoliticise municipal bureaucratic administration and to ensure that provincial and local governments appoint skilled professionals. “For the future of our country, it is critical that we separate politics from officialdom by ensuring that key posts in our municipalities are occupied by technically qualified personnel,” comments Graham Pirie, CEO of CESA. “This will ensure that the country moves back to a more professional and politically independent civil service in line with the dictum of the separation of power.”

According to Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs Minister, Sicelo Shiceka, the main intention of the bill is to ensure skilled people are appointed in local government in order to boost service delivery. This will be done by ensuring that every municipality has a capable municipal manager, chief financial officer, town engineer, town planner, communications manager and human-resources manager. The Bill defines minimum qualifications and skills for the six most senior municipal officials and will make councillors, who ignore the new standards, personally liable for their actions.

Durban overhauls its beachfront
Ethekwini Municipality is upgrading the Durban beachfront promenade as part of a major investment in the city’s public realm. For many years, the city’s beachfront suffered its 1980’s design with views of the ocean obscured by entertainment structures. In addition, poor urban management had given the area a tardy and unsafe reputation. However, in an initiative of the Strategic Projects Unit & 2010 Programme, the entire beachfront promenade is being upgraded and extended. The new promenade will stretch all the way from the harbour to the Umgeni River mouth/Blue Lagoon. Midway along the promenade is the Moses Mabhida Stadium Prec�inct (see article on page 26).

The overall urban-framework architect on the beachfront project is MTA while the dune rehabilitation has been tasked to EPIL, Elsa Pooley and Geoff Nichols. Four different architectural firms are handling the designs of nodes along the length of the promenade:
•            Mini Town Node by Design Workshop;
•            New Beach Node by MTA;
•            South Beach Node by Jay & Nel Architects; and
•            Addington Node by KOOP Architecture.
The August 2010 print edition of Urban Green File will feature this extensive project in greater detail.

Soccer City recycles water
An environmental/cost win-win at Soccer City in Johannesburg involves the elimination of potable water as a source for pitch irrigation and toilet flushing. In the process of refurbishing the stadium into a 2010 FIFA World Cup facility, the original moat around the playing field was covered and turned into a stormwater- and rainwater-harvesting tank. After a visit to the stadium, Urban Green File can disclose that all irrigation water for the pitch has been sourced from this storage tank to date. The harvested water is expected to sustain the stadium for most parts of the year and irrigation water will be supplemented by potable water on rare occasions.

The significance of this arrangement is obvious in light of an independent research study by WSP Green By Design, the CSIR and PJ Carew Consulting in 2009. The investigation shows that average water consumption for a stadium seating 55 000 spectators is 64 299 m3/year – 16% of this is consumed by pitch irrigation and 11% by flushing toilets. Considering that Soccer City seats close to 90 000 spectators, potable-water savings will be significant.

-----

GREEN BUILDINGS

The case for green roofs
Green-roof technologies and systems are evolving along with the green-building industry but their contribution to stormwater management, insulation, biodiversity promotion and provision of additional usable spaces is mostly underestimated.

Cities worldwide are facing similar challenges – space constraints for development, water scarcity and overtaxed power grids. Increasingly, consultants are viewing planted green roofs as a successful tool to ameliorate some of these issues. Steven Peck, founder and president of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, points out: “North American green-roof and wall developments tend towards a greater level of integration with building systems; resulting in photovoltaic-panel efficiency improvements, reduced air-conditioning costs by pre-cooling intake air, integrated water management (including rainwater harvesting) and urban-rooftop food production.”

In terms of design and installation, Jeffrey Bruce, of US-based Jeffrey L Bruce & Company, says that the green-roof industry is expanding to cover other surfaces of structures with developments in bioclimatic buildings and bio lungs (“green” walls); resulting in a more integrated “living” architecture.

“Green roofs and landscaping in general have, traditionally, been an aesthetic consideration. Now systems are being optimised for design intent, and becoming more sophisticated and optimised for particular functions.”

Green roofs are being classified as intensive or extensive, based on the intended function of the roof, and the type of planting involved. “Intensive” green roofs are, typically, used as gardens or social spaces, and are planted accordingly whereas extensive roofs are generally planted with low-maintenance plants with a focus on climatic and biodiversity benefits rather than visual impact.

More than green aesthetics
“On any building, the east, west and north fa�ades and roof retain a lot of heat during the day, and vegetation is one way of separating a surface from direct sunlight,” comments Gwen Theron of Golder Associates Africa. “Planting effectively provides shading for the building and reduces the direct heat load. While soil is not a very good insulator, as it does absorb heat substantially, the growth medium placed on the roof may provide some insulation if it’s done correctly. However, we don’t yet have that baseline information in South Africa to be able to make that conclusion.”

Eric Noir, of WSP Green By Design, says that green roofs involve other things such as stormwater attenuation, better water quality and biodiversity. “There are cheaper ways of insulating a building. In the Cape, for example, winter rainfall creates a cold and damp environment so the soil is saturated with water and the U-value (insulation) decreases. Equally, in the case of dry summers, a green roof requires irrigation and this creates the opportunity to schedule irrigation intervals to benefit from the reduced U value precisely when the building needs to reject excessive heat. But we’re not quite there yet.”

In terms of sound insulation, OvP Associates says that noise pollution from adjacent vehicular routes and buildings can be attenuated with a green roof – with reductions in low-frequency noise of 40 dB and deflection of higher-frequency sound.

Urban heat island mitigated
By reducing the urban heat-island effect in and around buildings, design conditions are also reduced. Noir cites the example of a distribution centre with 80 000 m2 of pavements around the building for loading and offloading. “A lot of heat is finding its way into the building when the roller shutter doors are open. If the surrounding space is landscaped, it could reduce the amount of heat gain; making conditions better inside the box.”

Because heat rises, surrounding buildings are affected by heat reflected from hard surfaces. This can also impact on the effectiveness of photovoltaic cells. “By reducing the outside operating temperature of the area around PV cells, you can get up to 10% more efficiency out of the cells which are more efficient in a cold environment.”

Stormwater run-off reduced
Around the world, government mandates are beginning to emphasise rainwater harvesting to assist in addressing issues like over-burdened stormwater infrastructure, contaminated water supplies, falling groundwater tables and the cost of developing surface supplies. In addition to stormwater management, green roofs can help to reduce polluted urban stormwater run-off and ameliorate some pollutants by increasing water retention within the growing medium.

“If you have a top-down approach to design, all the collection from the roof can be delayed; reducing attenuation-pond requirements,” says Noir. “When water is concentrated, for example, flowing from a downpipe, there will be a problem, which requires heavy engineering, downstream. A green roof absorbs the bulk of the water and trickles it down.

“Ideally, a green roof should act as a reed bed; filtering greywater and resulting in much better recycled-water quality. However, any greywater system must be integrated with the green-roof system from the outset.”

Theron says: “Water is a critical factor in roof gardens for cooling and feeding plants. It is also possible to use roof space to create artificial wetlands for filtering greywater. Although this has not been done extensively in South Africa, there are good systems available that could work well here to filter and treat water for reuse in irrigation of the landscape. As South Africa is a water-scarce country, these options need to be explored further.”

Because any failure in waterproofing a green roof will cost a lot more to repair, quality control and commissioning of waterproofing has to be of a high standard. Arguably, this thoroughness would also create a better-quality building.

Drainage system essential
Theron observes: “By trial and error, you work out that you need a good drainage system above the waterproofing – almost as you would put under a soccer or hockey field – because you really want to protect the thin layer of waterproofing between the growth medium and the roof structure below. We have also found that it is not a good idea to use the roof to retain water but to get the water off the roof into retention tanks as quickly as possible – to give the water less time to find weak points of ingress on the roof.”

Additional usable space created
Green roofs are costly but they become more viable when used for urban agriculture, food production or as social interaction and entertainment spaces. In this way, they can benefit people living and working on sites or be enormously therapeutic in certain contexts.

The Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital in Chicago, for instance, uses a green roof garden to provide real life-skills practice and horticultural therapy benefits without patients leaving the security of the hospital.

