There’s good and bad news on the energy efficiency front. The good news is that the country now has its own private sector council dedicated to promoting sustainability in the building industry.
The bad news is that government — at least as far as its critics are concerned — is apparently dragging its heels on introducing new legislation to promote energy efficiency.
It is common cause that the country has an energy crisis. It is also widely accepted that saving energy is much cheaper (and quicker) than building new capacity, but critics say that the department of minerals and energy lost impetus after Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka became deputy president and that initiatives she set up have shown slow or no progress since. In particular there is concern over the lack of transparency and progress in the development of enabling legislation to promote energy efficiency.
Although the department of minerals and energy Director General Sandile Nogxina promised earlier this year that draft law would be tabled later this year, it is yet to be made available for outside scrutiny. This includes the absence of detailed proposals tabled at a two-day energy summit convened by the department in Johannesburg this week.
There is concern on the part of some observers that the energy efficiency drive has been hijacked or waylaid by industry interests that are satisfied with the status quo. The department’s Sandile Tyatya referred inquiries on the content of government’s programme to the energy efficiency strategy that was finalised in 2005.
But observers say that though this is a good enabling document, government now needs to show its hand in practical measures, which will drive greater efficiency.
“The 2005 strategy document has very good intentions. But the trouble is there has been very little action,” says one expert who consults to government and asked not to be named.
“Since the energy accord with industry was agreed [under Mlambo-Ngcuka’s leadership] very little has happened.”
Tyatya said that there had been “a degree of progress”. He said that it was intended that a draft Bill, which would include both carrots and sticks, would be completed by the end of October.
South Africa last month became the latest country to join the green building movement, when the green building council (GBC) held its inaugural meeting. This movement aims to promote sustainability in the construction industry by encouraging energy efficiency.
A world green building council was established with nine founding members in 1998, including the United States, Australia, Britain, Brazil, Canada Japan, Mexico, Spain and India.
These councils operate education programmes and rating systems by which architects and developers can have their building ranked in terms of its energy efficiency.
Bruce Kerswill, of the Spire property group, says that good design can mean that a green building is every bit as sophisticated as any other building but can have lower energy requirements of between 50% and 70%. He says that green buildings can also bring health and productivity benefits to their occupants.
The current initiative, which is backed by the property industry’s representative body, Sapoa, stems from Kerswill’s frustration at wanting to do a green project in South Africa but being unable to do so because of a lack of skills and knowledge.
He attended a conference organised by the Australian chapter of the green building council, which provided impetus for the establishment of the South African council.
Council members are drawn from across the country and include representatives of bodies such as the Coucil for Scientific and Industrial Research, the Institute of Architects and major corporates, says Kerswill.
There are three rating systems currently in use by green builders worldwide. These are the US’s Leed, the UK’s Breeam and Australia’s Green Star.
These systems rate buildings on a range of environmental factors which can include the siting of the building, the properties of the materials used, the construction methods, the insulation properties and the overall energy profile in terms of inputs and outputs.
“The idea is to have an objective rating tool to assess how green a building is,” says Kerswill, adding that otherwise anyone can make claims that a building is green without this being subject to substantiation.
Some highly rated buildings now under construction or in the design phase include their own giant wind turbines designed to meet the energy needs of the building.
Sophisticated software and hardware are also sometimes used to help evaluate efficiencies.
Buildings are then allocated rankings based on an overall scorecard, with silver, gold and platiunum being used in the US and a star system in Australia.
Kerswill, who is executive chair of the GBC in South Africa, says that the Australian system is most compatible with South Africa’s needs, given that the two countries are both in the southern hemisphere and have similar climates and geographies.
“Green Star has pulled out the best of Leed and Breeam,” says Kerswill, adding that, like Australia, South Africa faces more of a cooling than heating challenge for its buildings.
The CSIR’s Llewelyn van Wyk, who is a member of the GBC, says there is “huge debate” on key issues.
One is to what extent the green building initiative coincides with the aims and goals of a developmental state. He says that lessons learned in South Africa can potentially be rolled out to the rest of the sub-region and Africa.
Green building has flourished, says Van Wyk, where the state has been supportive. Bill Clinton’s support for Leed in the US meant that government buildings were accredited, giving impetus to the initiative.
Van Wyk says another potential issue is that the rating system adds to the regulatory burden. He says that a CSIR survey found that planning permission could take between 180 and 270 days. Developers would be reluctant to sign up for green accreditation if it added to the planning process.
He says that although green compliance can add expert costs into the process, many developers could take energy efficiency principles into account without necessarily going through the full compliance and accreditation process.
A simpler process could see energy efficiency requirements incorporated over time into building regulations. Alternatively, users could simply sign up with an accreditation agency, such as the GBC, and then subject themselves to an annual inspection to check that they have met the requirements.