Amended National Building Regulations

South Africa, says Lanice Steward, Managing Director of the Cape Peninsula real estate agency Anne Porter Knight Frank, has proved very supportive of measures to ‘green’ commercial buildings and homes throughout the country and make them more compliant with internationally accepted standards regarding energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Now, says Steward, moves in this direction have been further reinforced by amendments to the National Building Regulations.  These, she says, were approved by Dr Rob Davies, the Minister of Trade and Industry, early in September and will become effective in early November.

“The goal of the new legislation, it seems,” says Steward, “is to cut back on electricity use, especially on lighting, hot water, air-conditioning systems and lifts.  The call is, therefore, to improve the insulation of building ‘envelopes’ and to take other measures to reduce energy usage.

“In future in new buildings at least 50% of the annual average hot water heating requirement will have to be provided by ‘means other than electrical resistance heating’.”

This, says Steward, will in time outlaw the standard bar electric heaters and usher in an era of solar heating, heat pumps, heat recovery systems and renewal combustible fuel.

The new regulations will also ensure that that the orientation of buildings and their shading positions comply with the norms accepted by most First World countries.

“Anyone who has been involved with the housing industry for some time,” says Steward, “will be able to testify that there have been many Cape Peninsula homes which have been extremely inefficient in this respect.”

New buildings’ energy savings, says Steward, will be compared to those of a hypothetical reference building of the same size and in the same location.  Energy efficiency measures adopted must be equal to or better than those of the reference building.

“It has been said,” says Steward, “that with some 25% of our population still living in Third World shack homes measures of this kind are inappropriate. There may be some truth in this, but it is also true that steps taken in this direction actually work to the benefit of all concerned because the innovations usually pay for themselves within a relatively short space of time. Any measures that reduce the cost of energy in RDP and other low cost projects are to be especially welcomed – and any move which slows down global warming must receive South Africa’s support.”