“We are running out of space in our urban areas and need to use our space more intensively,” says Theron. “I believe the idea of green roofs and how they are used will become more attractive, and will be factored into the cost of buildings as in other parts of the world.”

Noir says: “Green roofs become very exciting when envisaged in terms of water filtration, organic farming, biodynamic farming, worm farms, composting and food production.” He is in the process of launching the Sustainable Urbanscapes Association – the working title of a proposed organisation that is still in the making. The new organisation intends to further the consideration of spaces and surfaces between buildings, including green roofs and walls.

Biodiversity protected
According to OvP Associates, up to four points can be earned in the Green Star SA rating system when it can be demonstrated that the ecological value of a development site is not diminished but enhanced beyond its previous state.

“Extensive planting of indigenous species on roofs will contribute to the formation of ecological islands for plant, insect and bird species; potentially promoting biodiversity and habitat creation in areas of little ecological value.”

Theron asserts: “It is absolutely critical that we look at the ecosystem value of roofs as an opportunity to bring biodiversity back into cities.” This approach has the potential to preserve the ecological value of greenfield sites that are becoming urbanised and to increase the ecological value of brownfield sites in a restorative way by offering places for pollination, nesting, insects, micro-organisms and birds.

Significant cost involved
While green roofs can present savings in terms of building operations, this is a long-term proposition. The installation of a vegetated roof is expensive, including maintenance costs. As far as Green Star SA credits are concerned, the rewards are minimal in relation to the cost, Noir adds.

However, waterproofing an ordinary roof is subject to massive expansion and contraction every 24 hours, as well as UV exposure and different types of mechanical damage like foot traffic. The real saving, says Mark Saint Pol of OvP Associates, is that the roof itself (structure and waterproofing) is protected by the soil and planting of a green roof.

“An example we looked at during our research for the proposed extension to the Cape Town International Convention Centre indicated that, in a retrofitted building, the roof could potentially be preserved by the new green roof for up to 25 years longer than the previous roof had been – and that is the major saving.” A conventional flat roof will also require extensive insulation and this cost can be replaced by the development of a green roof. In terms of monetary value, a green roof will break even over the long term. Short-term return on investment can be debated depending on how one values the environmental benefits of green roofs.

Careful maintenance required
In reality, no planted roof is entirely maintenance-free or irrigation-free. Theron comments: “If the growth medium contains a compound that retains water – for instance, a gel with retention capacity – irrigation is not needed too frequently. But, in this country, we have a dry climate and hot sun which heats the soil. This kills micro-organisms and causes the soil to become sterile. “Irrigation is, therefore, needed to provide water and nutrients to plants, and to keep the area cool,” adds Theron. “In this respect, mist-type irrigation works better to keep the soil temperature down. The soil pH depends on the type of vegetation planted, and it must be monitored throughout the roof garden’s maintenance period and tested at regular intervals.”

The design of the vegetation-free space is crucial in a roof garden, Noir observes. For example, the area immediately adjacent to the parapet wall or where a pipe protrudes through a slab. “The highest likelihood of water ingress is where there is a waterproofing detail and flashing. So it becomes a planning exercise – looking at circulation and services. Probably not more than 75% of the roof will, ultimately, be vegetated.”

Technology needs to develop
Theron observes: “In South Africa, materials for green roofs are being developed but they are not freely available. We are still working on a trial-and-error basis.” Peck says: “It’s important to have research and demonstration projects in South Africa so that you can determine what types of technologies work best in your various and specific climates. Independent, focused research in areas such as plant survival, growing-media performance and energy efficiency are very important to gain acceptance of the technologies.”

One example of technology advancing to suit the requirements of green roofs is electronic field vector mapping – a sophisticated technology used in the US to detect defects and leaks, and to certify the integrity of roofing membranes in order to provide a high degree of certainty for building owners. Bruce adds: “When there is not much experience in using a new system in the construction industry, the first to adopt it have the opportunity to find an entrepreneurial edge. Opportunities revolve around the knowledge base that is being developed worldwide which can be adapted to South Africa’s context. However, I would be cautious in adapting cutting-edge technologies in roofing membranes. In the past, this was not always fully developed and it has failed. From a waterproofing standpoint, it is best to use tested methods with long track records. These products tend to be less susceptible to failures.” Green-roof professional accreditation in the US and Canada gives recognition to the design, installation and management of green roofs by individuals and practices. This should further the development of the industry, he adds.

Change in mindset required
As with the green-building movement, a change in mindset is needed among professionals and developers to ensure the delivery of green roofs as a standard aspect of building developments. This process will be hastened by the fact that planted roofs present a highly visible marketing strategy for ecological design; enhancing public perceptions and, therefore, the corporate image of buildings.

A South African case study
The new Life Sciences building at the University of the Western Cape illustrates the capacity of green roofs.
The new Life Sciences building at the University of the Western Cape combines a number of interrelated departments under one roof in order to share laboratories and amenities. The campus is on the Cape Flats – prone to drought in summer and flooding in winter – where a number of species are under threat because of urban growth. As the building is located in a harsh environmental context, with gale-force winds in summer, the challenge was how to create a comfortable environment inside and outside the buildings.

Landscape and building merged
Penny Unsworth of OvP Associates tells Urban Green File that, as the project is situated adjacent to a busy arterial road in public view, a major objective is to create an appropriate landmark building which announces the presence and new image of the university. “The architects and landscape architects worked very closely in trying to create a building and landscape that merged, and I think we were successful.”

The project comprises two buildings: a six-storey laboratory and a more organic learning centre with auditorium and cafeteria. The landscape holds the two together through the linkages of open spaces around the buildings and by extensive earth embankments ramping up towards the roof gardens atop the learning centre.

Careful plant selection
“Because of the environmental sensitivity of the site in close proximity to the nearby Cape Flats Nature Reserve, it was very important to plant mainly indigenous plants; chiefly endemic species found in the Cape Peninsula,” says Unsworth. “The vegetation strategy for the roof gardens uses succulent plants which are low-growing and mat-forming, and thus able to withstand gale-force winds. They are also extremely drought-resistant so less irrigation is required. The mat-forming habit also binds the soil so there is less soil and moisture loss with the heavy summer winds. Because of the strong connection to botanical studies and research at the university, we hope the roof garden may be used as a mother nursery to establish plants elsewhere, and for rehabilitation and study purposes on campus and at the reserve.”

In addition, the selected plants do not require deep soil to survive so the structural requirements of the roof are reduced; making it more cost-effective. Bruce observes that, interestingly, many plant species used on green roofs in other parts of the world originated in South Africa as they help to reduce water footprints in arid and semi-arid regions.

Substantial insulation
Because the concept of green roofs is so new to South Africa, and there is little information on their performance in a local context, it was decided to include a thin, rigid polystyrene layer under the planting for additional insulation on the Learning Centre. A 50 mm screed was also used to protect the insulation and waterproofing.

In terms of waterproofing, a fairly expensive product was used at R400/m2. Unsworth says that the reason for this choice, above a more standard product, was that Nukote HT (high-tensile) has been proven the better product for this particular application and it is much quicker to apply.

Rainwater is being harvested from the laboratory-block roof which has extensive areas of IBR sheeting. Water will not be captured from the learning centre but Unsworth explains that the roof gardens act as a natural retention system; reducing the impact on the already overloaded stormwater system.
Reports from site indicate that the water that doesn’t evaporate is being held and released slowly.

-----

GREEN BUILDINGS BRIEFS

Gypsum waste turned into houses
A by-product of Anglo Coal’s Emalahleni water-reclamation plant is gypsum and this waste stream is being turned into a resource for the construction of houses, Urban Green File has learned. Recovered gypsum is used for the manufacture of solid foam-core panels. The product has received Agr�ment certification. Anglo Coal claims that it recovers enough gypsum to cater for the construction of between 14 000 and 28 000 houses annually.

Blackwater recycling questioned
Installation of a blackwater-recycling system in Nedbank’s Phase 2 building in Sandton, Johannesburg, has not yet been approved. The building is the first in South Africa to obtain a four-star Green Star SA design rating from the Green Building Council of South Africa and has scored substantial points for its proposed innovative water-treatment and -recycling system. The intention is to extract, treat and reuse water from on-site sewage in order to reduce consumption of potable municipal water by as much as 60%.

