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heat loads, the use of natural light, greater circulation of fresh air, theuse of non-toxic materials and so forth,” she says.But what impact has green building – and the rating tools that canbe used for these buildings – had on the engineering and architecturalprofessions? If the Green Building Coucil is to be believed then theimpact is significant as more and more professional people areadopting green building practices.Reynolds is, perhaps, a bit more wary and he says that the processreally starts with the clients. “At Nedbank we have always beenenvironmentally aware and this awareness extends back over the past25 years and more. But that is not typically the case among manyof the clients who are erecting new buildings around the country,”he says.Building specialist Llew van Wyk agrees. He says that the notionthat a developer can adopt one or two energy saving mechanisms andthen apply those on site is simply not good enough.Instead, he says, the process must start right at the very beginningof the building cycle and must encompass such elements as betterdesign of foundations, more efficient use of materials, the overallimpact that the building will have, not only on its immediatesurroundings, but on the transportation of people to and from thebuilding itself.“It’s much more of a holistic concept than putting in fragmentsto represent energy efficiency,” he says. “Like the Dockside Greenproject, South African engineers need to start looking at thingsdifferently and then find ways to solve the direct impact that thesebuilding methods will have on the development,” he says.Of course Van Wyk is not wrong, particularly when you look at therelatively recent Sandton central business district. There is at leastthe promise of a public transportation infrastructure as the Gautrainwill be able to carry people from central Johannesburg to Sandton,and from Pretoria to the business district.But this is not the case when you look at suburbs such as Randburgwhere the public transporation infrastructure is virtually nonexistent.“To build green buildings in such areas at this stage mightsave owners some operational expense but will certainly not have ameaningful impact on the overall pollution levels affecting that partof the city,” he says.A new mixed-used development in Pretoria, Menlyn Maine facesmuch the same difficulty. It is being built on the eastern side of thecity, far from any public transportation infrastructure, but the goalis that people will be able to live, work and be at leisure in that areaand not have to stray far away to earn a living.So in that regard, Menlyn Maine may have some direct benefits. Thedevelopers of Menlyn on Maine are so confident, that the companyis sponsoring the development of the Green Building Council’s ratingtool for the mixed use development grading.According to the developers it will make use of relatively standardfeatures such as high efficiency lighting, hot water service systemsand chillers, energy efficient motors and elevators and so forth. Moreinterestingly, the company says it will use in-situ-concrete, pre-castconcrete systems, acoustic panel ceilings and resilient floor tiles andcarpets.Menlyn Maine says it will install water-efficient irrigation systems,use storm water harvesting systems and even have water recyclingplants on a building-by-building basis.It will be interesting to see what the development – and themany others underway – actually yield in terms of savings andenvironmental impact, because at this stage, the green buildingsthat do exist in South Africa are all too new to be measured by anymeaningful criteria.And, of course, if architects and engineers buy into the entire greenbuilding concept then, in the years ahead, South African cities mightbe much more healthy to live in than they are at the moment.And, I suppose, that Johannesburg, classified as it is as an urbanjungle, might have much to gain from better, more efficiency andmore environmentally-friendly building methods too.It’s important to not lose site of the goal as well: to reducepollution and wastage – and engineers are past masters at achievingthat as soon as they turn their minds to that problem.September 2010 19