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Contents of December 2010

COMMENT

New beginnings

UPFRONT
What is new and happening?

GREEN BUILDINGS
Greening a laboratory
Greening an energy-hungry building is not a small task. However, this, as well as conservation of its surrounds, has been achieved.

GREEN BUILDINGS BRIEFS


CITY VISIT
Historic significance brought to the fore
Sharpeville and its environs are being regenerated in an effort to increase tourism in the area and improve quality of life for its residents.

ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING & DESIGN
Recycled land revolution begun

The Egoli Gas site is one of the first to demonstrate affordable environmental rehabilitation as a significant business investment.

WASTE & POLLUTION MANAGEMENT
Wastewater recovery and reuse

The ins and outs of recycling stormwater, greywater and blackwater are investigated with prominent examples in each instance.

WASTE & POLLUTION MANAGEMENT BRIEFS

INSPIRATION
Relevant, interactive monument

INSULT
World Cup quick fixes excavated

VIEWPOINT
The value of trees
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COMMENT

New beginnings
From new beginnings to the completion of a project to new beginnings so the circle continues. But, looking back at how the plan panned out is vital to continue learning and growing.

Gerald Garner has left big shoes to fill. He has worked passionately on Urban Green File for years; gathering an ardent following along the way - people who enjoy his editorial, and trust and value his opinion. His plan for a magazine focusing on the urban environment and promoting environmentally sound practices definitely worked out. Luckily, he has been helping me, Vicky Rae Ellmore, the new editor of Urban Green File, become acquainted with the magazine and readers’ desires over the past year. He will continue to write a regular column for the magazine and has assured me that he is only a phone call away at all times. I am also the editor of the Journal of Facilities Management (JFM) which covers the management of facilities - from business, retail and leisure to sports and transport. This background in the facilities management (FM) arena puts me in the interesting position of being able to see “green” and urban planning from both sides – capturing the viewpoints of those designing and constructing green buildings and implementing urban-planning initiatives, and those managing and occupying these buildings and cities when they have been completed. In some ways, FM constitutes urban consulting on a smaller scale. While urban consultants and planners aim to improve the built, economic and social environments of communities, facilities managers work on the environment of a facility to optimise its operation. The custodians of the urban environment, such as municipal officials and property owners, could be equated to, and a lot of the time they actually are, the owners of the facilities being managed. Good design and urban planning will create a facility which is easy to manage and the success of a design or plan will be evident when visiting the building, precinct or city a couple of years down the line and talking to those involved in its management. This boils down to the practicality of the plan and how every detail considers the users and residents, as well as the general public. Yes, we all want to see beautiful structures spanning our urban environment and we all wa­nt to implement ground-breaking green technology which will cut our carbon footprint by half. However, the practical elements make these structures and tools sustainable and improve the built, economic and social environments of communities for future generations.
So here’s to starting our journey together. I hope to build a strong relationship with you, the readers of Urban Green File, and the industry as a whole, and to continue Gerald’s good work.
Vicky Rae Ellmore, Editor

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UPFRONT

Western Cape stung
The Green Scorpions conducted environmental law compliance-campaign inspections on five sites in the Western Cape last month and found transgressions. Preliminary findings at the Eskom Safari Sub-station indicate that Eskom has begun construction without approval of the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) and construction activities are occurring outside the development footprint.
Furthermore, the appointed environmental control officer (ECO) does not keep records of monitoring and audits as required by the authority.
It was found that the Knysna Municipality never appointed an ECO for the upgrade of the East Fort Water Scheme to monitor the initial work which was undertaken. This project has been placed on hold. Transnet did appoint an ECO for the construction of the Transnet Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant, however documents to demonstrate compliance were not readily available.
Inspectors observed large fuel spillage in the construction of the KwaNokuthula 66/22 kV sub-station and the relocation of power lines in Plettenberg Bay and unauthorised construction of a power line on a wetland drainage line was also discovered. Further, a soil-stockpile storage area and the construction site have not been demarcated.

Jo’burg’s liveability awarded
At this year’s Liveable Communities (LivCom) Awards, held in Chicago in the US, City Parks won a gold LivCom Award for its Greening the City legacy project which addresses environmental disparities in Johannesburg.
Launched in September 2006 in preparation for the hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the project was praised by the LivCom judges for its cutting-edge concept, design, implementation and monitoring, as well as its impact on daily lives.
Johannesburg’s southern suburbs, which have traditionally been left out of the green belt, were addressed by the project, with more than 200 000 trees planted in Soweto. Other initiatives included the Dorothy Nyembe Environmental Education Centre in Soweto, the regional Ivory Park and the Thokoza Park/Moroko Dam rehabilitation.

Concept village realised
The 747 stands at Crossways Farm Village, located above the Van Stadens River Gorge outside Port Elizabeth, have gone to market – 15% of the stands fall into the affordable housing category, with prices starting at R220 000. The smallest stands are grouped around the town centre, from where they become bigger as one moves closer to the perimeter. Practically farms themselves, the largest stands are selling for up to R2,1-million.

Carbon-reduction strategy commemorated
AfriSam has won the environmental category of the Nedbank Capital Green Mining Awards for taking a definitive lead in managing carbon emissions in the cement-production process, and for its world-leading cement CO2 measurement and rating system. During an awards ceremony at Nedbank’s head office in Sandton on October 20 2010, AfriSam was recognised for its concerted efforts over the past 10 years to reduce specific CO2 emissions.
The awards programme aims to acknowledge and celebrate the invaluable contribution that responsible mining and mineral beneficiation make to the economic development of Africa. Only initiatives which went beyond statutory compliance, clearly contributed towards sustainability and incorporated activities to address known operational impacts were eligible for entry.

‘Eco town’ for Eastern Cape
Rejoice Mabudafhasi, Deputy Minister of Water & Environmental Affairs, handed over the R41-million Mnquma Buyisela/Eco Town in the Eastern Cape in November 2010.
The handover is part of a public-participation programme. Engagement with communities by Mabudafhasi is in response to cabinet’s approval of the new outreach initiative which replaced the initial Izimbizo programme.
The Mnquma Local Municipality is one of the 10 municipalities identified for the pilot Buyisela/Eco Town concept. The project entails installation of bins, equipment, street furniture, construction of gateways and street make-up, storage facilities, planting of trees and ornamental plants, upgrading of public facilities, clearing of open spaces, preparing compost, establishment of food gardens and sorting facilities. It has created 283 jobs for the local community.

SAEE Hall of Fame induction
Prof Nico Beute of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology has been inducted into the Southern African Association for Energy Efficiency’s (SAEE’s) Dr Ian Ernest Lane Hall of Fame. People bestowed with this honour are recognised for the service, dedication, commitment and selfless hours they have given to the energy industry.

Southern Cape on natural-gas drive
Advasol has applied for nine natural-gas exploration licences in the southern Cape coastal area from Struisbaai to Mossel Bay, including Infanta, De Hoop and Stilbaai.
As part of its exploration licence-application process, Advasol held open-house meetings in July 2010 when the company heard communities’ concerns about proposed activity in the area. 
One of the issues raised was whether or not harmful emissions would occur if natural gas was discovered and extracted. Should Advasol find gas in the area of application, it will be piped out to industrial processing plants such as PetroSA (formerly Mosgas). The piping will be made from high-quality stainless steel which will run underground, along already established roads, and out of the area. 
Advasol will focus mainly on maintaining the natural and visual beauty of the area, and ensure that the natural environment is not disturbed or affected by gas extraction. Anton van Wyk, director of Advasol, says that, as natural gas is the cleanest and most environmentally neutral of all the fossil fuels, the biggest challenge facing this country is to find a sustainable source of natural gas locally or in neighbouring countries – onshore or offshore. 

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GREEN BUILDINGS

Making a molehill out of a mountain
Incorporating “green building” techniques into a laboratory is not a small task. Urban Green File looks at a new building which achieved this as well as the conservation of its surrounding reserve.
Construction of the Grain Building, the new offices of the Grain Silo Industry and Southern African Grain Laboratory (SAGL), started in February 2009 and the building was completed in April 2010. From the outset, there was a drive to ensure that the building was designed and constructed to be as “green” and sustainable as possible. The R55-million construction houses the Grain Silo Industry and SAGL’s offices and tenants, as well as 1 200 m² of SAGL laboratories. The building itself is 4 500 m².
Mauritz Kruger, principal associate at SSI and the building’s architect, explains that, because laboratories require extremely stringent environmental controls, it was always going to be a challenge to make the building energy-efficient.
However, this was not the only challenge faced in ensuring that the building worked together with and sustained its surrounding environment. Juliana’s Golden Mole, Neamblysomus julianae, is a threatened species and one of the main populations of this species lies within the Brondberg Reserve. As the Grain Building was constructed in this reserve, the protection and conservation of this species had to be afforded utmost importance in the design and construction of the building.