However, Johannesburg Water is not keen to approve the system as it is concerned about the slurry that will be released into municipal drains. The municipal agency believes the slurry will compromise the efficacy of its wastewater-treatment works. In an exclusive interview in the May 2010 print edition of Urban Green File’s sister journal, Water Sewage & Effluent, Johannesburg Water states that it is confident that Nedbank will act responsibly but it is concerned that some property developers or owners, who plan to follow suit, will act less responsibly.

The concern is informed by the shaky track record of package plants within the Ethekwini municipal area where estate developments beyond the urban fringe have been relying on on-site wastewater treatment for some time. Many of those plants have been failing as they have been designed below capacity in order to contain development costs.

In Urban Green File’s opinion, this predicament illustrates the need for integrated green-city development rather than green buildings in isolation. While the saving from reduced reliance on potable municipal water is obvious, environmental impacts need to be considered holistically. Could there be an opportunity to add a composting aspect to Nedbank’s water-treatment process?

Rather than dumping the sludge into municipal sewers, would it not be possible to compost the sludge for use on adjacent urban parks and on roof gardens in Sandton? Isn’t there an opportunity to incorporate urban agriculture into the mix?

Eco-conditional requirement revised
A revised version of the eco-conditional requirement for the Green Star SA Office v1 rating tool has been introduced by the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA). The new eco-conditional requirement for offices is now aligned with the same requirement in the new Green Star SA Retail Centre v1 rating tool. “The revised document supercedes the eco-conditional requirement contained in the original Green Star SA Office v1 technical manual,” the GBCSA informs Urban Green File. “Projects registered after April 15 2010 must use the revised requirement while projects registered on or prior to April 15 can choose to use either the original or the revised version.”

Stormwater in the equation?
Considering the cases of Nedbank and Absa (see page 16), Urban Green File wonders whether or not water recycling should be considered for individual buildings or in a more holistic way – based on precinct design. The use of non-potable water for flushing toilets and irrigation of landscapes makes financial and environmental sense. However, from an ecological point of view, a water-recycling system would be far more effective if it:
• reduced the negative impact of stormwater run-off on river and stream ecology by harvesting and reusing this water; and
• shared greywater for reuse between various buildings. For example, a hotel and gym may produce lots of greywater while an office building would produce far less. Combining these waste streams, treating waste and reusing it by sharing it among buildings would result in a far more feasible solution.

The cost of using harvested stormwater for flushing toilets and irrigation could be less than it is for the construction of blackwater package plants yet the result would be more significant if measured against environmental benefits, Urban Green File believes.

Public buildings go ‘green’
At the recent Green Economy Summit in Sandton, Johannesburg, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, Deputy Minister of Public Works, announced that the department, as a property owner, would require all new public-sector property investments to comply with agreed, set green-building principles and guidelines over time. “As a major lessee, government will also leverage its rental portfolio to promote green building in the South African property sector,” she stated.

Buildings retrofitted
Johnson Controls Systems & Service South Africa, as part of the Clinton Climate Initiative, will retrofit 11 buildings in the City of Johannesburg. According to Johnson Controls, the project will include lighting retrofits, boiler and chiller-plant optimisation, improvements to electrical systems, as well as roof, window and building improvements, among other initiatives.

Green roofs piloted
In Durban, a new green-roof initiative intends to broaden awareness of the economic, environmental and social benefits of green roofs, and to bring nature back into the city.

The Green Roof Pilot Project is a joint initiative between the departments of environmental management, horticultural services, green-roof designs and ecosystem management of Durban.
See article on page 8 for more on green roofs – Ed.

Greywater recycled
Absa’s new offices in the Johannesburg inner city will boast a greywater-recycling system. Unlike Nedbank Phase 2 (see page 14), Absa will not recycle blackwater. Johannesburg Water has approved Absa’s system as it believes greywater is less noxious and toxic than blackwater.

Retail rating tool launched
The Green Star SA retail-centre rating tool has been launched by the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA). It is the GBCSA’s second rating tool and follows the introduction of the rating system for office buildings in 2008.

Housing subsidy vs sustainability
Research undertaken by the Sustainability Institute indicates that it could be feasible to increase the government subsidy for Breaking New Ground houses in South Africa from just over R62 000 to R94 000. However, this is only the case if the increase of close to R32 000 per house is spent on sustainable technologies such as solar water heating and measures to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, Prof Mark Swilling, programme coordinator: sustainable development planning and management in the School of Public Management & Planning, University of Stellenbosch, and academic director of the Sustainability Institute, told delegates at the Green Economy Summit. The research was commissioned by National Treasury and the Department of Human Settlements.

According to Swilling, the payback period on the increased subsidy would be about five years if measured in terms of greater health and comfort benefits, as well as reduction in poverty. Households would benefit massively in terms of lower payments for services such as water and electricity, and these household savings would free up as much as R1,5-billion per year for consumption spending in other areas of the economy.

Even if households didn’t pay for basic services and, therefore, didn’t experience any real saving, the municipalities would spend much less on the provision of basic water and electricity services in a clear win-win situation.

-----

CITY VISIT

Open-space road map
Can the City of Tshwane’s extensive open-space framework successfully entrench the intrinsic value of open space? And thus guide planning decisions for the upkeep and extension of the city’s open-space network?

Ironically, open space is a rare commodity in South African cities – even though, as a country, we’re spoilt for space. The ideal of a single house per plot, each with a private garden, has led to ever-sprawling ci�ties with little shared open space of quality.

Within this context, the Tshwane Open Space Framework (TOSF), established by the ertswhile environmental-planning section (now known as the open-space management section in the environmental- management division) of the City of Tshwane’s Agriculture & Environmental Mangement Department is a gem. It is an invaluable and innovative, hands-on planning tool; envisioning a “sustainable open-space network which provides the setting for the capital city, of a high international standard, yet based in the African context, which empowers the community to prosper in a safe and healthy environment, and protects the integrity of its ecological systems”. The stated aim of the TOSF is to “establish a thorough understanding of the intrinsic value of open space and to then develop a visionary road map towards the creation of an exceptional open-space network for the city and its people.”

Michelle Wheeler, now with Environ in the UK but part of the environmental planning section team at the time when the TOSF was under development, tells Urban Green File that the aim was, firstly, to raise awareness of the value and contribution of open space for the city’s sustainable development and, secondly, to ensure that open space is an integral and consistent consideration when planning decisions are made. “Our key challenge was to start the process of changing deep-rooted perceptions of open space as a ‘nice to have’ and ‘problem area’ to a ‘unique selling point and opportunity’ to promote sustainable development,” says Wheeler.

Collaborative planning ensured
Developed by the City of Tshwane in association with a consortium of landscape architects and town planners, the TOSF represents a response to greater development pressure, rapid population growth, urban sprawl, increased poverty and ever-dwindling financial resources of local government. Measuring 220 000 ha, the City of Tshwane faces many challenges due to the amalgamation of 13 erstwhile separate local authorities – each with its own town-planning schemes, policies and plans. In a way, the TOSF is an attempt to make sense of these schemes and policies, as well as the city’s fragmented open-space planning. “The TOSF aims to provide, for the first time, an institutional and management framework to ensure effective and collaborative planning and administration of the city’s open-space network,” says Wheeler.

Five local plans established
The TOSF, approved and aligned to the Metropolitan Spatial Development Framework in 2005, details a hierarchy of open spaces at metropolitan and regional level; ensuring integration with all Tshwane’s spatial-development frameworks and the integrated development plan. Reacting to specific areas experiencing development pressures, the TOSF also addresses the local level with five local open-space plans (LOSPs) completed to date. These cover the inner city, Mamelodi, Soshanguve, Atteridgeville and the “Zone of Choice West” (comprising the areas around Pretoria North) as the most likely region for future development.

Each LOSP identifies and classifies a hierarchy of open space according to the typology and level of significance on a functional scale and responds to user and site-specific challenges. According to Karien Hanekom of KH Landscape Architects and Annemarie Loots, who both worked on the development of the LOSPs, they build capacity within the local communities and set the scene for the tangible, daily implementation of an open-space network.

