Think again about high water bills

With the rapid decrease in energy resources, sustainable building practices have become the order of the day. 

One very precious resource is water. A rainwater harvesting system is a great investment and definitely something to consider for long term savings.

One such company that provides high quality rain harvesting systems for new buildings, as well as the optimization of old systems is “Use – rainwater.com”. Their expertise is achieved by close contact with architects and home owners to provide the best possible design.

The deluxe water purification system:

 The main aim of the system is to use accumulated rainwater and purify it into potable water. The end result is therefore water that is clear, contains no visible particles or harmful chemicals and has been sanitized of all possible bacteria and harmful micro-organisms. This is achieved by following 3 steps:

1.       Flushing and cleaning.

2.       Filtration of the water under pressure.

3.       Sanitization.

In a nutshell, flushing and cleaning of water happens at the very beginning when water is being accumulated. Filters are placed to prevent all rubbish and solid materials such as leaves from entering the system. Clean and pure water is then achieved by special filters under pressure which remove large particles for consistence. Lastly, UV sterilization kills any remaining harmful microorganisms to ensure that water is safe to drink.

This installation does however require a large capital outlay. The deluxe system can be utilised to collect water where there is a 200sqm roof to substitute the use of local municipal water.

Either a basic above ground system or an underground system can be installed into new developments. However, underground tanks are more expensive (R120 000- R170 000) than those above ground (R40 000 – 50 000) due to the special civil work required.

If aesthetics is given priority to cost, such as in high budgeted homes, then an underground rain water harvesting system should definitely be considered. It is a great way to save a precious resource, to save utility bills in the long run and to eliminate the unsightly effect of the basic above ground system.

Being a reputable company, careful designs are used to prioritise cleanliness and oxygen levels in “use – rainwater.com” tanks.

A major deciding factor as to whether or not a rain harvesting system is viable for you or not is the average rainfall in your area. This would determine the worthiness of your investment. Keep in mind that South Africa is regarded as a dry country (approximately 464mm annual rainfall) when compared to the world annual average rainfall of approximately 860mm.

This is where the Durban based company, use-rainwater.com comes in! Not only do they provide standard harvesting systems, but they offer unique designs to suit your needs. One such need is municipal connections for use during drier times of the year.

It’s time to start saving! So contact 0824528280 or visit http://www.use-rainwater.com/ for more information.

Product Review

PRODUCT REVIEW

Ruan Pretorius   15026508

Ross De Beer      15006949

Ecofriendly Building Material

With a big alarm being triggered by the deterioration of natural resources, weather and climate changes due to a rise in temperatures and carbon footprints being increased yearly, these growing issues and great concerns to the wellbeing of Mother Nature have upped the tempo of the three R’s. Reducing, recycling and reusing methods. With the population rate skyrocketing there is a huge demand for housing, food and expansion of urban and sub urban areas. Thus having this demand has contributed to this shocking number 900,000,000 (Ran, 2008) , of trees removed yearly to provide the raw building materials. Therefor after doing some careful studying there seems to be a possible solution that’s been in a slow trend motion catching up. A well-known solution that’s suggested to work, is the recycling and reuse of wooden building materials, gathered from demolished houses etc.

Thus, as my suggestion through research. It states that wood offers the builder or designer several environmental advantages that are:

·         Wood is a renewable sources of building material.

·         Wooden production have the ability to store Carbon Dioxide.

·         The manufacturing of these wooden products use less energy to create and generations through the processing of the wood can be used in variation.

As the world’s GHG (Green House Gas) emissions are increasing rapidly wood can produce environmentally friendly performance benefits. For the architect that is environmentally conscious wood stores carbon for its entire life service and with the use of wood the property it has embedded within itself it can help the fight against climate change (Dozier, 2010 May 28) and contribute to a low carbon footprint economy. Thus after analyzing what I have researched I questioned why the use of wood isn’t implemented in South Africa as much as in America. We have the machinery to achieve all of these benefits wood has to offer, the process of recycling the wood isn’t a complicated process. It involves good treatment of the demolished wood, shutterstock (which is the process of breaking the wood into finer pieces for compaction (Figure 1)) and thus good compaction with the aid of a bonding glue (Figure 2).

Figure 1: (Shutter stock production pellets)                              Figure 2: (Compaction and bonding)

 Having done our BWT project, which was to visit a construction site partaking in the erection of a one story building. I realized the amount of CO² emissions that are involved in the production of the house was horrific (factories producing all the building materials, such a concrete, compacted bricks etc. is what contributes to my realization).