‘Green’ design elements
– only tried and tested selected
Due to the stringent requirements of the laboratory, “green” initiatives, which could not guarantee the necessary results, were not an option
.

1 Solar light shelves –passive measures introduced
One of the main design features used to decrease the building’s energy use is the inclusion of solar screens and light shelves, Kruger notes. These light shelves, or screens, are included on all the north-facing exteriors and, coupled with the deep façade, minimise any thermal fluctuations caused by excessive exposure to sunlight during the summer months.
Within the walls, at the base of the windows, there is a specially designed, ash-filled cavity which acts as a mass energy-storage device; ensuring evenly distributed temperatures during the winter months. The angle of the sun during winter is approximately 40° and the angle of the shelf ensures that the cavity remains exposed to sunlight as long as possible. This allows the building mass to warm up and retain the latent solar heat energy which, in turn, warms the building interior; reducing the need for excessive heating during the winter months.
In summer, the angle of the sun is approximately 60° and the angle of the screen ensures that the cavity wall remains shaded during these months to reduce the need for cooling. “Because the tops of the screens are reflective, they also assist with lighting the building’s interior naturally; reducing the need to turn on lights,” Kruger comments.

2 Solar light without the heat
Solar light was also used to supplement lighting in areas of the building. “We used a Solatube, designed by an Australian company, which allows the reflection of natural light into the building without any of the heat gain,” Kruger states.
The Solatube, essentially, works like a “light chimney”; bringing natural light to deep spaces within the building such as the passages around the laboratory. “On a sunny day, the lux levels are high enough to negate the use of other lighting,” Kruger notes.

3 Occupancy sensors – triple trigger
Kruger informs Urban Green File that occupancy sensors have been used throughout the building to reduce the use of artificial lighting. The sensors, which were manufactured by an American company, Hubbell, work according to three different triggers: movement, sound and lux levels.

4 Insulation –heat barricaded
Another design feature mentioned by Kruger, which improves the building’s energy efficiency, is the way that the building’s insulation was designed. “We have a 280 mm-wide brick wall on the south-, east- and west-facing walls and, within this slightly thicker wall, we have a 50 mm cavity filled with polystyrene,” Kruger explains.
He says that this provides a good barrier against heat loss and heat gain. As polystyrene is an exceptionally good insulator, the building will not gain or lose excessive heat through its traditionally warmest or coldest exterior faces, he adds.

5 Windows help optimise thermal levels
In addition to the polystyrene-filled cavities, the windows also play a role in optimising the building’s thermal levels. “We have reduced the apertures of the windows on the south-facing side of the building to reduce heat loss to the cold south-east wind,” Kruger imparts.
These windows are also double-glazed to further reduce any heat loss, he adds, noting that windows were avoided on the western façade because of the excessive heat this would convey during the summer months.

6 Rainwater harvesting – irrigation sorted
Another green aspect incorporated in the design of the building was the rainwater-harvesting system. “We included a 20 000 l rainwater-harvesting system which will be used to irrigate the gardens,” Kruger informs Urban Green File. The water is channelled into four large tankers in the building’s semi-basement parking          level and stored until required for irrigation.
Beyond the use of rainwater for irrigation, alternative forms of water saving were stipulated. Kruger states that every bathroom is fitted with infrared sensors with user-interface time limits installed on the taps and urinals. This ensures that water is not wasted.

7 Green roof – blending in
While not strictly adding to the energy or thermal efficiency of the building, an aesthetic green roof was included in the building’s design. Kruger says that live grass was initially considered for the roof but a natural-looking AstroTurf-type material was eventually chosen to reduce maintenance costs.
The green roof area complements the view of the Brondberg Reserve on the building’s southern side. Kruger states Clear Vu fencing was chosen and pre-painted dark green so that it would blend into the environment and preserve the aesthetic appeal of the area.

Unpredictable unwelcome

The first challenge faced by SSI was providing a green building which still met the stringent requirements of a laboratory. SF van der Linde, SSI group manager: buildings and structures, says that numerous technologies and combinations of technologies were investigated before deciding on the current set-up. “We faced the typical designer’s dilemma: we needed to deliver specific environmental quality but the performance of some of the new ‘green’ technologies is sometimes as unpredictable as the weather,” he comments.
Van der Linde notes that the stringent requirements of the SAGL stipulated the use of technologies which had been tried and tested. “We couldn’t simply implement any new technology.” He cites the HVAC system as an example: “We considered installing a geothermal system which uses underground ventilation piping. However, with this system, we could not guarantee the air quality in the lab which is not only strictly controlled according to temperature but also according to humidity.”
SSI calculated different scenarios using different methodologies before deciding on the implemented system, according to Van der Linde. “You’re creating a strictly controlled microclimate,” he tells Urban Green File. “Yes, certain technologies will assist but how much and at what cost?”
The chosen HVAC system comprises a single chiller-cooled system for the laboratories and the auditorium spaces, adds Kruger. “We looked at an alternative heating-and-cooling system based on solar power but we found that the system was untested and would have added an additional R7-million over cost. The initial budget for the green aspects of the building was an additional 23% of the ‘conventional’ budget but this was later worked down to 11%.”
While the building does have a large number of green components, SSI has not sought a Green Star rating as the Green Building Council of South Africa criteria for laboratories seeking this certification are not yet available.

Strict environmental controls necessitate high-spec BMS
Leon du Plessis, director of Grain Building, the company which manages the Grain Building, states that, because of the strict environmental controls required by the laboratories, the inclusion of a proficient buildingmanagement system (BMS) was vital. A Siemens system was installed and it has been programmed by local company, Landis & Staefa.
SF van der Linde, SSI group manager buildings and structures, says that 1 200 m² of laboratories require different temperature scenarios of 22°C to 26°C to ensure that the various tests conducted by the SAGL are within specification. The SAGL conducts tests for exporting wheat and maize seeds.
The BMS system allows the administrators to monitor every aspect of the building from the temperature of the air intake to the lighting and indoor temperatures of a specific room. Working in conjunction with the occupancy sensors, the BMS is also capable of distinguishing whether or not a room is occupied.
Du Plessis states that, while the BMS automatically adjusts the performance of the HVAC systems, depending on the temperatures being monitored, it is also possible to switch it to manual mode in order to manually adjust a specific room. However, he adds that this becomes exceptionally complicated as the BMS calculates its automatic changes based on a holistic view of the building which a human operator may not be able to adjust.
Kruger states that, while it is expected that the BMS will reduce the energy consu­mp­tion of the building, results are not yet available. He tells Urban Green File that the BMS results will be monitored over a 12-month period to ensure that seasonal variations are taken into account. Load shedding can be applied to reduce peak demand, he adds.
At the time of writing, an energy audit was being carried out on the building to determine exactly which areas use the most energy. According to Du Plessis, monitoring energy usage and costs is extremely important for the SAGL as, when its laboratories were based at the CSIR, the organisation did not have to pay for electricity as the South African government views the location as a “protected scientific study”.
The laboratories have several high energy-use pieces of equipment, including ovens which operate 24 hours a day, adds Du Plessis. He states that it is essential to ensure constant power supply to the laboratories because, if the power fails, it could take two to three days for tempera­tures to level off to the specified range.

Conserving natural surrounds and species
The protection of locally occurring species was ensured while foreign species were removed.
Another challenge faced by SSI was ensuring that the building did not encroach on or disturb a protected species on the site and in its surrounds – Juliana’s Golden Mole (Neamblysomus julianae). The site chosen for the building is directly adjacent to the Brondberg Nature Reserve in the east of Pretoria – one of the three main populations of this species of mole in South Africa.
The EIA of the site, therefore, included several stipulations regarding the design and construction of the site because of the occurrence of Juliana’s Golden Mole. As the tiny mammal is included on the Red Data species list, its conservation and protection during construction had to be prioritised.
Kruger states that, in conjunction with the environmental officer, to ensure the safety of this species, a 5 m-wide green-belt servitude was included in the design of the building. He informs Urban Green File that environmental researchers believe that the mole is most active in the area forming the green-belt servitude which includes two “fingers” where the 5 m belt diverges into two larger areas. This entire area was fenced off prior to construction to ensure the mole’s protection, Kruger points out.
In addition, nearly all of the foreign plant species were removed from the property. “We opted for the inclusion of local species such as the White Stinkwood in the green areas,” Kruger adds. The only foreign species still on the property are Jacaranda trees which line the driveway and add to the aesthetic appeal of the building.

Lessons learned
Some important lessons in “green building” can be learned from this project. According to Van der Linde, one of the most important lessons is the importance of always including passive green technologies in the design of a building.
He says that active technologies, such as an HVAC system, require a lot of maintenance and monitoring whereas passive elements, such as the building’s light shelves and polystyrene-filled cavities, require little if any maintenance.
“Balancing the potential benefits against the costs, including manufacturing, installation and downstream costs, is crucial when deciding on the methods to follow and the green design elements to implement when designing a green building,” Van der Linde states.
Another primary concern regarding green buildings is the need to always balance human comfort levels and the implemented processes to minimise the impact of the building on the environment, he adds.