To date, two LOSPs have been adopted by the city council: one for the inner city and the other for the Zone of Choice West. In the meantime, the other LOSPs are being used as interim policies to inform the strategic-development frameworks for those areas.

Environmental assets safeguarded
An invaluable outcome of the TOSF is sustainable development, claims Andy Manyama of the City of Tshwane. “Open-space planning is critical to sustainable development. The framework is used as a guideline tool which identifies the city’s environmental assets and ensures that future planning secures these assets for existing and future generations. The framework highlights the need to conserve and develop environmental assets; guiding the city on how to invest its scarce resources.” Yet it goes beyond environmental aspects; taking a holistic view of city development including social and economic considerations, place-making and structuring factors.

Madeleine Oosthuizen, who was part of the project team at Tshwane and is now with the Department of Environmental Affairs, concurs. “The TOSF acknowledges the social function of open spaces within the city (socialisation, reflection, leisure, recreation and sports) as well as the role of open spaces in creating a positive image of the city, a sense of place and legibility in ecological service rendering, in assuring biodiversity representation for future generations and in economic development – for example, accommodating stormwater management and mitigating air pollution.”

Implementation is key
It’s all well and good for the City of Tshwane to have a comprehensive open-space plan but how will it be implemented and managed? One of the TOSF’s three volumes is dedicated to the fundamental issues of implementation, institutional arrangements and the management of the open-space framework. The importance of implementation and management are taken right to local level in each LOSP; addressing the capacity to deal with open-space management. Management guidelines are defined to inform the character and development of open spaces, as well as the land use and interface with developments bordering open spaces.

A GIS system and a site-specific plan have been developed in each LOSP to assist the city to manage the development and maintenance of open spaces. LOSP guidelines have been drafted and illustrated graphically to be specific but user-friendly.

Key principles
The TOSF is rich in principles, policy and strategy.
The TOSF has three categories of principles which underscore its vision and all principles link the framework with Local Agenda 21 to provide the basis for sustainable development.

1. Fundamental principles
These principles guide aspects of environmental-resource management and include:
•            triple bottom-line accountability;
•            use less, waste less (clean air, water and land);
•            think more (risk-averse approach);
•            involve (participation);
•            respond (address basic needs)
•            share (access, equity and environmental justice);
•            buy-in (creating            environmental awareness); and
•            responsibility.

2. Structuring principles
These principles guide the structuring of the open spaces in Tshwane and include:
•            conservation (green structuring where the environment informs and directs potential development);
•            compaction (infill and density – urban development should be as compact as possible to avoid sprawl);
•            connection (an integrated open-space network to facilitate effective functioning of ecological processes); as well as
•            place-making (open space provide structuring elements for the city – genius loci, nodes, gateways and landmarks).

3. Composite principles
These guide daily management of open space, considering planning, capital development and maintenance, and focus on excellence, efficiency and responsiveness.

2 policies
Two sets of policy statements provide a basis for consistent and integrated decision making by the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality in terms of implementing TOSF principles.
•            General policy statements such as the TOSF’s interface with other plans and policies, as well as open-space value, conservation, public trust, alienation, funding, land-use management and resource management.
•            Typology-specific policy statements such as the identification of ridges as green ways of strategic ecological importance, and the commissioning and installation of public art within squares as red nodes.

5 implementation strategies
The TOSF identifies five priority implementation strategies.
1. Open-space alienation strategy to provide a consistent and holistic strategy on the alienation of publicly owned open-space resources within the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality.
2. Alternative service-delivery strategy to provide a range of options on alternative service-delivery partnerships and mechanisms with the aim of implementing the TOSF. These include lease agreements, land trusts, conservancies, business-improvement districts, transfer          of development rights and alternative mechanisms such as fair trade, open-space service agreements, expropriation of land, share blocks, promulgation of protected areas and environmental-management by-laws.
3. Open-space safety strategy to provide an overarching perspective on aspects of safety; focusing on planning and design for safety (passive and active surveillance, preventative-maintenance systems, implementation and guidelines for increased sense of security in open spaces).
4. Open-space development strategy to provide development guidelines on all open-space aspects within new developments to ensure the realisation of the TOSF. This strategy provides guidelines on open-space development, impact, quality, provisioning (ratios) and planning.
5. Road-reserve trees strategy to provide a holistic strategy on the planting of trees within road reserves. The strategy addresses planning, location, typology, engineering infrastructure, capital implementation, tree-selection criteria, maintenance and tree-planning palette.