If there could be a possible implementation of what I have discussed we could actually change the world in the construction industry as cliché that sounds. Having a sustainable forest that practices and regenerates the natural product there are endless possibilities with only our imagination that restricts us (Figure 3). Having the recycling of wood and demolished building materials could have a major impact on the environment and significantly improve the environment’s credentials (Hooper, N/A) in the construction industry.

                         

  Figure 3: (Possible outcomes of an ecofriendly lifestyle and home)

Bibliography

Dozier, B. (2010 May 28). Just another WordPress.com Blog. N/A: Barbra Dozier.

Hooper, B. (N/A, N/A N/A). Recycled Timber, Wood in Eco Friendly & Energy Efficient Homes-Why Wood. Retrieved from Wood Solutions : http://www.woodsolutions.com.au/Why-Wood/

Ran, B. (2008, April 22). RainForest Action Network. Retrieved from http://www.ran.org/how_many_trees_are_cut_down_every_year

Tshwaraganang Construction

O.V. Diphoko                        10510649 (Group leader)

R.A. Mwaka                           14216681

G. Monyepao                        15132740

S. Mfeka                                12238253

Lecturer: ALL 122 – Prof. A. Carstens

Light of my life

The number of South Africans without homes is astonishingly high and the government’s solution to this is RDP (Reconstruction and Development Programme) housing. This solution, however, means more electricity will be used by each house that is built, thus increasing the demand for electricity. Eskom has introduced the CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) light bulbs shown in figure 1 - which they said saves/use less electricity than the current incandescent light bulbs shown in figure 2.

CFL light bulbs are fluorescent bulbs designed to replace incandescent bulbs.  CFLs create light differently than incandescent bulbs. An incandescent bulb is created in such a way that an electric current runs through a wire filament and heats the filament until its starts to glow (Energy star, 2010). In CFL light bulbs, however, an electric current is driven through a tube that contains argon and some mercury vapour. This creates ultraviolet light that energizes a fluorescent coating (phosphor) on the inside of the tube which then emits visible light (Energy star, 2010).

CFL light bulbs are a great choice in decreasing the electricity usage and they are far more environmentally friendly. There are many benefits financially and environmentally to installing CFL light bulbs. Firstly CFLs use less energy (75% less energy) than incandescent light bulbs (Energy star, 2010). A standard 60-watt bulb can be replaced with a 13-watt CFL bulb and save about R300 over the life of the light bulb (General electric, n.d.). This saves the user plenty of money as the CFL lasts about 10 000 hours, whereas the standard bulbs last 800-1500 hours (Johnson). By using CFL light bulbs the user also decreases the amount of electricity being used so less coal is used to create electricity and as a result the environment is less impacted by emissions created from burning coal.

There are many types of CFL light bulbs and the size(s) and mass of CFL light bulbs may vary to the average incandescent light bulb depending on the type of CFL light bulb that is purchased (1000 bulbs, n.d.).

THE CFL light bulbs are a bit more costly than the incandescent bulb. The CFL light bulb costs used to be high in the past - at between R60.00-R80.00 per bulb, but have been significantly reduced to about R16.00 per bulb as compared to the incandescent light bulb that sits at around R10.00 per bulb (100 bulbs, n.d.).

The advantage of CFL is thus that you save more time and money over time; the packaging is almost identical to the packaging of incandescent light bulbs; and they are also easy to install so there will be little to no confusion while changing from incandescent light bulbs to CFL light bulbs.

There is, however, a disadvantage to CFL light bulbs as they are fragile and contain mercury vapour within them which is toxic. Therefore, if it is not handled carefully, it could be hazardous to human health (how stuff works, 2015).

It is recommended that CFL light bulbs be used wherever possible as the saving of electricity would have a high positive impact not only on the environment but financially as well. CFL light bulbs save money and the environment simultaneously so they would be a smart investment to anyone who wants to put money back into their pockets.

REFERENCING

ACS Publications. 2015. Potential Environmental Impacts from the Metals in Incandescent, Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL), and Light-Emitting Diode (LED) Bulbs. n.d. [Online]. Availble: <http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es302886m>

Eartheasy. 2014. Energy efficient lighting.n.d. [Online]. Available:<http://eartheasy.com/live_energyeff_lighting.htm>

Eskom. Eskom procurement/ CFL specifications.n.d. [Online]. Avaialble: <http://www.eskom.co.za/sites/idm/Residential/ResidentialTechnologies/SafeDisposalOfCFLs/Pages/Eskom%20Procurement%20CFL%20Specifications.aspx>

Harris, W. 2015. How CFL bulbs work. [Online]. Available: <http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-tech/sustainable/cfl-bulb1.htm>  [Accessed 10 May 2015].