Possible benchmark?
The prospect of introducing “green” technologies and energy-efficient methods to a building, which requires large amounts of energy to function efficiently, can be exceptionally daunting. However, the SSI project team was able to incorporate tried, tested and, most importantly, reliable green technolo­gies into the Grain Building. Experience in designing and constructing laboratories and clean rooms definitely helped.
Although the results of any water or energy savings will only be available in approximately six months, the building has been undergoing rigorous checks and tests to ensure that it is running optimally while maintaining its green requirements. As it stands, the Grain Building may serve as a benchmark for similar buildings in the future. In addition, the sustainability of the fauna and flora in its surrounds has been safeguarded.

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GREEN BUILDING BRIEFS

Natural environment conserved
A strong conservation ethos is being applied throughout the development of Edendale Mega City in Pietermaritzburg.
The EIA identified the adjacent wetland as the key environmental focus, Tebogo Mogashoa of Tebfin Developments, says.
The wetland will serve as a buffer zone and a natural feature of the development, Mogashoa adds.
The 1,3 ha wetland will attenuate stormwater flows coming from the centre and assist with the filtration of the centre’s run-off before it enters the nearby Msunduzi River. It will also form a green outdoor space which can be enjoyed by tenants and shoppers.
Natural vegetation occurring on site will be conserved and indigenous fauna and flora will be placed alongside patches of reeds, rock piles and shallow ponds. In addition, threatened indigenous plants were safely relocated prior to the commencement of earthworks.
Green initiatives will also be incorporated into the daily running of the centre, according to Mark Johnson, development and project manager for MC Props.

Environmental consciousness increasing
A recent poll conducted by ooba, a bond-origination company, has found that an increasing number of South African home buyers are placing greater emphasis on environment-friendly features when choosing a home – 49% of respondents said that existing “green” features, such as insulation, solar panels and water-conserving facilities were very important factors while 18% said they were important and 20% said they were of some interest. The company states that only 13% said they were not important at all.
This study highlights the importance of “going green” – not just to protect the environment but also to improve the value of a property, ooba notes.

Converting old to efficient
A solar hybrid energy-efficient water-heating system has been implemented at Standard Bank’s head office in Johannesburg. It will be used to heat 48 000 l (20 000 l via solar and 28 000 l with energy efficient heat pumps) of water a day – saving up to 5% of current building energy consumption, Standard Bank states.
When sunshine is not optimal, 100 solar-power panels, installed on the roof, and two heat pumps will support the solar installation.
According to Standard Bank, the R2,3-million system will save nearly R1-million a year in energy costs – it should pay for itself in just over three years.
“The challenge in implementing clean energy solutions is taking the older infrastructure in existing buildings and upgrading and converting to cleaner, more efficient systems using alternative power sources where possible,” Marius de la Rey, Standard Bank director of channel development, comments. “We have to be more creative in reducing the energy consumption in our older assets.”
The bank is looking to introduce energy-saving measures across the group. “This pilot system could be used in areas where energy constraints hinder new business development or the full optimisation of the properties that we have in our portfolio,” adds De la Rey.|

Green-Star construction challenges overcome
The Nedbank Phase 2 project, which was undertaken by the sustainability team at WSP Green by Design, claims to be pushing boundaries in terms of sustainability in the built environment. Officially Green Star-rated office “design” and now “as built”, the Nedbank Phase 2 project has overcome many challenges.
WSP Green by Design’s lead sustainability consultant, Marloes Reinink, says that one of the challenges was the release of the Green Star rating tool during the course of the project. This made it difficult to change certain elements of the design and construction of the building. In addition, time constraints were demanding and, as this was the first building in South Africa to use the rating tool, a large number of elements had to be reworked and rethought.

R-value irrelevant
While it is a useful measure of thermal resistance of the wall, eight years of empirical studies at the University of Newcastle’s Priority Energy Research Centre in Australia has led to the conclusion that a walling material’s R-value is not representative of the thermal value for energy-efficient properties of a material for house design.
The findings of research carried out by WSP Energy Africa for ClayBrick.org endorses the research findings of the University of Newcastle that thermal mass, combined with appropriate levels of resistance, leads to optimal thermal performance outcomes. In climates typical of South Africa, high R-value lightweight walling does not have the thermal capacity which is needed to provide the necessary thermal lag to achieve the requisite thermal comfort and optimal thermal performance.
WSP Energy Africa’s research, which builds on the equations described in the CR Method, finds that homes built with a good combination of thermal capacity and resistance can best optimise thermal comfort for the occupants; yielding the lowest energy consumption for heating and cooling of internal spaces.

Four-star rating achieved
Nedbank’s first Green Star SA-rated building in KwaZulu-Natal has been completed – the Nedbank Ridgeside office block. It has been awarded a four-star rating by the Green Building Council of South Africa. This rating was jointly pursued by the client, Zenprop Property Holdings, and its tenant, Nedbank.
With 100% buy in from both parties, WSP Green by Design was brought on board as the Green Star-accredited professional and sustainability consultant.
“Going green” within a corporate environment is challenging. The Green Star rating is fairly new and often challenges current and previously used methods in the built environment. Engineers often have to push the “boundary” to achieve desired results. Ridgeside is about 6 500 m² with a four-storey office block and a three-level super basement.


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CITY VISIT

Reinstating Sharpeville
Sharpeville and its surrounds are being regenerated in an effort to increase tourism in the area and improve the standard of living for residents.
Sharpeville is undervalued as a tourist destination yet its historic significance is profound. The name itself certainly carries emotional weight. On March 21 1960, 69 people were killed in the Sharpeville Massacre when South African police opened fire on a crowd of black protesters. Nelson Mandela chose the township as the heart of South Africa’s democracy by signing the Constitution of South Africa at the George Thabe Stadium in Sharpeville on December 10 1996.
It is a neat, unassuming township with a unique sense of place. The flat landscape is bordered by massive industrial steel plants and a string of power-station silhouettes. In the main street, Sharpeville’s political meaning is evident in informal memorials to Steve Biko and other freedom fighters.
Sharpeville falls within the greater Sedibeng District Municipality which comprises three local municipalities: Emfuleni, Midvaal and Lesedi. Emfuleni’s jurisdiction includes the towns of the Vaal Triangle – Vanderbijlpark, Vereeniging and Sasolburg – as well as six large peri-urban townships: Evaton, Sebokeng, Boipatong, Bophelong, Tshepiso and Sharpeville.

Tourist attraction transformed
A new business plan has been developed for this historic township and its surrounds in an effort to reinstate Sharpeville to its full potential and to create an economically sustainable area which can rely on tourism. Urban development consultant Urban Genesis compiled the Sharpeville Development Business Plan, which was in draft form at the time of writing, for the regeneration of the township into a tourist destination within Sedibeng District Municipality.
“Sharpeville’s economy relies on the steel industry,” Graeme Reid of Urban Genesis informs Urban Green File. “Sedibeng Municipality wanted to look at ways of putting Sharpeville on a different growth path so the visitors’ economy, education initiatives and sports development were prioritised as catalysts to do so.”
According to Robert Thema, Neighbourhood Development Programme Grant (NDPG) projects manager for Sedibeng Municipality, the objective of this business plan is to create township regeneration in Sharpeville. “We are trying to tap into the economic drive of the area so that it becomes sustainable; raising tourism and improving the standard of living of the residents. Sharpeville, in particular, has a major heritage element. We want to elevate this element to transform it into a noteworthy tourist attraction. March 21, which is Human Rights Day, should be declared an international human-rights day and celebrated in Sharpeville,” he enthuses.
Reid says that public-sector investments, which would create a platform for private-sector development, were sought. The principles were then interweaved into the business plan and underpinned in each of the three precincts highlighted for regeneration: the Civic Precinct (the Vereeniging CBD), the Waterfront Precinct (the Vereeniging riverfront) and the Heritage Precinct (Sharpeville).
Redevelopment of Sharpeville, one of the identified zones, makes for an ambitious urban-regeneration project set out over an extensive time frame. “The reality of the matter is that there has been limited investment in Sharpeville,” Reid notes. “There has been development in pockets but the township has not been marketed and developed to its full potential. It is an underexplored and under-performing asset but it is also a hugely important asset.”