Successes and failures
As a precedent, the TOSF provides many learning points. Urban Green File asks what works and what can be improved.
1. Decision-making tool
The TOSF is intended as a framework for decision making and is a planning tool so it is flexible and adaptable to changes over time.
2. Buy-in achieved
Apparently, decision makers, developers and citizens have bought into the concept and implications of the LOSPs.
3. Marketing tool
The TOSF provides a product that is able to market the “idea” of an open-space framework as much as it guides implementation.
4. Consistent message required
The success of any adopted policy lies in the collective commitment of local planning officials, leaders and politicians to implement it consistently. “Regrettably, in South Africa, spatial-planning policy is too often considered negotiable and subservient to economic-development imperatives. It’s only when the same message is communicated consistently to developers and commitment is shown to achieving the city’s spatial vision and sustainable development that a change in developers’ approaches might emerge,” remarks Wheeler.
5. Integrated approach
All spaces detailed within the TOSF are integrated into the city’s spatial-development mission as the framework has been developed in conjunction with the City Planning Department’s strategic-development framework. “Each planning region’s development framework was debated in detail to ensure that development planning and open-space policies and proposals were consistent and complementary,” Wheeler tells Urban Green File.
6. Implementation a concern
Implementation and management are addressed in detail. In this regard, Loots says that local governments often struggle with implementation. “It is a concern that the inner-city LOSP may never be implemented while it is also worrying that the TOSF and the reality of development are contradictory. This needs to be managed sensitively.”
7. Competition for space and resources
The juxtaposition of the need for housing and the equally important need for open space in the city presents a challenge – should functionally obsolete buildings be used for housing or be demolished to make way for open space? Housing wins most often. If housing, how do we provide open space within increasing densities?
8. No recipe
Context needs to be considered in case of all types of open-space planning. Some open spaces, for example, will have more of an ecological emphasis while others will comprise a purely hard urban setting. This is addressed through the classification and typology of spaces in the TOSF and LOSPs. Loots says: “The context will determine the emphasis placed on the space in terms of implementation and management. The way ecological space is established will differ in typology and approach for different ecological areas. The same applies to urban contexts.” In this sense, the TOSF is not a recipe which can be adopted by other cities but it does provide a “map”; highlighting a valuable approach for sensitive and comprehensive open-space planning.
9. Smaller spaces work better
Working on the TOSF and the LOSPs has allowed the municipality to evaluate the benefits of different types of open space. According to Loots, the lesson is that smaller open spaces work better than large parks. “People relate better to smaller spaces and use them more responsibly. They seem to readily take ownership of such spaces and even voluntarily manage them”.
10. Participation is crucial
Stakeholder involvement, public participation and consultation were adopted as a primary strategy throughout the TOSF process. Planners and other officials in charge of development control were workshopped and capacitated; enabling them to implement the TOSF. Internal steering committees and development forums were established in the municipality to ensure interdepartmental collaboration and information flow. Input was gained from all stakeholders, including ward councillors, ensuring buy-in to the framework. “We held sessions with developers, interested and affected parties, and town planners to introduce and market the document,” states Oosthuizen. Hanekom points out that having all relevant council departments around the table to establish a common goal was essential for the success of the LOSPs.
11. Future-oriented
As a local approach responding to local needs, the TOSF is future-oriented while immediately applicable. The quantitative aspect of the framework’s vision should allow the municipality to secure “x” amount of open space to ensure and satisfy the city’s future open-space needs.
12. Hands-on tool
Most importantly, the TOSF identifies and provides a clear step-by-step process for stakeholders and city departments to follow during implementation. For example, planners can refer to pre-written TOSF comment sheets when processing applications. A development-control application checklist, design guidelines and comment sheets ensure that the framework is a hands-on planning tool.
13. Proactive planning
According to Siegwalt K�sel of Ecotone Environmental Planning & Design, and also part of the ertswhile environmental planning section team at the time of TOSF development, the framework is proactive in terms of environmental legislation and presents an opportunity to get Tshwane’s environmental and urban planning in order.
14. Blank slate
According to Wheeler, the most challenging aspect was that the city had been without a proper open-space management framework for such a long time that the team responsible for the TOSF had to start with a blank sheet. A significant amount of time was spent collecting baseline data and researching best practice open-space framework examples and this proved particularly difficult within South Africa where open space has, historically, been planned in isolation to city planning.
15. LOSPs test effectiveness
The different LOSPs allowed officials and consultants to test whether or not the TOSF could be implemented in practice and to gauge how the framework coul work in reality. “It was challenging to apply to different areas such as Mamelodi West and Soshanguve but it did work,” comments Hanekom
16. Rigid engineering standards
Rigid engineering standards applied to low-income housing developments are problematic as are traditional and formal approaches to management. These often prevent creativity in development; dictating what may and may not occur. Engineering standards are often irrelevant to the context within which the open spaces could morph and grow. Stringent city-council regulations often stop people from taking ownership of spaces and this causes loss of community-management opportunities.
17. Value recognised
The TOSF recognises the value of open space, in an economic and social sense, acknowledging that open space has more value than existing merely as ubiquitous, derelict parks.
18. Capacity building required
In hindsight, Hanekom believes that more attention should have been given to capacity building throughout the LOSP public-participation process, especially to NGOs and other external stakeholders. It was also challenging to find the right liaison between provincial and local government, especially with regard to Gautrans and the Department of Education. The latter holds substantial amounts of vacant land while Gautrans policies do not allow planting of trees or the establishment of kerbs along its roads – all place-making elements needed for brown and red ways.
19. Institutional capacity
While the original team was trained and comprehensively capacitated around the TOSF, the loss of institutional knowledge due to high staff turn-over within the municipality has posed a challenge to the implementation of the TOSF, as well as management and maintenance of the city’s open spaces. Technically, council is bound by the framework but it faces the risk that individuals do not comply with its policies; resulting in illegal land use. The five-year political cycle is problematic and, in a sense, the TOSF was created to ensure sustainable institutional capacity with the implementation and management requirements documented for reference purposes.
20. Land-alienation pressure
Probably the largest challenge to the success of the framework is the ever-present development pressure requiring the alienation of land. “Of all the applications we receive, the request for alienation of public space is, by far, the most common,” states the City of Tshwane’s Boniswa Masinyana. In 2009, the city received 400 applications for the alienation of public open space per month. According to K�sel, this situation has been aggravated by the recession as land with open-space zoning is often cheaper to buy than land with other zonings. This has been particularly evident in Mamelodi which is now under pressure from low-income residential development. As a “check and balance”, the open space management section comments on all land-use applications processed by the City Planning Department as well as those processed by the Gauteng provincial government through the Development Facilitation Act process. This ensures that the conditions of approval, in terms of the TOSF, are enforced in each application.
21. Inclusivity
The TOSF looks at all open space and not only recreational spaces and parks. All open spaces form part of the network – even “space left over after planning” (SLOAP).
22. Open space better valued
Effective open-space planning is constrained by what is allowed and not allowed in terms of existing ordinances. For example, Section 42 of the Town Planning Ordinance stipulates that developers must provide open space to developed land in a ratio of x for Res 1, 2 and so on. However, developers have been allowed to pay cash to the local authority in lieu of open space. Most developers have taken advantage of this option as it is more cost-effective. In the past, developers had the upper hand in these cases but the TOSF now provides the city council with the discretion to choose which approach to take. Council has successfully negotiated with valuers to apply an increased, more realistic value to open space; making it slightly less appealing for developers to encroach on open spaces. K�sel argues: “But, despite these measures, compromises are still made with endowments paid in lieu of open-space provision by developers. Where does this money go? Funds should be ring-fenced and applied to open-space provisioning.”

Private developers and even government agencies seem to find loopholes in policies and strategies which allow them to build where open space should be conserved. So, in terms of management, according to Manyama, the city is adopting a multifaceted approach to developing open spaces in line with the TOSF. For example, it states: “We are encouraging gated residential developments to provide their own open spaces. We are using the LOSP to raise awareness and needs assessments of poor communities and this will influence the IDP process to allocate more budget for park development. We are applying for funding from National Treasury’s Neighbourhood Development Partnership Grant to manage and develop open spaces in former townships. We are also looking at initiating partnerships with the private sector to fund some of the projects (capex and opex). We are encouraging institutions which claim to be working for the environment to assist in the development of these facilities, especially in the townships where the need is enormous.”
23. Ongoing lack of funding
One of the biggest challenges is lack of funding and budget allocation as well as buy-in from all the stakeholders in terms of resource prioritisation. Resources to implement the open-space plans, as a whole, frequently fall short of required capex and opex, and often end up spent on the maintenance and upgrade of older parks. The question of the ability to develop and maintain open space has always been a challenging issue due to lack of funding. Wheeler remarks: “This challenge will continue in the foreseeable future because of ever-increasing demands on dwindling local-government budgets but should not be used as a reason to hinder responsible and sustainable planning practices. The city has, on many occasions, demonstrated its ability to work with local communities and within operational budgets to develop parks and build community ownership.” In the long term, innovation and commitment will be the key drivers in, slowly but surely, addressing this challenge.

Precedent established
An ambitious and, in many ways, ground-breaking plan, the TOSF sets a key precedent for effective and sustainable open-space planning. Not only does it provide a status-quo record of all open space, it is an overall strategic plan describing how to deal with open-space planning and management consistently. Manyama states: “It is a framework and not a master plan but, in areas where the framework has limitations, we use LOSPs to supplement it. This allows us to strategise and implement new plans without having to constantly amend the main plan. It is, therefore, a practical tool that any municipality should consider investing in.”

Like any other policy document, the TOSF needs to be reviewed and updated continuously to ensure that it remains relevant and representative of best practice. Oosthuizen remarks: “I still think it is a ground-breaking document but, perhaps, it was before its time and perceived as obstructive to development. I think the principles are only now filtering through to other disciplines. It was, however, necessary for the paradigm shift.” Yes, it has limitations and the framework’s success depends on the ability and integrity of individuals to follow its guidelines but, either way, as stated in its executive summary, “the TOSF provides a holistic framework within which the sustainable spatial development of the city can be guided and directed, as well as providing a visionary road map towards the creation of an exceptional open-space network for Tshwane.”

Guide for open-space planning and management
The Tshwane Open Space Framework comprises an extensive series of documents guiding the city’s open-space planning and management. It provides:
•            detailed data and information on all open spaces within the metropolitan area;
•            unpacks the role of open space as a valuable physical and economic resource within the metropolitan area;
•            explains the intrinsic value of open space; and
•            provides a visionary road map towards the creation of an exceptional open-space network for the city and its people.

-----

ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING & DESIGN

A sense of ‘publicness’
An interconnected network of public spaces, which meets at Moses Mabhida Stadium, presents a lasting environmental legacy to Durban.

Improved public spaces, rather than the spectacular new and refurbished stadiums, represent the most significant legacy for South African cities hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In this regard, Cape Town’s Green Point Park and Johannesburg’s Ellis Park Precinct, as well as Soccer City’s transport hub, stand out. However, in terms of it sense of “publicness”, Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium leads the way.

In Durban, a once-derelict wasteland, which included railway marshalling yards, an old soccer stadium and an extensive road network – cutting suburbs such as Berea off from the coastline – has been transformed into a public precinct of note. At the centre is the iconic new Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Unlike other 2010 stadiums, Moses Mabhida Stadium is not set in isolation, and surrounded by fencing and security turnstiles. The stadium sits on the perimeter of a major road with shops and restaurants providing a lively edge to the sidewalks and surrounding public spaces. This public precinct extends over the railway lines and over and under several roads to link Umgeni Road and Berea to the stadium precinct and, ultimately, the beachfront. The stadium is also linked to the city itself via the People’s Park which includes the Heroes Walk.