Layton, H. 2015. Is the amount of mercury in CFLs more dangerous than the amount in fish?. n.d. [Online]. Avaiable: <http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/cfl-mercury.htm>

SouthAfrica.info. 2011. South Africa goes for 'green' lighting. 20 January. [Online]. Available:  <http://www.southafrica.info/about/sustainable/energy-180111.htm#.VTLj5vnF-H4>

Works Cited

Energy star. (2010). learn about CFL's. Energy star.

  

Solar power from the sun

Solar geysers are more widely used around South Africa than before and more specifically in RDP houses. The purpose of using solar geysers is to save both electricity and money. Solar geysers are mainly used in RDP houses as a way to reduce costs in the household. Solar geysers are predominantly used in less affluent areas of South Africa.

There are 3 types of solar geysers: the direct solar geyser system, the indirect solar geyser system and the closed couple or split solar system. (Saving Energy, 2015)

 The Direct Solar system, shown in figure1, uses evacuated tubes, where the warm water is transported from the panel to the geyser - driving the cold water into the panel for heating. The geyser is mainly used for keeping the water warm. The system needs to be installed on a North facing roof. (Saving Energy, 2015)

The indirect solar system, shown in Figure 2, uses flatbed panels and is also placed on a North facing roof. It uses a Duel tank where the water remains within an inner water tank, Glycol known as anti-freeze flows from the outside panel to the outside tank which heats the water within the inner tank.(Saving Energy, 2015)

The split solar system uses reinforcement of the roof as the tank is located inside the roof and not on top. This type of geyser allows for the tank and the panel to be separate. (Saving Energy, 2015)

Whereas the closed couple system doesn’t use reinforcement of the roof, because the tank and solar panel are installed as a unit. (Saving Energy, 2015)

Traditionally the indirect solar system is more successful nationwide than the direct solar system and split solar system because of their resistance to cold and it being a low pressure system.

The three systems differ and compile of different salient characteristics like the weight and pricing. The Split solar system is known to be the most expensive ranging from R16929 (Including VAT) as the installation process requires a high level of understanding combined with expensive material. (Solar Guru, n.d.)  The Split Solar system also has its benefits; it is a quality, long-life and durable system making it a once-off installation requiring no replacements or maintenance.

With the Indirect Solar system being less than the Split Geyser which costs an approximate amount of R8127.00 (Including  VAT) - depending on the size of the tank used and the weight (standard tank of 150L 400kpa-5150D) (Solar Guru, n.d.). The installation process for the Indirect System is made difficult by the additional pump needed to circulate the fluids through a closed-loop system, making it require regular maintenance and replacement of the pipes. This is accompanied by additional electricity power usage and more expenses. The main advantageous component of the Indirect Solar system is its Anti-Freezing system, making it adapt without temperature disturbance when it comes to the required water in areas that are prone to freezing and also saves on costs. (Dakko Power, 2008)

The system used in most small households or RDP houses is the Direct Solar System. It is easier to install than most solar systems and is the cheapest amongst the three at an approximate amount of R6749.00 (Including VAT). (Solar Guru, n.d.) The low cost of the system results in the system requiring plenty of maintenance. Water softeners are sometimes required in areas with poor or hard water conditions, making it not as durable compared to the other systems. The tanks used for this system differs in size and weight making it more expensive if the two are increased.

REFERENCING

 

Dakko Power. 2008. Retro-fit Solar Geyser installation manual. n.d. [ Online]. Available: < http://www.dako.co.za/solar_design.html>

Saving Energy. 2015. The solar geyser. n.d. [Online]. Available: http://savingenergy.co.za/solar-geyser/

Solar Guru. 2014. Solar geysesr technology. n.d. [Online]. Available: < http://solarguru.co.za/

 Bulbs

Figure 1: different types of CFL light bulbs   

Figure 2: incandescent light bulb


Solar Geysers 

Figure 1: Direct Solar system

Figure 2: Indirect Solar system

Sustainable multi-function heating for your home

In today's times with the prices of everything rising, products which perform multiple functions are becoming increasingly popular. Buying a product that serves more than one purpose saves you money. This is one of those products. The Calore P963 Thermo.

