+IMPACT MAGAZINE ISSUE 22

NEWS
NEWS
FCBS
MAKING AN IMPACT
SAVE A SPACE FOR CONVENTION 2023
Think of a space, what does it look like? How does it make you feel? Is it a memory or an imagined space? GBCSA
is creating a space like no other for its 16th Green Building Convention from 15 November 2023 at the Century City
Conference Centre in Cape Town. Register your interest by email to gbcsa@idna.co.za.
2023 GBCSA WORKSHOP
TRAINING SCHEDULE
01 March 2023 Green Star New Building & Major
Refurbishments Accredited Professional (AP)
08 March 2023 Green Star Existing Building
Performance AP
14 March 2023 Net Zero AP
23 March 2023 Green Star Interiors AP
29 March 2023 Green Star Sustainable Precincts AP
30 March 2023 EDGE Expert Live Workshop
Leading East African architecture and engineering firm
FBW Group has been appointed to the international team
tasked with delivering the trailblazing Kigali Green City
project in the Rwandan capital.
The transformational development is being hailed as
an important milestone on the road to creating more
sustainable green cities in the region. Its aim is to
demonstrate that building green is “a necessity, not a
luxury” and it will feature a range of initiatives, including
the use of renewable energy, rainwater harvesting,
wastewater management, recycling and reuse of water
and sustainable transport solutions.
The project pilot should deliver 2 000 much-needed
quality homes for the lower-to-middle-income brackets.
Green City Kigali has been envisaged to cover the full
600ha Kinyinya Hill, a suburb of Kigali.
FBW Group, which has offices in Rwanda, Uganda and
Kenya, has been appointed to be the local team on the ground,
delivering the key services of architecture and engineering.
Antje Eckoldt, FBW group director, says: “The pilot
Course name Description Price (Incl VAT)
AP New Building / Existing
Building Performance /
Interiors / Sustainable
Precincts / Net Zero
TRANSFORMATIONAL AFRICAN “GREEN CITY” DEVELOPMENT
Member R6 170
Non-member R8 230
Student R5 560
Individual R7 000
Edge Expert Member R2 930
Non-member R3 660
Student R2 640
Individual R3 110
project will lay the ground for the design of quality,
low-carbon and resource efficient housing types suitable
for various sites and density conditions and point the way
towards the future for sustainable urban development.
“One of the aims of the project is to combine appropriate
technologies, progressive thinking and the use of local skills
and materials to show that this urban environment has
everything it needs to sustain its community and for people
to live green.” She adds, “At the moment we are exploring
local low-carbon construction methods and materials and
how they can be used to their maximum affect.
“We are also looking at ideas relating to urban farming and
a green economy that will create jobs for existing and new
residents on Kinyinya Hill, all based on low tech processes,
on waste reduction and on circular economy principles.”
FBW is involved in a series of major projects in Rwanda.
Rwanda, including delivering a masterplan for the expansion
of the University of Global Health Equity and working with
the International School of Kigali to create a 21st Century
“green” campus in the Rwandan capital.
VUKILE APPROVES INVESTMENT IN SUSTAINABLE BACKUP POWER
Vukile Property Fund, the specialist retail property
REIT (real estate investment trust), will invest around
R350-million in backup power as it deploys a strategy to
efficiently supplement the electricity supply to its malls.
Vukile will provide its tenants with the option of reliable
solar power, which, combined with battery storage, costs
less than grid power. This will also save many retailers
the hefty cost of installing their own backup systems.
Vukile’s new hybrid solar-battery grid-tied systems will
give shopping centres at least three sources of power –
solar PV, battery backup and the national grid.
These silent systems are easy to integrate into malls’
existing power networks, need little maintenance and are
simple to expand. They are especially effective for shopping
centres, as the busiest trading hours coincide with daylight
hours when the sun can power solar PV panels. Retailers
have the option to augment this further with generators
for days when solar generation is constrained.
The roll-out of this project has been fast-tracked and
can be achieved in about half the time required to install
WATERFALL CITY CROWNED WORLD’S BEST FOR FIFTH TIME
At the lavish annual “World’s Best” International Property Awards ceremony held at the iconic Savoy
Hotel in London in February, Waterfall Management Company was awarded Best International Mixed-use
Development 2022-2023 for Waterfall City.
This is the fifth time in six years that Waterfall City has beaten formidable competitors to claim the top spot. Over
and above scooping this prestigious international accolade, Waterfall City also garnered the regional title of Best
Mixed-use Development in Africa for the eighth time. This follows Waterfall City’s recent win of being named Best
Mixed-use Development in South Africa, also for the eighth time, in October 2022 in Dubai.
Accepting the award for Waterfall Management Company was (left to right) Willie
Vos, CEO, Tertia du Toit, Communications Manager and Phillip Badenhorst, CFO.
generators. The first phase is scheduled for completion
by the end of 2023.
PV installation at Kolonnade
Retail Park in Pretoria.
Overall masterplan aerial
perspective of the green city.
Character views, town centre.
SAIA INAUGURATES ITS 70TH PRESIDENT
The South African Institute of Architects (SAIA)
inaugurated Amira Osman as its 70th President at a
hybrid event in February.
Tokunbo Omisore, International Union of Architects
(UIA) Vice President Region V Trustee and Past President
of the Africa Union of Architects, explained how Africa’s
Great Green Wall, which promotes sustainable development
and climate change mitigation, will feature in Copenhagen,
exploring how the profession can contribute to regenerating
the social ecological systems of the continent and making
them more resilient in the face of climate change and
degradation, all while supporting and promoting indigenous
knowledge and traditional technologies.
“Our world is facing climatic challenges that are
subjecting many to poverty. To survive and thrive, the
architectural profession must think creatively and engage
collectively in the Conference of Parties on Climate
Change to address these challenges,” urged Omisore.
Osman is the South African research chair in
spatial transformation (Positive Change in the Built
Environment). The architectural profession has a critical
role to play in the achievement of human settlements that
are more equitable, beautiful, and functional, increasing
opportunities and offering people a better chance at
improving their lives and livelihoods, according to
Osman’s SAIA Manifesto.
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