Urban Green File is thoroughly impressed with the sense of publicness which prompted us to spend two days on site to learn just how and why the Moses Mabhida Stadium Precinct points the way ahead for the design of public spaces in South African cities.

Investment in the public realm
The answer seems to be in the thorough urban-design approach, informed by the Ethekwini Municipality’s brief for the soccer precinct to integrate seamlessly with the city to the south, the beach to the east and the remainder of the Kings Park sports precinct to the north. “Although the stadium itself had to be iconic, we interrogated the meaning of an icon,” Nathan Iyer, partner at Iyer Urban Design Studio tells Urban Green File. “So often architecture becomes the be all and end all of iconic design. However, we found that a place could also be iconic. This notion of looking beyond a building only, to create a public space instead informed the entire design approach.” This was of course spearheaded by the municipality’s willingness to invest significantly in the establishment of a world-class public precinct.” The urban-design framework has played a key role in determining the outcome of the design of the stadium. The framework highlighted the need for an urban interface between the stadium structure and the surrounding city so it stipulated the need for a public base for the stadium. It also considered future development and how it would link to the city and the stadium precinct. The positive impact on the city entails not only much-needed public spaces around the stadium but improved pedestrian linkages.

The city grid of Berea is extended across the railway lines towards the ocean while Durban’s famous beachfront promenade is lengthened to link the harbour node to the stadium and further on to the Umgeni River.

The design of the stadium precinct is the product of Iyer Urban Design Studio with soft landscape design by Marcel Henry. People’s Park is a collaboration with Ambro Afrique Architects. The client is the Strategic Projects Unit & 2010 Programme within Ethekwini Municipality.

Locally appropriate landscaping
Improved public spaces, rather than the spectacular new and refurbished stadiums, represent the most significant legacy for South African cities hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In this regard, Cape Town’s Green Point Park and Johannesburg’s Ellis Park Precinct, as well as Soccer City’s transport hub, stand out. However, in terms of it sense of “publicness”, Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium leads the way.

The design of the stadium precinct is the product of Iyer Urban Design Studio with soft landscape design by Marcel Henry. People’s Park is a collaboration with Ambro Afrique Architects. The client is the Strategic Projects Unit & 2010 Programme within Ethekwini Municipality.

1. People’s Park
Linking the stadium to the city centre, People’s Park provides a “grand sense of arrival,” states Simona Nair, another partner at Iyer Urban Design Studio. What were once railway marshalling yards have made way for a very welcome park and recreation space.

Leading towards the stadium is the Heroes Walk that celebrates South Africa’s sporting heroes. At the centre of the park is Moses Mabhida Square; flanked by a restaurant overlooking a children’s playground and an interactive play fountain. “It was important to design this area as a family space that could be used continuously rather than focusing on the needs of the World Cup only,” says Iyer. Also part of People’s Park is the Workers Wall along one edge of Moses Mabhida Square where the names of the people who contributed to the design and construction of the stadium are celebrated.

2. Grand staircase
As one approaches the stadium from People’s Park, a grand staircase ascends to the podium level; providing a magnificent vista into the stadium. The water features along the staircase not only reduce the imposing scale of the stadium structure but, along with the water feature on Stadium Square, they symbolise the original course of the Umgeni River as it flowed to the sea before this land was reclaimed for development.

3. Imbizo Place
This gathering space leads to the shops and restaurants lining the stadium’s podium as well as the adjacent amphitheatre. A significant soft, park-like space has been reclaimed by realigning the original roads (compare the aerial photograph opposite to the photo on page 26). This is in keeping with the notion to ensure that the public places surrounding the stadium are larger than the stadium itself.

4. Amphitheatre and sky car
Defining the main public space at Moses Mabhida Stadium is the amphitheatre which also provides staircases leading to the podium level. This multifunctional space can be used for performances and events and it also doubles up as a forecourt for the sky car. The latter ascends the main structural arch that supports the stadium’s roof and leads to a viewing deck at the highest point. This multifunctionality is the stadium’s biggest asset – various activities provide a continuous income stream; ensuring that the stadium does not only have to rely on intermittent sporting events for its survival.

5. North-west podium
The amphitheatre stairs lead to a large public podium where spectators can enter the stadium. The podium is fully accessible to the public in keeping with the concept of democratising all spaces within the precinct. From Isaiah Ntshangase Road, which connects to the station and Berea beyond, the podium is accessed at the level of the road in a clever design that accommodates the steep incline of the land. The podium, as is the case with the square at the sky car, boasts polished concrete floors. “This surface creates a high-quality finish from a structural point of view,” comments Nair. “Sustainability and integrity of this material informed its choice.” As polished concrete floors are normally associated with interiors, Urban Green File feels that it indicates a high regard for public space in Durban.

6. Berea link and station
Although Isaiah Ntshangase Road has always linked Durban’s sports precinct to Umgeni Road and Berea on the opposite side of the railway line, it was mostly a vehicular link with very little provision for pedestrian movement. However, a new pedestrian promenade is now not only providing a much-improved link to Berea but also the brand-new train station which integrates the entire stadium precinct with the surrounding city.

7. Beachfront link
Probably the most significant new pedestrian link is towards the beachfront. In a separate project, Ethekwini Municipality is also upgrading Durban’s Golden Mile beachfront promenade. Once complete, it will stretch from the harbour and Point Waterfront to the Umgeni River mouth. Midway along this massive pedestrian walkway is Moses Mabhida Stadium and an underpass at Ruth First Road (M4) provides access from the stadium precinct to the ocean. Pedestrians only have to cross Masabalala Yengwa Avenue via a street-surface pedestrian crossing; paved with multi-blend blocks which ensure a seamless link with the beachfront.

Durban gets it right
Comment by Gerald Garner
Durban has so much in its favour. Certainly, in terms of year-round climate, few cities in the world can compete. But, while the north and south coasts of KwaZulu-Natal remain firm favourites for South African holidaymakers, Durban is not always viewed in the same light. The city, undoubtedly, boasts some spectacular facilities, including Ushaka Marine World, the International Convention Centre and the promising Point Waterfront. However, in terms of public space, the city has a poor record – even in spite of the significant investment in the public realm with the beachfront developments of the 1970s and 1980s. It was probably a lack of urban management and maintenance, as well as some fatal urban-design flaws in the original projects, which caused the famous Golden Mile and Durban as a city to lose its desirable reputation.

Perceptions, though, are changing. The new beachfront promenades are wider and provide uninterrupted views over the ocean. At the same time, the city has realised the need for interlinked public spaces and the Moses Mabhida Stadium Precinct is successfully integrated into the open-space network.

Urban Green File believes that Durban will benefit handsomely from its significant investment in the public realm, rather than in a stadium only, for many years to come. The popularity of the sky car and the pub on the amphitheatre square proves the need for quality urban spaces. It is a win-win as Durban’s citizens and visitors benefit from a better environment while the city has developed additional income streams which other stadiums lack.

Durban is setting an example in urban-space development that other South African cities should emulate. And, of course, there are the 2020 Olympic Games. With the groundwork already done, Durban may just want to bid to host this major sporting extravaganza!

-----

WASTE & POLLUTION MANAGEMENT

Waste composted: financial and enviro win-win
Landfill space and transport are reduced, the environment is replenished with quality compost and various small businesses enjoy an income stream in Cape Town’s waste-composting initiative.

Landfill space is an increasingly scarce commodity as landfill sites around the country are filling up fast. As a result, municipalities are focusing on reducing, reusing and recycling waste streams as an alternative to sending it to landfill. Garden waste, which can make up between 40% to 60% of the total municipal waste stream, is particularly problematic due to the relatively large volume-to-weight ratio as well as its methane-production potential. When organic material decomposes under anaerobic conditions, it produces methane (one of the main components of landfill gas) that is extremely harmful to the environment if not properly utilised. Alternatively, when organic waste is digested under aerobic conditions (also called composting), only small amounts of carbon dioxide are produced together with a highly nutritious organic fertiliser.