It is a combination fireplace and water heater. It looks like a fireplace but its main function is as a water heater. The water heater unit is contained within the casing of the product. This water can be used in a central heating system or to supplement the house’s normal hot water installation. The heated air can also be ducted through the house, further increasing the effect of the fire place and spreading the heat into multiple rooms. It has a high energy output of 15.6 kW and operates at a 92.2% thermal efficiency.

Calore’s products are all handmade from steel and cast iron for heat resistance and durability. It features an integrated LCD screen, ignition, thermostat and timer. This further increases its efficiency by ensuring that it only runs when it is needed. The timer can be set with a daily or weekly program giving the user greater flexibility and allowing you to match it to your schedule. An electronic ignition enables the system to start without any human assistance. It also has its own fuel storage hopper which allows it to run for many hours without the need to top it up.

The fire place burns a special type of compressed wood pellets which are made from sawdust, woodchips and other scraps of wood. It is a natural product and no additives are used to manufacture them. They are made from materials which would otherwise be considered waste. They are fairly cheap and burn very efficiently producing only 1 - 2% ash. These materials are sourced from sustainable forests and scrap from the sawmills of the pine industry. A major supplier of these pellets in South Africa is Pellet Power. This specific model uses 1.5-3 kg/hr depending on the temperature it is set to.

Though you may face a high initial cost, many of the benefits of this wood pellet fireplace are in the future. The inexpensive pellets reduce the running costs and less effort is required to maintain it due to the small quantity of ash produced.

Thermal Ceiling Eco-Insulation for RDP Houses

Green building is the concept of finding the balance between building and ensuring a sustainable environment. Although this wasn’t seen enough on the site we visited in Mamelodi, alternatives and additions could be made to improve sustainable construction. The construction project is a RDP housing project in a low income area where energy saving and a ‘greener lifestyle’ is not something the inhabitants are well aware of. Energy conservation is very crucial as our country is currently facing an energy crisis. To promote energy conservation and improve sustainable building practices in this area, we recommend the installation of thermal ceiling eco-insulation.

Product Overview

Ceiling eco-insulation is a product produced here in South Africa. The product can be made from recycled PET bottles or recycled newspaper. The production process is quite similar to the way in which isotherm is produced. According to a telephone interview with Warren, who works for Home Insulators in Johannesburg, this type of insulation is still very new in our country’s market and is also a cheaper alternative to isotherm and other more expensive insulators.

The insulation is manufactured in 5 different thicknesses namely 40mm, 50mm, 75mm, 100mm and 130mm depending on the specifications provided by the supplier. This eco-friendly product is used in ceilings and dry walling.

Main Features of the Product

·         100% seamless cover

·         Fire Resistant

·         Insect and rodent repellent

·         Non-allergenic, non-toxic and non-irritant

·         Sound Proof

·         Cool in the summer, warm in the winter

·         Lifetime guarantee

 

Product verdict

After careful consideration of the lack of sustainable construction on our chosen site and the implications thereof, we have reached the following conclusion;

The eco-insulation would be a great addition to the housing project we visited because firstly it provides coolness in the summer and warmth in the winter. This as a result, reduces the overall need for heating systems that are expensive and potentially life threatening with the risk of fires. If however, these freak fires occur as they frequently do in a rural area such as this, the eco-insulation is an excellent fire retardant. Tests conducted by SANS 428 show that the insulation can withstand heat without emitting noxious fumes and spreading. This is particularly good as the houses in this area are closely packed, therefore damage to nearby residences is eliminated.

Due to unhygienic waste disposal, low income areas such as this, tend to have insect and rodent problems. The eco-insulation is an irritant to insects and rodents and will therefore act as effective pest control in the roofs.

Any allergy sufferers will not be affected by this product.

The eco-insulation can be seen as a lifetime investment as it can never become ineffective or deteriorate. It also in turn promotes electrical saving which is great for energy conservation.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, eco-insulation is expensive as it is relatively new in the market. Costing for low income housing such as this might create some difficulty. As mentioned above, the product is still new in the market so consumers are still sceptical about it.

Although the product is expensive and not fully trusted yet, it does perform functions that promote a greener and more sustainable environment. With eco-insulations, not only will homeowners be protected from potential harmful fires or harsh weather conditions, they will also be able to contribute to making the world ‘greener’.