+IMPACT MAGAZINE ISSUE 26

PROJECT
PROJECT
Conveniently located in Midrand, Gauteng, The
Precinct Luxury Apartments development is
changing both the market and the mindset of
middle-market residential tenants, one unit at
a time. When the project started between 2017 and 2018,
it soon became clear that only a few minor changes were
needed to achieve EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater
Efficiencies) Advanced V2 certification – and the rest is
history. The first four phases of the project, consisting of
1 388 units, boast 41% energy and 37% water savings, and
the materials used demonstrate 35% less embodied energy.
It’s built for rent, enabling the owner to ensure that the
project stays its course. “Our teams understand what is
going on inside the units, and as tenants move out and
in again, the teams do a thorough check of the status of
the unit,” says Douglas Eva, Site Operations Manager at
Century Property Developments. “If all those units were
sold, and different owners were doing different things
inside the unit, it would be a lot less manageable.”
EDGE Auditor and owner of Inside Out Consulting
Yvonne Pelser highlights other challenges typically
faced with these types of developments: “Energy usage
is mostly at night, the number of solar panels are limited
for optimum efficiency, and battery systems are not ideal,
due to their complexity in apartment buildings.”
The development is changing both the
market and the mindset of middlemarket
residential tenants.
Century Property Developments decided to take these
challenges head on – and although The Precinct Luxury
Apartments is rated under the previous EDGE version,
the project is constantly evolving, and even drives market
transformation.
To achieve EDGE Advanced V2 certification, the project
had to demonstrate minimum energy savings of 40%,
minimum water savings of 20% and at least 20% less
embodied energy in materials. It took time, and a higher
initial expenditure. “You must really work through your
design, unit by unit,” says Quantity Surveyor Executive at
Century Property Developments, Japie Vos. “Get everyone
– your architect, your XA calculations expert [SANS 10400
XA is the South African National Standard regulating
energy efficiency in building design], your electrical
consultant – to sit with the EDGE expert. Look at all the
elements and do the small tweaks on specifications. You
must go through the design development to get here.”
Century Property Developments
All the development’s energy-efficient
initiatives and designs are tied
together with smart metering.
Here is how they did it:
Douglas Eva
A view from the top.
Each new phase of the development
adapts more efficient systems,
owing to effective smart metering.
The use of cored face bricks, timber rafters in the roof
and 0,5mm steel sheets for roofing helped achieve a
score of 35% less embodied energy in materials used.
Douglas Eva
Century Property Developments
41% ENERGY SAVINGS
Reducing energy usage was achieved through specific
design processes and structural elements. It included
a reduced window-to-wall ratio of 17.78% which, according
to Pelser, compares well with the EDGE base for the
middle-market segment (30%). The roofs are insulated
with cellulose, consisting of 80% newsprint waste, and
internal spaces are fitted with LED lights. But what
happens when the globes or other added elements break?
“We have well-equipped maintenance teams for each
development, with a very good understanding of the
specs of all the fittings, to keep tenants from performing
maintenance themselves,” says Eva. He adds that the teams
have access to a warehouse that stocks a large amount
of all the different elements required in the buildings,
so maintenance teams can pull stock when something
needs speedy replacing.
Power is supplied via a 428.4kWp PV system, mostly
placed on carports and rooftops, and generates 16% of the
total energy used, providing each of the 1 388 units with
0.3kWp. Solar power also plays a big role in the combined
methods of water heating.
The first phase of the development was fitted with
electric geysers and dedicated solar panels. In phase two,
heat pumps with a COP (coefficient of performance) of
3.45 were installed. In phase three, a pre-heating solar
system was added to the heat pumps to ensure water is
heated before it is sent into the system, culminating in
a combined average COP of 4.
The residential blocks are all four
storeys high, some with internal lofts.
All these energy-efficient initiatives and designs are
tied together with smart metering, to which tenants have
access. It forms part of the billing system for electricity and
water, which is displayed on a tenant’s mobile application,
so they’re able to monitor their own consumption. “The
landlord also benefits from this,” says Pelser. “It can
help them identify leaks, overcrowding, tampering and
other problems. So, by monitoring the peaks and the
troughs, you can see if there are any issues in the way the
building is running.” Eva and Vos add that the collection
of data helps inform better decisions at each phase – citing
the water heating system as an example where notable
changes in energy consumption are visible. “There’s better
efficiency from an energy point of view, it reduced capital
expenditure on installations and it’s an easier installation,”
elaborates Eva.
Century Property Developments
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POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUE 26
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