3 precincts highlighted for regeneration
Sedibeng Municipality has earmarked three precincts for regenation: the Civic Waterfront and Heritage precincts.
Since the previous cycle of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP), the Sedibeng District Municipality has adopted the approach of linking precinct developments with township precincts as a priority focus. In 2006, a comprehensive growth-and-development strategy was developed in which urban renewal for the Sedibeng Municipality was conceptualised in a vague form, Yunus Chamda, municipal manager for Sedibeng, comments. The concept of concentrated precincts was born in this growth-and-development strategy.
Environmental and planning consultancy Arup conducted a feasibility study in 2007 in which three precincts were highlighted for regeneration: the Civic (the Vereeniging CBD), Waterfront (the Vereeniging riverfront) and Heritage (Sharpeville) precincts. This study was approved and aligned with the IDP. It outlines the proposed approach for future urban development in Sharpeville and Vereeniging which essentially aims to encourage coordinated urban development and improved economic growth in the region.
Since the previous cycle of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP), the Sedibeng District Municipality has adopted the approach of linking precinct developments with township precincts as a priority focus. In 2006, a comprehensive growth-and-development strategy was developed in which urban renewal for the Sedibeng Municipality was conceptualised in a vague form, Yunus Chamda, municipal manager for Sedibeng, comments. The concept of concentrated precincts was born in this growth-and-development strategy.
Environmental and planning consultancy Arup conducted a feasibility study in 2007 in which three precincts were highlighted for regeneration: the Civic (the Vereeniging CBD), Waterfront (the Vereeniging riverfront) and Heritage (Sharpeville) precincts. This study was approved and aligned with the IDP. It outlines the proposed approach for future urban development in Sharpeville and Vereeniging which essentially aims to encourage coordinated urban development and improved economic growth in the region.

A The Civic Precinct - cultural and commercial heart
The objective of the creation of the Civic Precinct is to create a town hub for Vereeniging. The precinct will form the heart of the town; creating space for inhabitants to focus on cultural and commercial activities. “We are concentrating all government buildings in this precinct and integrating them with an open space of land, the courts, SARS offices, the theatre and the two town halls,” Chamda states. Public services and community amenities inside the civic hub will be enhanced and it presents potential for mixed-use expansion in the form of housing developments. The municipality aims to make this precinct economically, socially and culturally sustainable for current and future generations. In order to fulfil this aspiration, a number of key essential components have been identified such as ease of access for the general public and a number of desirable components which would add to the success of the precinct.

B The Waterfront Precinct – tourism and leisure attraction
The Waterfront Precinct plan comprises the proposal of four waterfront projects along the Vaal River. These include upgrading of Dickenson Park, the development of an office park adjacent to Dickenson Park, the development of an iconic water tourism hub close to the R59 Bridge and a boardwalk stretching to both sides of the river between the Riviera Hotel and the R59 Bridge.
The Vaal River is not optimally exploited as an attraction for business, tourism and leisure, and the municipality aims to rectify this through the development of the Waterfront Precinct.
According to Chamda, a framework has been established for the development of this precinct.

C The Heritage Precinct – commemorative space
The growth-and-development strategy identified the Heritage Precinct, which encompasses Sharpeville, as a catalyst for future tourist development and a commemorative space for Sharpeville Township’s rich history.
The Heritage Precinct was further divided into three additional precincts: the Sharpeville Dam Precinct which will be developed into a recreational space, the Sharpeville George Thabe Sports Precinct where the South African Constitution was signed and the Sharpeville Heritage Precinct which hosts the exhibition centre and cemetery associated with the Sharpeville Massacre.

3 precincts within the Heritage Precinct
The Heritage Precinct was further divided into three precincts: the Sharpeville Dam Precinct, the Sharpeville George Thabe Sports Precinct, and the Sharpeville Heritage Precinct.

1 The Sharpeville Dam Precinct – uniting recreation and remembrance
As part of the Sharpeville Dam Precinct, the recreational zone around the Dhlomo Dam aims to create a dignified leisure destination for Sharpeville residents, as well as outsiders. The Melatswaneng Cooperative – a construction, transport and environmental management cooperative in Sharpeville which focuses on beautifying public spaces – recently submitted a proposal to the Emfuleni Local Municipality to develop the open space opposite Sharpeville Dam into a park.
“A considered and sustainable intervention is required in an environmentally sensitive area in order to provide maximum benefit to residents,” says Thema. “That is the objective with the development around the dam.”
Thema also tells Urban Green File the colourful tale of the historic brewery next to Dhlomo Dam which was built in 1940. Municipal beer halls played a key role in township affairs during the apartheid era. For municipalities, it was the single most important source of revenue. For residents, it was a place of social escape and the only venue where black people were allowed to purchase liquor legally. “This particular beer hall’s produce was so good that the women of Sharpeville boycotted the facility because their husbands hardly ever came home,” laughs Thema.
“The brewery will tell the story about the women of the area and the role it played during apartheid,” Reid notes. He says that Urban Genesis made provision for the private sector to take part in the business plan; highlighting that the Aaron Mokoena Foundation has already shown interest in the project.

2 The Sharpeville George Thabe Sports Precinct – professional facilities to be provided
Similar to the recreational area around the dam, the Sharpeville George Thabe Sports Precinct, which incorporates George Thabe Stadium, is a story of untapped potential. In 2007, the Gauteng Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts & Culture upgraded the stadium but no further plans were made to exploit the birthplace of the Constitution of South Africa.
A proposal is now on the table to develop the precinct around the stadium into a professional sports-league base with surrounding facilities. The precinct will include a further upgrade to the stadium to enable it to host Premier Soccer League and Mvela Golden League games, an upgrade to the existing cricket pitch to cater for professional participation and the development of other high-quality sports amenities, including netball, swimming and athletics facilities.
It is envisaged that the sports precinct will be funded by a combination of public and private investment in collaboration with a professional sports club.

3 The Sharpeville Heritage Precinct – sustainable tourism encouraged
Although the three precinct development plans form part of a broader 30-year vision for Sedibeng, “quick-win projects” was a term coined in striving to meet 2010 deliverables. Accelerated projects were in the Sharpeville Heritage Precinct.
“We had the established precinct plans and we wanted certain objectives to be met before 2010 so we aimed to accelerate our precinct-plan developments,” says Chamda. “After conceptualisation, we made an application to the NDPG for funding and we were awarded R250-milion for capital and R20-million for planning. It was then decided that the Sharpeville precincts would be prioritised.”
Reid notes: “The business plan is part of a long-term process which changes and repeats. Once we identified all the projects, we were able to identify which projects would have the biggest impact in the short term. We then isolated those projects as ‘quick wins’ while we were finalising the business plan.” Quick-win projects include the development of a memorial space inside the Phelindaba Cemetery, redevelopment of the Sharpeville Memorial Centre and Constitution Walk which will, ultimately, link the memorial centre and the George Thabe Stadium.
According to the Sebideng Municipality, the Sharpeville Heritage Precinct needs to fulfil a number of objectives: becoming a community hub and a catalyst for urban regeneration and economic development, and integrating and unifying the existing heritage, cultural, community and religious functions. In addition, the municipality expects the precinct to encourage sustainable tourism, promote local arts and crafts, and provide a new approach to integrated and sustainable housing.

3a Memorial site – rustic and subtly symbolic
The project which is furthest into construction is the memorial site inside the Phelindaba Cemetery. The site includes the graves of people who were shot during the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960. There is some contention with regard to the exact number of people killed on the day of the shootings. The landscape architect, GREENInc Landscape Architecture, therefore, steered clear of numbers to create a “subconscious” rather than literal, commemorative space.
GREENInc designed a large memorial brick wall with skeleton steel columns and granite flags. The memorial space is built in elevated terraces with an amphitheatre overlooking the flat township. The raw-steel elements represent the steel industry in the Vaal area and the columns symbolise people in a row – a subtle symbol of execution-style gunfire.
“These columns are the only reference to the people killed in the massacre,” Anton Comrie of GREENInc Landscape Architecture, comments. “We didn’t want to create an emotional space. The landscape cannot tell the story; it only creates a backdrop for the story. It is important that spaces like this do not become overly symbolic.”

The entire memorial was built by hand with raw clay bricks – a process which provided the site with a distinct identity and created several job opportunities. “There are no fine finishes in the design,” Comrie imparts. “We followed a raw building process which is a lot more exposed; giving the design a rustic, simplistic character.” He admits to the challenge of building contemporary architecture by hand but stresses that it is a very rewarding and forgiving process. The redesign of the Sharpeville Exhibition Hall, 1 km away from the cemetery, was done by Albonico Sack Mzumara. GREENInc also undertook the landscaping components of the memorial centre which ties in with certain design philosophies of the cemetery memorial.

Historic and physical links provided
According to Reid, accessibility to Sharpeville, and within the township, forms an integral part of the business plan. Internal linkages have been identified in order to enhance the Sharpeville memorial experience.
The main route is named Constitution Walk – a paved and landscaped road which will connect the Sharpeville Exhibition Hall with the George Thabe Stadium. Secondary routes will follow a trail along the Church Precinct, the house of the Sharpeville Six, the Phelindaba Cemetery, the house of the first black neurosurgeon, and the librarian and elephant houses. Reid points out that public art, which illustrates the township’s historic meaning, will form a key part of mapping these linkages.

