Green building aims to create healthy, comfortable homes using sustainable materials and passive systems for cooling and heating. It is important as the construction industry contributes significantly to global warming. Green homes can be more comfortable while using less energy. Making small, incremental changes like installing efficient appliances and insulation can help homes become more sustainable and save money over time. Designing from the start with passive systems and considering all aspects can help contain costs for new eco-friendly homes. While there may be higher upfront costs, green homes provide lifestyle benefits and future savings that outweigh those costs when viewed as a long-term investment.

1. Cape Town-based architect Andy Horn, of Eco-Design
Architects, says: “Green building is about creating safe, comfortable, healthy buildings using
local, natural and sustainable materials and simple, passive, cyclical systems (using the natural
flow of air to cool and heat a house).”
This is important, since global construction is a major contributor to the global warming
crisis. AJ Corbett, of TCN Architects in Port Elizabeth, says: “We can’t escape the reality that
our built environment contributes to more than 40% of global warming emissions and will
continue to do so over a home’s lifespan.”
Evan Lockhart-Barker, GM: Marketing for building materials company Saint-Gobain
Southern Africa, puts it even more simply: “Our ambition in the South African market is to be
able to build better homes that are more comfortable. In winter, you should be able to sit in
your house in shorts and a T-shirt with minimal energy input.”
No matter what your motivation, whether you’re a tree-hugger (a commendable trait),
want to save a few rands by running a more efficient home or are concerned with the health
of your family, a greener house will make a difference. “When it comes to building, there are
many shades of green and each project has its own unique set of opportunities,” says Horn.
PROGRESSIVE
LIVING
BEING GREEN ISN’T
ONLY ABOUT PROTECTING
OUR VULNERABLE
PLANET: IT’S ALSO ABOUT
CREATING HEALTHIER
LIFESTYLES AND SAVING
MONEY. THESE CONCEPTS
ARE PARTICULARLY
SIGNIFICANT IN OUR
BIGGEST INVESTMENTS:
OUR HOMES
BY GAYE CROSSLEY
WHAT EXACTLY IS A GREEN/ECO-SUSTAINABLE/
EFFICIENT HOUSE?
92 Sawubona June 2015

2. WHERE TO START
Since most of us still live in old-school,
energy-inefficient homes, how do we start
greening our lifestyles?
Both Lockhart-Barker and Horn say it’s
best to make small, incremental changes.
Horn offers these tips:
• Next time you paint, use an
eco-friendly product.
• Next time you need to change a lightbulb,
opt for a LED lamp.
• Before you think about generating
power or harvesting rainwater, do an
energy audit to see where you can cut
back on inefficiencies.
• Install a water-saving shower head.
• Insulate your geyser.
• Replace inefficient appliances such
as old fridges and swap electric stoves
for gas hobs.
• Insulate your roof.
• Look at replacing old windows and glass
doors with double glazing.
Once you’ve ticked these boxes, Corbett
suggests you start looking at rainwater
harvesting, creating an indigenous garden
which saves on water and attracts birds and
bees, and, of course, recycling.
Lockhart-Barker believes another vital
step is to retrofit your home in order to
keep ambient temperature variations to a
minimum. He says: “Make sure your doors
and windows close efficiently and dry-line
your walls with plasterboard to prevent heat
loss through masonry walls (as plasterboard
doesn’t allow any heat or cold transfer to
come through from the walls).” He also
suggests insulating not only your ceilings,
but your floors too by inserting a simple
polystyrene lining (be sure to get an expert’s
advice) between the foundation and the
floor surface.
Only then should you consider taking
your home off the grid. Horn stresses that
this is an expensive upfront option, so if
you’re budget-strapped, you may not want
to rush into it.
BUILDING AN ECO-HOME
For the lucky few who are in a position to
conceptualise and then build the home of
their dreams, this is the perfect time to take
the leap to green/efficient/sustainable/eco.
Firstly, recommends Horn: “Find a good
architect who understands environmental
design and a contractor who’s ready to
embrace the idea of building green.”
Corbett explains: “To properly design
an integrated system for an eco-friendly
house, all aspects need to
be considered, since all the
systems need to work together.
If this is done from the start,
property
June 2015 Sawubona 93
GALLOIMAGES/GETTYIMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO

3. property
with zoning diagrams and a
passive system built in, costs
can easily be contained, as the
orientation and site specifics
of a residence can be designed to maximise
its environmental response.”
When building and designing a home,
it’s also important to decide from the
outset just how far you want to go. You can
then select appropriate building options.
Lockhart-Barker suggests light, steel-framed
buildings with plasterboard walls. “These
types of homes are quick and easy to build.
They greatly reduce the need for heating or
cooling systems and use hardly any water in
the building process,” he says. If you balk at
the idea of plasterboard, the range of high-
tech offerings will astound you.
Natural building materials are another
option. Horn recommends using natural,
non-toxic options like lime or clay-based
plaster products and paints that allow walls
to breathe. Horn also suggests other natural
products, such as timber with non-toxic
treatments and finishes, sun-baked bricks,
rammed earth walls, hay bales and even
sandbags. “These help improve the thermal
comfort of a building, while making for a
healthier internal environment,” he says.
When designing your new home, you
should also investigate finishes
that will further boost your
efficiencies, such as dry
composting toilets, grey
water systems, rainwater
harvesting, indigenous
water-friendly landscaping,
solar energy and eco-pools.
RETURN ON
INVESTMENT
Many individuals are put
off greening their homes by
the perception that it’s costly
– but that’s no longer the case.
Both Lockhart-Barker and Horn say
it’s important to look beyond the initial
costs and view your home as a long-term
investment. This means taking the future
costs of running a home into account.
“When we look at things over a longer
time-frame, we realise that what may
appear expensive now is actually the
cheapest option,” says Horn. “Spending
money on making your house more
energy-efficient needs to be seen as an
investment, not a luxury.”
Lockhart-Barker says Saint-Gobain’s
sample home – called Stand 47 – cost 8%
more to build than a conventional building,
but the future savings far outweigh the
additional cost. “If you’re able to reduce
consumption and remove products you
no longer need in your house, like heaters
and air-cons, then the lifestyle costs of the
building drop significantly,” he adds.
Corbett mentions another angle to the
cost debate. “The lifestyle benefits can’t be
over-stressed. Living in a well-lit, well-
ventilated space with free access to planted
areas has a positive effect on the health and
attitudes of the family living there.”
However, the final word goes to
Horn, who puts the debate into a global
context: “Humans need a major wake-
up call regarding the environment. Our
current building solutions are caught up in
consumerist, linear-based systems that use
up resources and create waste. We’re over-
reliant on heavily polluting and increasingly
expensive fossil fuel-based technology, both
in the manufacture
of materials and in
transporting goods and
services to site.
“We all need to urgently begin
the transition to a more sustainable,
regenerative future that’s based on cyclical
systems of design.” Powerful words that
are well worth pondering.
“Ourcurrent
building solutions
are caught up in
consumerist, linear-
based systems that
use up resources and
create waste.”