Eco-friendly homes a blueprint for future developments

A low cost development in Khayelitsha, the Kuyasa project, was recognised for its role in reducing greenhouse gases and is being seen as a blueprint for future developments.

The United Nations conference on climate change in Montreal, Canada, has highlighted the need for innovative thinking regarding building houses for the future, while a Cape Town project received funding for its contribution to sustainable development in housing.

A low cost development in Khayelitsha, the Kuyasa project, was recognised for its role in reducing greenhouse gases, demonstrating that South Africa has the means to the lead the field in developing energy efficient housing - before it's too late.

The Kuyasa homes – originally built under the Reconstruction and Development Programme - were retro-fitted with energy-saving devices such as insulated ceilings, low-watt bulbs and solar water heaters which saved an estimated 2.85 tons of carbon dioxide per household per year. The pilot project is being seen as a blueprint for future developments.

In May this year, a report by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) said as a result of the so-called greenhouse effect, South Africa is going to experience a "steady warming of three degrees Celsius within the lifetime of the present generation of children".

The impact of this on water resources, food production, poor communities and tourism, among other things, will be enormous. The report also predicts an increase in "extreme events", such as floods, hailstorms and hurricanes

There is no doubt climate change will impact on the way houses are built. Already the Dutch are building amphibious houses that give new meaning to the old story of Noah's Ark – and could be the answer to the increasing problem of hurricanes and floods in low-lying areas.

The Dutch houses, 37 of them built along the Maas, don't have traditional cellars. Rather, they are built on a platform and the hollow foundation of each house works in the same way as the hull of a ship, buoying the structure above water. To prevent the swimming houses from floating away, they slide up two broad steel posts - and as the water level sinks, so they sink back down again.

Back home in South Africa, BP have built one of the most progressive buildings in the country – and saved money doing it. Architect Pedro Ross of Studio Kruger Roos, in collaboration with Joshua Conrad Architects, headed up the project team. They reported that 'building costs fell within five per cent of what traditional buildings cost to build. This will go a long way to prove that buildings that live off green energy are affordable and viable'.

The BP headquarters at the V&A Waterfront has a façade that shades the offices while letting in lots of natural light, uses fresh air for ventilation which keeps aircon to a minimum. It also creates a naturally well-lit building, which coupled with a cutting edge lighting control system, dramatically cuts down the use of electricity. Rainwater and water from basins and sinks is collected and used for irrigating the landscaping and flushing the lavatories, saving precious water.

Plans for an ecologically sound sustainable housing and business development in the Oude Molen precinct near Pinelands are well under way. The village, that runs alongside Valkenburg Hospital, is already populated by an 'alternative' community that grows organic vegetables and recycles all its own rubbish.