Constant reinvention keeps people coming
A key future challenge regarding the redevelopment of Sharpeville and an economic injection in the area, by appeal to visitors, is the municipal capacity required to constantly reinvent and rethink the heritage sites, Reid notes. He says that new stories must be created continuously in order for the municipality to entice people to return.
The Urban Genesis business plan proposes strategies and a staff structure to ensure this. Reid says: “The plan allocates resources – not a lot but enough – for someone to act as the Sharpeville town centre manager – someone who can liaise with external stakeholders and raise funds, and who is passionate about the town. The business plan is only as good as the person who runs it. Without successful implementers, you will not have success.” City Improvement District projects are effective for this reason: passionate and component local expertise, he adds. “The telling of Sharpeville’s history is vital. The exhibitions must become a personal narrative about the massacre and other historic events; they must become people’s own stories. In the business plan, we tried to create capacity within the Sedibeng council to constantly drive these exhibitions and processes. A structure must be created – at director level – to run the processes in order to maintain investment in the township.”

Historic layers peeled back precisely
Sharpeville catches you off guard. Travelling through the smog and dust of the Vaal flatlands, you suddenly find yourself in a township with a tangible energy, and layer upon layer of historic significance. These layers were actively sought by the dynamic and talented team of consultants on this project.
The layers were successfully translated into strategic, interconnected precincts and will, hopefully, be packaged and re-invented by municipal authorities into living and long-lasting stories.

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ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING & DESIGN

BROWN BUT NOT OUT
South Africa could learn a lesson in recycling land from the transformation of a heavily polluted historic landmark into public space.
Most, if not all, of Johannesburg’s residents know the old Egoli Gas buildings, formerly known as Cottesloe Gas Works, which were wasting away just off Empire Road. This site and a number of landmarks in its immediate vicinity are a prominent part of the rich history of the city.
It is, therefore, no wonder that, when Egoli Gas decided to try and put this derelict property to use about 10 years ago, the company attracted a fair amount of attention. Companies like GAPP Architects & Urban Designers immediately offered expertise and some historic societies started crawling out of the woodwork.
With the development set to commence in 2011 at a cost of around R1-billion, Quintus Joubert, an Egoli Gas director, tells Urban Green File that interest in the project has been overwhelming.
“There are so many parties with a stake in this project that a big part of our job so far has been to try and find solutions to suit everyone,” he notes. “We are under no obligation to do as the local residents and historic societies suggest for the site but, when one considers the value of this property as a means of transforming the area, one starts to see the benefits of working closely with those stakeholders.”
The project has potential to turn the whole area around in terms of property value and connecting different areas which are separated by this piece of land.

Preservation, demolition and remediation
Egoli Gas is planning a mixed-use project which will include residential and commercial properties as well as a public park. The oldest and most prominent of the buildings, including the retort houses, will be preserved while others with less social attachment will be demolished to make way for new development.
“There has been hair flying about over some of the structures we plan to demolish,” says Joubert. “I think everyone involved just needs to understand that, in order to enable the site to sustain itself economically, we are going to have to get rid of some of the elements which would hold it back.”
The new development will occupy about 100 000 m² in total and comprise 10 600 m² of retail space, 39 000 m² of office space, a 100-room hotel, about 700 middle- to upper-income apartments and an estimated 730 student apartments. A small portion of the development will be reserved by Egoli Gas for its own use. A public park is also planned, as well as the establishment of links throughout the entire precinct in order to create a space which is pedestrian-orientated.
These plans are, however, not final. Joubert emphasises that any of the decisions pertaining to which of the structures are to be demolished, retained or erected are subject to change due to a number of variables. The project is on the verge of the planning phase as the urban-design framework and feasibility studies have just been completed. Once the next phase begins, Egoli Gas intends to hand the project over to developers. “Our core skill is not property development,” Joubert notes. “We, therefore, decided to offer the site to developers who could develop it properly.”
There is, however, one fly in the ointment. As this former industrial site has been labelled a brownfields site, it will only be fit for redevelopment as a commercial or residential site once all hazardous waste and pollution have been adequately addressed.

Remediation recipe
The polluted site is being remediated with focus on the pollutants in the soil and the groundwater.
Pollution from the by-products of the chemical processes performed on this old gasworks site – which dates back to the early 1930s – presents a significant challenge. Mandy van der Westhuizen, of V&L Landscape Architects, states that the waste from the plant was simply dumped on site in the days when the gasworks was still active.
“Nobody knew about the detrimental effects of the chemical waste from a plant back then,” says Van der Westhuizen. “We do now, however, and we are sitting with the problem of either containing or removing those contaminants before we can even consider building in those areas.”
This pollution problem is being addressed in two specific areas: in the soil and the groundwater which is heavily polluted and, in some areas, the soil itself is contaminated from buried tar and other by-products.
Van der Westhuizen states that a number of auger surveys have revealed that the pollution is concentrated around two points on the property between 2 m and 6 m underground while the polluted water on the site is concentrated closer to the two retort buildings and several boreholes around the site. “We are rather lucky in the sense that the pollutants seem to be localised which means that they are not migrating to any other areas on or off the site.”
There is also residual ash build-up from industrial activity inside the retort buildings which means that the bricks of these buildings will need to be scrubbed before their renovation takes place. Theo Ferreira, director of GeoRem, provided Urban Green File with an explanation of what needs to be done about the pollutants within the soil and groundwater on the site.

1 Soil pollution – soil cap is the only financially viable option
First and foremost, the pollution in the soil needs to be tackled. The waste dumped on the property mainly consists of ash and tar. Over the years, the waste from production was periodically dumped and covered with soil, and this process was repeated over and over. As a result, the ash and tar is fairly well-contained in concentrated layers of about 10 cm to 20 cm thick between 2 m and 6 m from the surface.
Naturally, future residents cannot be exposed to this. The problem is, however, that all contamination is nearly impossible to remove in a cost-effective manner.
A variety of soil remediation methodologies will be applied during the remediation work. This includes removal and disposal of highly contaminated material to licensed landfill sites as well as chemical and biological remediation methods.
The tar and the most contaminated material in the contamination hot spots identified will be removed for disposal, and the residual area will be treated with a combination of chemical and biological remediation methods. Due to the extent of contamination in the hot spot areas it was recommended that construction should be undertaken elsewhere.
“To further reduce potential risks to future occupants, a decision was made to cover the pollution hot spots with a clean soil cap and to turn those areas into green spaces instead of trying to build there,” Ferreira points out.
“We encountered a bit of luck when the contractor from a nearby construction project contacted us and asked whether or not we would like some soil from their project,” Joubert tells Urban Green File. “He saw an opportunity to cheaply dispose of the excavated soil on his site so he dumped the soil on the gasworks site at no cost to us. We intend to use this soil for the soil cap.”

2 Groundwater pollution – pumping and treatment proposed
The groundwater on the site predominantly contains high levels of organic contaminants known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzopyrene and benzofluoranthene. These compounds have been connected to a number of health problems in humans, including asthma, mutations in unborn children and cancer.
With regard to the polluted water on the gasworks site, even though it seems to be contained on site at the moment, it could become a major hazard and spread to other zones if it is disturbed.
Ferreira reports that the most common approach to dealing with contaminated water is the extraction of groundwater followed by the treatment and reinjection of the treated groundwater. According to Ferreira, the pumping or recovery system does not remove all contamination but it would remove the highest concentrations of dissolved pollutants. Successful removal of the bulk of the contaminants makes biological degradation more feasible. This can be further enhanced through addition of oxygen and nutrients to the aquifer using liquid or air injection.
Ferreira also proposes that the developer constructs a cut-off trench. In his opinion, this may be a feasible option to prevent the movement of any residual contamination off site. This trenching could also be replaced by a permeable reactive barrier, he points out, noting that the trench could then be backfilled with materials which react with the contaminants in the groundwater – either breaking them down or containing them.
Joubert, who has a background in chemical engineering, agrees with Ferreira’s assessment of the situation. He says that the groundwater poses little difficulty in the grand scheme of the development. “There are relatively cost-effective ways of removing the volatile organic compounds from the water and, at this stage, we are confident that the water should not present too much of an obstacle.”
The rest of Johannesburg could profit from the treatment of this groundwater as well, Joubert adds. “We have found that a lot of the pollution in the groundwater also came from sources outside of the property. There are a lot of nitrates seeping through from the university sports grounds, for instance. Treating this water and returning it on a continual basis could benefit a large part of the city’s groundwater.”