A number of years ago, the City of Cape Town and one of its waste-management contractors – Soil & More Reliance – realised the opportunity to compost garden waste rather than send it to landfill. As a result, the city is diverting nearly 95% of all its green waste to Reliance’s composting facilities. This is a prime example of the public and private sectors working together to turn problematic waste streams into a business opportunity that red�uces the volume of material sent to landfill. It is a win-win that benefits the environment, creates new employment opp�ortunities and an additional revenue stream for the operator while the municipality saves money and landfill space.

Humble beginnings
The story starts on a table-grape farm near Paarl at a time when the owner decided to produce organic grapes for the export market. He required a source of good-quality organic material and his choice, naturally, fell on municipalities as a reliable supplier. As a result, Reliance Compost Paarl was born and started composting green waste from the then Durbanville Municipality for its own needs. At the same time, the then municipality of Cape Town was experimenting with green-waste composting in a small pilot project at Morning Star, a drop-off facility in Durbanville. Trevor Carrol, director of the solid-waste department of the City of Cape Town, tells Urban Green File that the municipality embarked on this process eight years ago – at a time when drop-off sites were used as storage facilities only with green waste chipped and sent to landfill. “At the time, the municipality only had two chippers for the whole of Cape Town and these were used to reduce the volume of waste going to landfill. But, because of our limited capacity, large amounts of green waste had to be stockpiled at drop-off sites as we were only able to process it once a week and this presented a health-and-safety hazard.”

Cape Town has 22 waste-collection sites – eight are major receivers of most of the city’s green waste. This is also where City Parks & Gardens offloads its waste. “In the case of smaller sites, it is not economically viable to keep chippers so green waste is intercepted on the major landfill sites,” says Carrol. The big saving for the city is in the reduction of waste volumes which, in turn, reduces transport costs. “We pay our contractor per m3 for the removal of waste and, as the volume is greatly reduced after chipping, our costs are significantly reduced,” Carrol informs Urban Green File. “We are saving up to 60% on previous figures for our green-waste transport costs. Another major saving is the avoidance of landfill costs which are already R220/t. This forms part of our own waste-minimisation strategy and provides the city with an overall saving of 35%.” In addition, from an environmental perspective, the composting of green waste has significant advantages while the contractor benefits as much of the compost produced is sold back to the city and large landscape contractors.

Outsourced contract
Soil & More Reliance’s tender with the City of Cape Town has been in place since 2001. The basic operation comprises chippers at the largest waste drop-off sites where the public, waste contractors and the municipality offload their green waste. The waste is chipped on site and sent to a central composting facility near Klipheuwel where the material is transformed into an internationally certified organic compost in a process that takes between six to eight weeks. Interestingly, the waste collection and chipping is not handled by the municipality but is subcontracted to promote small-business development. “We are paid for the volume of chipped waste leaving the gate,” imparts Godfried Kriel, who manages the Ladies Mile drop-off site. “For every 8 m3 of green waste we receive, we produce about 4 m� of chip�ped waste which, in turn, results in about 1 m� of compost.” Overall, Soil & More Reliance rece�ives around 30 000 m� of chipped waste per month from the municipal drop-off sites and produces 10 000 m� to 15 000 m� of compost per month. Soil & More Reliance utilises its own controlled microbial composting (CMC) process to produce “high-quality compost in fast turnaround times”. Detlev Meyer, CEO of Soil & More Reliance, elaborates: “Compost is not just compost. It is created under very specific conditions and, if these are not met, one finds a large variation in compost qualities. A wide variety of compost or compost-like material is, therefore, available in the market and the latter is far from real. Our CMC process assists nature by creating optimal composting conditions. The problem is that the composting industry is not regulated and has little or no quality standards. Although we produce a certified organic product, many others claim to be certified without certification by an authorised body.”

Anyone buying compost should check the name of the certification body, advises Meyer. “We provide a number of compost products that differ in age and size. We don’t use any manure so our compost is not smelly and it does not breed flies.”

Sewage sludge next?
Meyer informs Urban Green File that his company has also tendered to compost municipal sludge from wastewater-treatment plants.

Although dried, the sludge will be pre-composted indoors first to avoid any smells. This may present a new business opportunity while reducing the problems associated with disposal of sewage waste. From a retail point of view, these products will be well-marked and sold separately.

Carbon credits pursued
The greatest advantage of composting is that it is, literally, possible to generate income while protecting the environment. Firstly, by putting compost back into the soil, most of the nutrients are recycled and, once again, available for plants to use and grow. Secondly, the alternative to composting is landfilling and the subsequent anaerobic digestion of waste. As this process produces methane gas which, as a greenhouse gas, is 21 times more potent than CO₂, it is clearly undesirable.

By preventing methane from escaping into the atmosphere, Soil & More Reliance is eligible for carbon credits in relation to its carbon offset. “We are one of only a few initiatives in South Africa, registered in terms of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), able to sell carbon credits,” says Meyer. The company was awarded 15 000 carbon credits to sell into the world market when it had its first audit. “The auditors looked at our entire operation and calculated the net amount of carbon we avoided by deducting our carbon footprint for the rest of the operation from our avoided carbon,” explains Meyer. The company is allowed to claim a maximum of 60 000 carbon credits per year. Although the CDM process is expensive, carbon emission-reduction credits trade at around R100/t to R120/t so it is certainly worthwhile to explore this additional revenue stream. The Department of Environmental Affairs and the United Nations Environmental Programme have selected Soil & More Reliance for an official carbon-compensation project linked to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Visiting soccer teams and fans can offset the carbon emissions related to their travels in this initiative.

Apart from the obvious business imperative, Soil & More Reliance has become a strong composting advocate on a broader scale. It is a consultant to a number of municipalities around South Africa and the rest of the African continent. The company also offers composting equipment as well as carbon footprinting through a separate business entity. “Carbon footprinting should be part of a broader business strategy to create a more sustainable organisation,” comments David Baxter, CEO of Carbon Countdown. “Measuring your footprint provides a good starting point by identifying areas in need of improvement. It really forms part of a bigger environmental awareness and is far more than just a marketing tool.”

Can municipalities afford not to?
As the cost of water and ene�rgy rises and, with the threat of climate change, the efficient use of resources is becoming more important than ever. The large-scale composting of mun�icipal garden waste ticks all the boxes and makes plain common sense when compared with the “business as usual” practice of disposing of the waste to landfill. This begs the question: How can South African municipalities – large and small – afford not to embrace composting as an alternative to landfill disposal?

-----

WASTE & POLLUTION MANAGEMENT BRIEFS

Compost from sludge
By solar drying sludge rather than using wood chip, Johannesburg Water will reduce its expense per dry ton by more than half. This is according to Shaun Deacon, best-practice manager at Johannesburg Water, who states that the company intends to reduce the liquid content in sludge by installing solar beds in wastewater-treatment works across Johannesburg.

Up to now, dewatered sludge has mostly been disposed of on private farmland at a substantial cost to Johannesburg Water. However, the new product will be registered as a sludge fertiliser and offered to compost agencies through the normal tender process. According to Deacon, the city will issue a tender for composting companies to buy the sludge and sell it on as compost once approval has been received.

Wastewater works don’t comply
Only 7,4% of South Africa’s municipal wastewater-treatment works, assessed under the Department of Water Affairs Green Drop certification programme, complies with set standards, Urban Green File has learned from its sister journal, Water Sewage & Effluent. The result illustrates the fact that municipalities focus on the cleaning and provision of drinking water rather than the treatment of wastewater. However, the World Health Organisation points out that wastewater treatment is the first barrier, among many, in ensuring safe tap water. If wastewater-treatment works are failing, they are compromising the safety of potable water. At the same time, sub-standard wastewater flowing into South Africa’s river systems poses many negative environmental impacts.

Waste turned into bricks
A new product for the construction industry is the result of the installation of a wastewater-treatment plant in Heglig, Sudan. A 450 000 m2 reed bed has been planted to treat 50 000 m3/day of effluent from an oil plant owned by Petronas, a Malaysian oil and gas company, Urban Green File’s sister journal, Building Africa discloses. The oil extracted from the treatment process is, reportedly, being used to create a “plastic” brick which could be used to make wall panels. According to Joe de Swardt of Lodestar, the product is being tested in Britain in accordance with British building standards.

