Human Settlements Review - Parliamentary Monitoring Group

Human Settlements Review, Volume 1, Number 1, 2010
5.2 The proposed criteria
Appropriate criteria should be determined,
bearing in mind the needs of the targeted
community. In this instance the target
community is the urban poor in South Africa.
In general, the environmental concern is
universal. It is concerned with minimisation of
the negative impacts on the environment and
efficient utilisation of resources, especially
materials and energy. Socio-economic
concerns are, however, not universal and
are different from region to region. However,
in the case of South Africa and indeed
the whole of sub-Saharan Africa, it can be
stated conclusively that it is concerned with
improvement of the quality of life. Therefore,
the first step towards improving the quality
of life is poverty alleviation. In this regard the
proposed criteria are given in Tables 3 and 4.
Table 3: Building technology – Environmental criteria
Environmental sustainability objective
Efficient utilisation of building materials
Optimisation of energy consumption
(reduction in both embodied and operating
energy)
Protection and maintenance of biodiversity
Environmental criteria
Restriction on overexploitation
Extending the life of non-renewable materials by:
• reduction in their use
• re-use
• recycling
• switching to renewable substitutes
Construction methods that allow adaptability
(assembly techniques that allow non-destructive
disassembling)
Reduction in waste generation(Du Plessis, 2002)
Production of building materials close to construction
sites
Careful planning and design in relation to ventilation
andorientation
Use of building materials and methods that enhance
thermal performance of buildings
Use of energy from renewable
Minimisation of particulate and gaseous emissions
• apply procedures to eliminate or manage
noise, dust, vibration, chemical and
particulate emissions
• eliminate or carefully manage the use of
building materials or finishes with volatile
organic compounds
Avoid sensitive ecosystems
Protect on site vegetation and topsoil
(Kibert, 2004: 495; Häkkinen, 2007: 249-250)
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