Significant step
The Egoli Gas site is one of the first to demonstrate how environmental rehabilitation can be affordable and a significant business investment.
In truth, learning more about the site and the planned development might create the impression that it is not particularly special. While it is true that this project is quite rare in what it is attempting to do, it will not be the first brownfield site to be rehabilitated in South Africa. The proposed solutions to the environmental issues are not particularly new or ground-breaking. And, in terms of scale, one has definitely seen more impressive developments. Aside from the prominence of the landmark and what it means to the residents of Johannesburg, one is left with the question: What makes this project worth writing about?
Well, the Egoli Gas project is reported to be one of the first of its kind in the country to take a serious look at treating not only its own but also the surrounding area’s groundwater as an integral part of the redevelopment process.
The process of treating groundwater is feasible if the necessary resources are applied, Ferreira says. However, many municipalities in South Africa have a problem with polluted groundwater on a site-specific or regional basis.
Ferreira raises another important issue: “We have been doing a lot of work for industries and mines over the years, including environmental assessments and undertaking environmental remediation programmes. There have also been a number of environmental clean-ups and rehabilitation programmes which have been funded by other organisations. The common factor is that these projects were all largely motivated by the specific company’s corporate responsibility or legal requirements.
“The Egoli Gas site is one of the first to demonstrate how environmental rehabilitation can be affordable and a significant business investment,” states Ferreira. “Over the next few years, Johannesburg is going to undergo significant densification. Absurd as it sounds when referring to South Africa, space is becoming a prized commodity and we need to start developing ways of recycling it in an efficient and cost-effective manner. We no longer have the luxury of simply abandoning a property on the basis that it is polluted. The truth is that these sites can present economic opportunities if one can overcome the hurdles.”
Joubert once again agrees with Ferreira. He discloses to Urban Green File that his intentions for the development have never been motivated by sentiment.
“Truthfully, initially, I believed that we should demolish the entire site in favour of a development which would bring in some money. Even after we decided to restore it, the intention has always been to have a development which could generate an income. It will, therefore, be very important that the rehabilitation is conducted in a way that it never becomes a financial burden.”

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WASTE & POLLUTION MANAGEMENT

Wasted resource recovery
Water will soon become as major an issue as electricity – if not more so. Stormwater, greywater and blackwater recycling are all viable options in managing and recovering this valuable resource.
Proper management and recycling of stormwater run-off not only negates the effects of Urban Stream Syndrome but also places additional water at the client’s disposal which can be used in place of water from the council; cutting monetary costs locally and energy use generally. Greywater and blackwater can also be rerouted back onto a site and reused following treatment rather than wasting this wastewater.
Jonathan Ferguson, of Top Turf, states that responsible developers are looking at ways of capturing wastewater and storing it so that they can reuse it, and mitigate the costs of setting up those systems and pumps against the costs of having to buy the water over a period of time. The water-recycling solutions available for an urban site range from simply capturing and storing rainwater to implementing the more complex systems involved in treating greywater and blackwater.

1 Recycling site stormwater
Harvesting stormwater reduces the negative effects of run-off on urban rivers and provides a store of water for irrigation and semi-potable use. According to Chris Brooker, there is no reason for a stormwater-harvesting system to be excluded in a site’s design
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Chris Brooker of Chris Brooker & Associates states emphatically that there is no reason for any site to exclude some sort of stormwater-harvesting system. The costs saved in recycling rainwater include payment for water, the environmental cost of taking water from a river and the downstream effects of that extra abstraction, as well as treatment, pumping and storage, Brooker points out.
“Harvesting stormwater goes some way to returning the run-off to its natural state in terms of volume, peak discharge and frequency.” If it is done correctly, there are no disadvantages to harvesting rainwater at all except, possibly, the fact that it takes up some space, he adds.

Quality, clean catchment with a high yield
Stormwater or harvested rainwater can be used safely for garden irrigation and semi-potable use. Brooker informs Urban Green File that a recent study in Adelaide, Australia, found no difference in any kind of disease incidents in two groups of people using untreated rainwater and treated rainwater domestically.
However, he warns that the quality of the rainwater in South Africa varies quite considerably and poor-quality rainwater can persist for a long way downwind of industrial areas. The quality of the water collected in a reservoir also depends on the nature of the catchment, Brooker notes. The catchment area needs to be kept fairly clean because if, for instance, the catchment is a roof under a bird roost, Salmonella will be present in the water. In addition, because rainwater is able to dissolve metals out of a catchment, it should not be collected from a roof which has been primed with a lead-based primer.
Brooker says that diverting the first flush is necessary if the water is going to be used for domestic or semi-domestic purposes such as showering and washing. However, if it is only going to be used for irrigation, there is no need to divert the first flush.
The quality of the catchment needs to be considered in terms of cleanliness and yield. According to Brooker, a tin roof will yield about 80% to 85% of rain whereas a compacted soil catchment might yield 15% of rain.

Tolerance to failure dictates storage volume
An issue with harvesting stormwater is that rainfall is inconsistent and varies according to the season. Some sort of storage volume is, therefore, required. Brooker states that the volume of storage required depends on the client’s tolerance of failure. “If it is the only source of water, the failure tolerance is very low. However, if a municipal connection is present and the harvested rainwater is merely being used for garden irrigation, the failure tolerance is high and the tank can be smaller,” he comments. From this entry point, the volume of storage required for reliability is calculated.
The value of the water also determines how the storage structure is lined and made. A PVC lining will endure less seepage than an earth dam or a clay lining.
Ferguson says that the size of the tank is essentially a function of taking the square metreage of all the areas on the stand and all the surfaces the client wants to capture, and working out the theoretical volume of the required size of tank according to the mean average rainfall in the area. “The theoretical biggest storm and the largest amo­unt of run-off to be expected from the par­t­icular site are calculated and the tank is built for the average between the high and the low,” adds Ferguson. “The tank is not built for the biggest storm but slightly smaller.” Realistically, some augmentation will be needed, Ferguson notes, as it is difficult to design systems with 100% capacity to meet the demands of the facility. In addition, the storage tank must be designed to be able to overflow in case of excess rainfall. The weirs need to be at the right levels so the overflow can be directed into the stormwater system and off site.
Evaporation is another factor mentioned by Ferguson. This can dictate where the water is stored. “One has to mitigate the cost of the size of the dam and the lining with what will be lost through evaporation as opposed to whether or not the water is stored in concrete tanks under a car park, for instance.”

Client care after installation
Clients need to be aware that the reservoir requires maintenance as sludge, which settles on the bottom, has to be cleaned out, states Brooker. He mentions that one mistake is to bury tanks; making them inaccessible. “You need to be able to, at least, get into the access port of the tank with a high-pressure hose so that you can spray and agitate the gunk and clean it out.”
Another maintenance issue is the presence of disease vectors such as mosquitoes in a tank. Brooker tells Urban Green File that the best solution to this problem is the use of Styrofoam balls. “Two or three layers of Styrofoam balls are floated on top of the tank. They don’t get in the way of anything. If water falls into the tank, it just pushes the balls away. They are also completely harmless and odourless, and keep insects out.”

Beneficial and beautiful
With regard to the design of stormwater-harvesting schemes, Brooker says that it really comes down to the use of one’s imagination. He stresses that one cannot force a solution on a problem but a unique solution to a specific problem must be found. He cites turning an office-building entrance into a stormwater-detention facility as an example. “The entrance to the office building was tiled with stairs leading down into the atrium area and up the other side. Across the middle was a series of tiled-block stepping stones. If the entrance area was full of rainwater, people could walk on the blocks otherwise they could be used for seating or a meeting area. It really depends on the imagination of the architect and the engineer.”

2 Recycling greywater and blackwater
Recycling greywater and blackwater is more complex, requires greater responsibility and needs more management than recycling rainwater
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Brooker notes that a greywater-harvesting system must be monitored carefully. Laundry water, for example, is harmless while water from showers and baths is mostly suitable. However, if hand-washing water from basins, where items such as nappies are washed, is harvested, the water could have the quality of blackwater, especially in community-based systems. “Unless everything is known about the greywater, it should be treated as contaminated but not as blackwater because it won’t have the organic load of blackwater although it could be dangerous. Greywater treatment depends on the nature of its source so each problem has to be addressed in its own right.”

Variables to consider
The usage of the recycled water needs to be determined beforehand, as well as the size of the units and whether or not the built environment supports the installation needs of these systems, according to Andries van der Westhuizen, wet services consultant for WSP on the Absa Towers West development. Van der Westhuizen tells Urban Green File that there is a formula for the use of recyclable water and that the system needs to be sized accordingly. He says there is already a sense of standard practice within the industry.
Reyno Coetzer, wet services consultant for WSP on Nedbank Phase 2, notes that, before installing a blackwater system, considerations should include the location of the site, and if it can be allowed in terms of cost and space. Most importantly, the client must understand the implications and be fully aware of all that must be done to keep the system running. He also point out that it needs to be feasible in terms of maintenance and cost. Ensuring that the system is easily accessible for maintenance is vital, Brooker adds.
Although Nedbank Phase 2 is the first building in South Africa to have a blackwater system, Coetzer says that these systems have been used for many years so it wasn’t a “reinvention of the wheel”. However the infrastructure of every building is different so it must be adapted in each instance. “With regard to blackwater systems, the main aspects include making the system as compact as possible from a spatial point of view and as efficient as possible.”

