Human Settlements Review - Parliamentary Monitoring Group

Human Settlements Review, Volume 1, Number 1, 2010
4. Hazardous substances should be
eliminated, and
5. Resource inputs should be shifted
towards renewables.
The emergence of the term Construction
Ecology refers to the development and
maintenance of a built environment, which
contains 1. a materials system that functions
in a closed loop that is integrated with ecoindustrial
and natural systems; 2. dependence
on renewable energy sources, and 3. the
fostering of preservation of natural system
functions. These objectives have also been
applied to industries as part of Industrial
ecology, where four cardinal rules can be
hypothesized that should govern the flow
of materials in the built environment along
the lines of how ecological systems function
(Kibert & Schultmann No date:5). These rules
are referred to as the Cardinal Rules of the
Construction Materials Cycle:
1. Buildings must be deconstructable,
2. Building products must be
disassemblable,
3. Building product materials must be
recyclable, and
4. The dissipation effects of materials
recycling must be harmless.
In line with the above UN definition, considering
a building only is not sufficient. Infrastructure is
needed to provide energy, water and sanitation
services. Several ideas were incorporated of
which solar energy was a requirement in a land
with an abundance of sunshine. As the most
arid country south of the Sahara, water is an
important consideration. Rainwater harvesting
and dry sanitation were added to reduce
water consumption. Community organizations
requested conference facilities, which
they could use, as part of the facilities. Dry
sanitation was not considered as suitable for
large numbers of people using the facilities in
a short period of time. Therefore conventional
flush toilet were used in the ablution blocks,
but in order to avoid wasting the water, all
were connected to a biogas plant, which in
turn is connected to an artificially constructed
wetland to treat the effluent.
3. The example of the HRDC
3.1 Functions and role of the HRDC
The operations of the HRDC had to consider
a wide range of activities. The HRDC is an
institution in which the public and private
sector can participate, as well as NGOs active
in housing and associated fields. This requires
a transdisciplinary and transinstitutional
knowledge generation approach to achieve
the numerous objectives in the field of housing
and its related issues.
a) Research:
The first priority is the gathering and analysis
of information available inside and outside
the country. For this skilled manpower
(human resources) in the private, public
and NGO sectors is required to facilitate the
gathering, analysis and flow of information
between professionals and users. Existing
techniques, approaches or technologies
have to be identified and tested. This process
provides information on possible products and
projects within the country, which could be
implemented.
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