Aerosol-can recycling boosted
With the support of Collect-a-Can, the Aerosol Manufacturers Association (AMA) of South Africa recently donated safety gear to the pickers’ association at the Goudkoppies municipal landfill site in Devland, Johannesburg. The donation comprised collection bags, face masks and rubber gloves that will be distributed to an estimated 2 000 recycling collectors who work on the landfill site.

The donation follows AMA’s formation of a sustainability committee to focus on accountability in the areas of manufacturing and market place, as well as social and environmental responsibility. “The decision was made to approach Collect-a-Can to assist us with our endeavours to minimise the impact of aerosol cans on the environment by ensuring that as many cans as possible are reclaimed and recycled,” AMA spokesperson Mike Naude tells Urban Green File.

While Collect-a-Can focused initially on collecting beverage cans only, it has branched out into collecting all types of used cans including aerosol, food, paint and oil cans. “With AMA recognising the integral part that recycling of used aerosol cans plays in the sustainability of the environment, we will strive to assist them wherever possible,” Annie Tsima, MD of Collect-a-Can states.

Polypropylene bags recycled
Syncorp has launched its “Call for Bags” campaign in order to assist businesses with recycling used woven polypropylene (PP) bags. Participants will be given a certificate of best practice to confirm their ongoing commitment to recycling and the bags will be collected at no cost, Syncorp informs Urban Green File. The bags will be recycled to produce 100% recycled PP and HDPE granules for use in the plastics-conversion industry.

Lighter bottles save glass
Distell has saved 333,5 t of glass in 10 months by lightweighting 2,9-million of its wine bottles. According to the company’s environmental manager, Jacques Rossouw, this saving represents 733,7 t of CO2 emissions. “Since switching from 750 ml wine bottles with an average weight of 570 g to bottles weighing 455 g, we have already effected significant reductions in CO2-equivalent emissions. However, this is just the start as, within the next few months, we’ll be introducing a new 350 g bottle to boost the savings further.” Apparently, Distell is working closely with the UK-based Waste & Resources Action Programme to promote glass savings.

-----

INSPIRATION

Park delight
A multi-purpose park is at the centre of community activity in Spruitview, Ekurhuleni, and sets a precedent for the design of suburban parks.

A remarkable park has been unveiled by the City of Ekurhuleni. Designed by Outer Space Planning & Design, it provides a mix of activities, including sports and play areas, and doubles up as a function venue without impinging on public activities in the park.

The park is at the centre of community life in Spruitview and offers welcome recreation and activity space. It was clear on the official opening day, attended by Urban Green File, that the community had embraced this public space.

“Located on a high point amid dolomite rock, the challenge was to design with undulating surfaces and not flat planes as is often the case in multi-purpose parks,” says Alan Cooper, landscape architect at Outer Space Planning & Design. He made extensive use of 3D computer modelling in order accommodate the level changes and to calculate soil cut-and-fill quantities.

The park has been developed in three phases:
•            2006 to 2008 – close to R1-million;
•            2008 to 2009 – R3-million; and
•            2009 to 2010 – R11,6-million.

Phase 2 was constructed by the Matswako Trading/Nikiwenono Construction JV and Phase 3 by Rainbow Construction.

The innovative combination of different earth embankments and levels with high-quality sports and play areas, and striking public art, makes the Spruitview multi-purpose park one of the most inspirational this magazine has visited in a long time!

-----

INSULT

AMD conundrum
Acid mine drainage (AMD) has been a known environmental problem within the Witwatersrand region for many years as a consequence of mining in an era when proper closure procedures and rehabilitation legislation were not in place.

Although the issue attracts mainstream media attention from time to time, the public debate mostly focuses on the “polluter pays” principle. However, with many mines out of service for decades already, the mineral rights were transferred back to national government when democratic South Africa’s new mining dispensation came into place. This means government is now the custodian of these polluting sites and, while the law allows for the original owners or holding companies to be held responsible for cleaning up the mess, the legal approach could be lengthy. In the meantime, pollution continues.

Urban Green File can disclose, though, that the Department of Water Affairs has recently issued a tender for the installation of a pump to be placed 400 m below surface in the Central Basin. In addition, the refurbishment of an existing high-density sludge plant is being proposed and the expected R178-million cost will be carried jointly by mines and government. These initiatives should help prevent AMD decanting at 60 Ml/day and polluting Gauteng’s natural water system.

While it is heartening to learn that government is tackling the issue, Urban Green File issues an “insult” to society at large for allowing this problem to persist for so long. Is it a case of complacency in Johannesburg as the city is fed with clean drinking water from Lesotho on a daily basis?

Although the city may have a secure source of drinking water, Urban Green File believes that the AMD disaster should be turned into an opportunity. Could the water not be dammed and treated to a standard fit for industrial and agricultural use? By developing a separate reticulation system for this non-potable water, many industries and urban agricultural initiatives within Gauteng could receive more affordable water while costlier potable water could be made available to unserviced areas. Is it not possible to turn the disused mining land south of Johannesburg’s inner city into a series of lakes and wetlands to treat AMD before it is made available for industrial and irrigation purposes? Surely this holistic approach would make more sense than simply treating the effluent with chemicals and then releasing it into natural river systems?

Clearly, this is not a case for the mines and national government to solve alone. Urban Green File believes that municipalities, such as Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, should become involved and seize the opportunity to create greener, sustainable cities in the process. These cities must move away from focusing on clean drinking water alone to considering the state of natural water resources. Failure to do this will incur costly environmental clean-ups in the near future!

-----

VIEWPOINT

Water security questioned
While businesses are exposed to risk in water supply, many are actually producers of “net” water through stormwater run-off on site. Surely there must be a sustainable way to harness this water resource?

In future, it is likely that water will become more expensive and supply will be more unreliable in the face of climate change, degrading infrastructure and dwindling resources. So says Stuart Dunsmore, director of engineering at PBA International. Dunsmore is looking into the effect of climate change on municipal service delivery and how businesses can improve water security into the future.

“Water, like energy, is fundamental to most businesses but, in times of shortage or unreliable supply, one cannot generate water,” states Dunsmore. “Large water users usually review resource availability and plan accordingly but many water consumers in urban environments rely on municipalities or water boards to resolve potential shortages. These utilities, however, face an uphill struggle to secure reliable supplies, often from faraway catchments, and even across international borders as is the case with the Lesotho Highlands Water Scheme.”

However, he argues that a local water source is missed: stormwater run-off. “Run-off in urban areas increases by between two- and four-fold if compared to greenfield conditions and much of this is lost as a water resource. The idea of harvesting this resource is not new but, ideally, this should be done at municipal level even though individual site initiatives may also result in improved water security.”

Dunsmore informs Urban Green File that PBA International is working with Netcare to assess the benefits of rainwater harvesting in the health group’s facilities. Apparently, a pilot study is under way at Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg where the average roof run-off in a year is twice the hospital’s annual consumption from the municipal mains. “Milpark is a net producer of water and yet the hospital is entirely reliant on supply from the municipality. I believe that there has to be a more sustainable solution. PBA International is, therefore, looking into achieving the right water balance at Milpark in order to minimise the need for storage (for seasonal variability) while maximising security of supply. Treatment requirements are also being investigated.”

Netcare’s group technical manager, Peter Schilder, says: “Netcare’s hospitals are situated across South Africa and some areas may be at risk in terms of municipal water security. We are, therefore, looking at water sustainability to determine if we can cut back on our municipal water consumption while securing more reliable water supplies into the future.”

Netcare is dedicated to finding greener, efficient solutions which ensure the sustainability of the hospital group, its communities and the environment, Schilder adds. For example, Netcare is also working on a project with Eskom to reduce its energy demands by as much as 15% by 2015.

Although the Milpark solution may involve a straightforward utilisation of roof run-off water, managers of urban water resources should consider a combination of solutions, including infiltration drainage, groundwater recharge and wetland development, argues Dunsmore. “Municipalities should be looking at integrated solutions but companies like Netcare have the opportunity to achieve more independent solutions to secure their water future.”