Blackwater reluctance reasonable?
One of the main challenges in the blackwater system of the Nedbank Phase 2 project was reluctance on the part of the city. Brooker says that he understands this reluctance and it is reasonable. “The problem is the residue. The disposal of the sludge from the blackwater-treatment plant needs to be managed and presents a logistical challenge. The local authorities are concerned about the enrichment of the sewage. A certain dilution of sewage is needed so they are not prepared to take thickened sewage sludge into the system. They also have a problem with the nature of the partial-digestion product from some sewage-treatment plants. The organisms in a sewage plant have been developed to metabolise a certain kind of substance or mix of substances. If sewage is partially treated or fermented and thickened by taking out some of the water, some of the nutrients expected by the organisms in the sewage plant will be absent which could cause treatment problems.”
Another issue mentioned by Brooker is the maintenance of treatment plants and the fact that South Africa doesn’t have enough qualified personnel to conduct maintenance. He believes that blackwater-treatment systems might make economic sense but he is not entirely convinced that they are environmentally cost-effective.

Inanda Greens
Top Turf implemented a stormwater-harvesting scheme at the Inanda Greens office park a while ago. All the stormwater from the greens, bunkers and hollows is drained via a network of pipes which feed into a central storage dam on the lower part of the site.
“Herringbone drainage systems collect all the water at a single point on the greens, there are linked drains beneath the bunkers and the hollows around the greens have grid inlets which all drain inwards,” Johnathan Ferguson, of Top Turf, states. “A comprehensive network of pipes pulls the stormwater which, by gravity, runs from the high areas down the site and the final pipe goes into the dam.” 
In the hollows on the golf course, sand has been placed around the areas where it could become damp and a flared inlet has been installed to capture all the water. In addition, a column of stone has been placed around the pipes to increase drainage into the pipe.
Ferguson notes that, at Inanda Greens, a PVC-lined dam with a proper PVC membrane, which is 100% sealed in theory, has been chosen over an earth dam or clay lining – which lose about 5% to seepage – because the client did not want to lose harvested water.
A segmental wall system was implemented around the edge of the dam right from its lowest level to the top; ensuring that, at whatever level the dam is operating, it remains aesthetically appealing. “If storage dams are built so that they do not look unattractive at low levels, they can drop quite low and still not need augmentation in order to keep appearances,” adds Ferguson.
When the scheme at Inanda Greens was designed eight or nine years ago, the golf course was using 90 m³ of water a day and the dam cost about R1-million to build. The payback period was estimated to be less than 20 years. However, nowadays, a golf course uses about 400 m³ of water a day – 3 Ml to 4 Ml – and the cost of water is set to increase over time.

Absa Towers West
A greywater system is being installed in the Absa Towers West development because the client wants to revisit its methods of water reuse, according to Van der Westhuizen. A greywater system was chosen due to the availability of this form of wastewater and ease of maintenance. It was also more feasible than a blackwater system because there was not enough water use and recyclable water to justify the cost of a blackwater system.
The greywater is harvested from the on-site gym. It has been calculated that 800 people and three showers sessions will provide 45 000 l of water – 15 000 l can be harvested as 15 000 l is lost in the process and 15 000 l goes into storage. The recycled water is used for the toilets and flushing with 70% of water (recycled use) coming from greywater.
The system, which was manufactured by Pontos, came pre-packaged which makes it easy to install, Van der Westhuizen adds. The system is permanently linked to Pontos, which is based in Germany, online.
Van der Westhuizen says that the biggest challenge was to generate hot water in the most cost-effective way. This was overcome by harvesting heat from the energy-centre generators cooling system. “The heat generated from the generator cooling system is circulated through a plate heat exchanger and linked to the system during peak times – 06:00 to 10:00. During off-peak times, heat pumps are used to draw in hot air and transfer the heat energy into the water.”
Ease of maintenance was ensured by allocating enough maintenance space around the equipment, Van der Westhuizen imparts. “Often, due to the cost, space allocated for equipment is kept to a minimum. Absa’s development allows for enough space to do maintenance work. Basement 4 Block B was chosen as the location for the system as there was adequate space. In addition, the mezzanine floor was chosen for the hot-water system as it affords ease of distribution. In addition, easy-access ducts were built alongside the toilets to reach piping and water-distribution systems.”
A constant air gap between the greywater system and the domestic water, managed using a stop valve, ensures that contamination does not occur. A separate water-distribution system has also been developed and implemented.

Nedbank Phase 2
The EIA process for the blackwater system in Nedbank Phase 2 is still under way. However, only the blackwater-treatment facility still needs to be installed. The water-distribution network is in place.
Reyno Coetzer, wet services consultant for WSP on Nedbank Phase 2, says that, in the concept-design stage, the client specified a greywater or blackwater system. A blackwater system was chosen because the building would not have been able to harvest sufficient greywater as it is purely for office use and does not, for instance, have a gym. “For the second-class water requirements, it wasn’t feasible to harvest greywater. We, therefore, went for the blackwater option,” notes Coetzer.
The system is a traditional activated-sludge sewage-treatment process which has been simplified as the sludge is not treated on site but stored and then removed. Coetzer points out that this made the footprint of the treatment plant smaller and minimised the energy required to treat the water.
The water will be used for the air-conditioning cooling towers, irrigation, flushing the toilets and urinals, and cleaning the atrium glass roof. “In our initial design calculations, we estimated that about 100 000 l/day could be reused with this blackwater system (during peak demand),” states Coetzer. “The cooling towers alone use about 40 000 l/day.” He says that the payback period is about 10 years. In the initial design calculations, the cost of water was about R8/m3 and it could treat 1 000 l for R1,20.
According to Coetzer, the main challenge was making Johannesburg Water understand the process and accept that it would work. “The company was afraid that it would be liable for any breakdown.” Once a thorough explanation had been presented to Johannesburg Water, and it had been explained that the owner of the land would be responsible for the area within the boundary of the building, WSP could go ahead.
This was also the biggest lesson learned, Coetzer believes. He notes that the company took a very soft approach in helping the local authorities understand the system and set their minds at ease.
Regarding possible contamination, the plant will be inspected weekly and the quality of the water will be tested. The system is also 100% pure sewage so, if there is a problem, it can be drained into the normal council supply. If it cannot be discharged via the sewer, a disposal service will be called in. “We allowed for the chance of contamination in the design so there will be little, if any, contamination.”
In order to ensure that the sludge, which will only need to be removed about three times a year, is discarded in an environment-friendly manner, it will be removed by a licensed service provider with all the necessary backup, Coetzer points out. “We will check that all the predictive measures are in place and we will oversee the process to verify correct disposal.”

Community conundrum
The debate about whether or not these systems should span entire communities and precincts, rather than only serving a single building, has two sides. Sharing greywater for reuse between various buildings would make a system more feasible as some buildings produce more greywater than others. However, the issue of contamination is relevant.
Brooker notes that it could work but there would have to be strict control over the source of greywater, and access to the treated water and its use. He feels that societal rules and norms have not been developed and are not yet in place for this to be successful. “The water would have to be treated as potentially contaminated and you would have to be cautious in using it.”
Coetzer notes that a centralised system for a number of buildings will present responsibility issues and that there might be implications in terms of National Building Regulations as the wastewater captured from different parties will have to be redistributed and sold. “However, Johannesburg Water is the only licensed seller. That hurdle will have to be overcome first.”
Van der Westhuizen agrees that South African legislation has to be updated but notes that this is common practice overseas where neighbouring buildings “tap” into waste pipes in order to harvest clean water and resell it to other surrounding buildings.

Sustainable water solutions
A mere 100 m² roof wetted with 40 mm of rain can provide 4 m³ of water.
The Highveld receives 700 mm of rain a year which equates to 70 m³ of water from a 100 m² roof – that is 10 full JoJo tanks in one season. If it is not harvested, this water is wasted and it has an adverse impact on the environment.
Stormwater harvesting is simple and should be included in every project.
In terms of greywater and blackwater harvesting, the client must be involved and understand the implications of the system in order to make it sustainable.

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WASTE & POLLUTION MANAGEMENT BRIEFS

50% liquid waste, 25% solid waste reduced

Aberdare’s Envirowatch project has, in just two years, reduced electricity consumption by 25,23%, liquid waste by 50% and solid waste by 25%. Among the measures implemented to reduce liquid waste were the elimination of all route leaks, fitting of volume sensors and alarms on storage tanks, and the addition of a separate storage tank with recirculation pump, a divert route ring and shut-off valves to keep water within the system in the event that annealing plants go offline.
Scheduled maintenance on the tinning plant minimises the waste of process water. At the Pietermaritzburg plant, for example, an average of 5 000 l of wastewater a month is tanked off-site, treated and discarded; resulting in cost savings of R300 000 a year. With solid waste, Aberdare conducted an assessment of types of packaging and the hazardous risks associated with them. An effort was also made to separate the types of waste at source. A baler crushes and bales the waste for recycling. Cardboard, plastic, waste rags, aluminium foil, galvanised wire, paper packets, cans, plastic and steel drums, empty milk containers, metal and plastic strapping, cardboard cores, wasted and shredded paper are all collected, crushed and baled for sale to a recycler.

Carbon disclosure improves
As many as 74 of the JSE’s Top 100 companies responded to the 2010 Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) – the fourth highest response rate among 20 countries. “This suggests that, notwithstanding short-term concerns and the pressures associated with the economic downturn, climate change remains sufficiently high on the South African corporate agenda,” says Jonathon Hanks of Incite Sustainability, which compiled the South African CDP report.
The response rate improved significantly in comparison with last year’s 68%. Of the 74 respondents, 94% disclosed their GHG emissions – up from 87% last year – and 31 companies have adopted specific GHG emission-reduction targets while only 20 companies had targets last year.
Now in its fourth year, the CDP in South Africa is run as a partnership between the London-based CDP office and the National Business Initiative (NBI). The South African CDP is supported by KPMG as the lead sponsor, and Element Investment Managers and Webber Wentzel as co-sponsors. It widened its scope this year by rating the JSE’s Top 100 companies not only on disclosure of their GHG emissions and climate-change response strategies but also on their performance in reducing emissions, and adopting climate-change mitigation and adaptation actions.

Disposable batteries now reusable
A breakthrough in “green” energy technology, the Eco Charger negates the need to discard old AA and AAA batteries once they are depleted by enabling the recharging of regular disposable alkaline and Ni-MH batteries that would normally end up in landfills.
The Eco Charger, which is the result of over 10 years of research, features individual circuits, meaning that each battery is recharged separately. Each circuit is controlled by a special micro-processor which monitors each battery’s voltage and temperature during the charging process; ensuring a safe and efficient charge.

Climate-change mitigation and adaptation rated
FirstRand and Gold Fields emerged with the highest ratings for the level of their greenhouse-gas (GHG) emission disclosures as part of the 2010 Carbon Disclosure Project; scoring 93% on the South African Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI). They were followed by Anglo Platinum and Medi-Clinic Corporation, with 89%, and Nedbank with 88%.
In addition, four highly ranked companies in the CDLI received the best rating for their performance in climate-change mitigation and adaptation: Barloworld, Gold Fields, Nedbank and Woolworths Holdings. However, the 2010 CDP report cautions that most companies are “insufficiently advanced in their adaptation initiatives”. It urges a more structured focus by companies on adaptation opportunities.
Nevertheless, the report notes that climate-change issues appear to be increasingly integrated in companies’ governance activities.
Of the 74 respondent companies, 68 report having board committees or executive bodies which are responsible for climate change and 36 providing incentives to management in order to achieve climate-change goals.

Carbon-neutral drive continues
Backsberg Estate Cellars, the first South African winery to achieve carbon-neutral status, has partnered with Food & Trees for Africa (FTFA). Backsberg has invested heavily in a carbon audit so that it could reach its goal of becoming carbon-neutral. This goal was soon achieved; making it the first carbon-neutral wine estate in South Africa and one of only three in the world.
Its greening efforts continued on November 8 2010 when Backsberg welcomed 80 Japanese “ecovoluntourists” who planted 500 trees in the under-resourced community of Klapmuts.
These volunteers are on a tree-planting and food-gardening goodwill mission to South Africa coordinated by the Wonderful World Tree Planting Festival (a Japanese-based organisation), FTFA (a South African greening, climate-change action and food-security social enterprise) and The Green Ticket (which is involved in a rehabilitation project in the Tsitsikamma region with SANParks. The Japanese group was led by Earthwalker Paul Coleman, who has walked over 47 000 km through 39 nations spreading the environmental message, and Hiromitsu Noriyasu (Tentsukuman), a Japanese comedian.

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INSPIRATION

Interactive installation
Meaningful, relevant beautification can really make a difference – in terms of aesthetics and for the greater good of society.
A new monument has been placed in Sandton – at the corner of 5th and Maude streets. It was created by Building a Nation which, through this medium, aims to “provide the platform and basis for a new collective effort in which all South Africans can participate to create a better South Africa and future for all”.
It celebrates South Africa’s past successes, such as Nelson Mandela instating a “rainbow nation” and the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and presents possible future triumphs. One of the messages in the monument is that, by working together, South Africans can create a model nation.
The interactive component of the structure cleverly emphasises the need for South Africans to come together and communicate. On Facebook, members can post a quote and see what others are posting. This initiative provides the nation with a means to relate to one another; advancing our understanding of our fellow citizens.
The components of the design include a “candle of hope” and a well of water. The well represents the pain and tears of those who have suffered and lost loved ones along the way while the top of the candle of hope represents an eternal flame which lights the way to “better tomorrows”. The 27 m-long wall of glass reflects the fragility of our times while the trees printed on it represent the collective strength of our natural heritage and our responsibility to protect it.
Building a Nation states that it strives to fight crime through the creation and provision of lasting and sustainable employment so that all South Africans can benefit from the miracle that is South Africa. This monument is relevant to the country and this period in the country’s history. It will certainly make an indelible impression on the landscape of Sandton and, hopefully, the lives of all who behold it.

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INSULT

World Cup – waste of resources
Short-term World Cup interventions were a waste of resources and time. Why did Johannesburg not implement more sustainable beautification initiatives?
In the August 2010 edition of Urban Green File, the hasty “beautification” of Johannesburg prior the 2010 FIFA World Cup was the topic of the “insult” column. We questioned whether or not some of the city’s greening and beautification initiatives had been done in vain. The state of a section of road opposite the Gautrain Marlboro Station suggests that this was, indeed, the case.
The median had been decorated with soccer balls and a large 2010 sign, and carefully landscaped for the occasion earlier this year. However, these aesthetic elements have all been uprooted as the road is being reconstructed. The investment and time spent on the previous upgrade was, therefore, a total waste. Why was the job not done correctly from the outset? Granted, time was most probably an issue but this does not excuse the creation of unsustainable infrastructure. In addition, the vegetation, which was planted only a few months back, has been covered with building rubble, among other construction paraphernalia. Surely, this could have been foreseen and planned accordingly.
Obviously, the initial installation was a short-term intervention. Would it not have been better to have created a lasting effect that wowed visitors and bettered the local environment for many more years to come rather than wasting city resources on a less-than-adequate resolution? Surely, better city management and planning could have prevented this.

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VIEWPOINT

The value of trees
Why, when it comes to property development, is tree planting relegated to last on the list of priorities?
When property developers’ budgets are tight, one of the first costs cut is the landscaping budget. And then the specified size of trees is reduced. If the cost remains too high, planting of trees is even scrapped entirely. Yet, for me, this seems to be a short-sighted and counter-productive decision. Instead of saving significant costs, its impact will be negative and result in a reduction in the perceived value of a property.
A mere glance at successful property and infrastructure projects worldwide is proof positive of the value of trees. Is it a coincidence that Johannesburg’s most desirable suburbs lie in its north which is lush with a verdant human-made forest? Or that Cape Town’s leafy Bishopscourt and Constantia attract even higher property prices than properties with sea views?
A project which illustrates my point strikingly is 44 Stanley Avenue in Milpark, Johannesburg. When Urban Green File celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2006, this remarkable project was chosen as the “inspiration of the decade”. Derelict industrial buildings were converted into the city’s trendiest lifestyle village – complete with shops, restaurants, offices and apartments. It was easily the most exceptional example of the adaptive reuse of an urban space that Urban Green File had seen.
But what made 44 Stanley Avenue so successful? I would argue that the visionary planting of trees in the courtyards made all the difference. I returned to the site for the first time in a number of years just the other day and what I found was simply astounding. The olive trees have grown tall and provide a canopy over the courtyards. On a Saturday morning, the restaurant tables under these trees are packed with patrons. Clearly the “Jozi” population regards this gem of a space as desirable and people are eager to spend their money there.
I would go so far as to say that 44 Stanley Avenue would never have been as successful without its trees.
On the other side of Johannesburg’s inner city, another courtyard, Arts on Main, is also covered with olive and lemon trees. Give it a couple of years and this space will become as desirable as the courtyards at 44 Stanley Avenue.
Do property developers, planners and engineers need more evidence to convince them that trees are essential on any property or infrastructural development? And, if they do believe this, why was the decision made to remove a whole gamut of large plane trees along Empire Road in Parktown, Johannesburg, to make way for Rea Vaya bus lanes? Do the operators of this state-of-the-art public-transport system not realise that their customers are people and that people’s perceptions of their service offering are shaped by the image it projects. If the trees had been retained and another solution was found to align the route, I am sure that Rea Vaya would have stronger support. In fact, I would have thought that the Gautrain and Rea Vaya projects would have been accompanied by massive tree-planting initiatives. The Rea Vaya routes should be distinctly identifiable by the types of trees and become part of the service’s corporate identity.
Talking about the Gautrain, imagine looking out over a tree-covered landscape along the route. Not to mention the obvious benefits of an associated carbon-offsetting initiative for both projects.
To be fair, I have seen some vigorous tree planting along a portion of a Rea Vaya route in Soweto. Now let’s plant more trees, wherever we build!