With an increasing global environmental consciousness, the necessity to ensure that every action we take as human beings has as little impact on the environment as possible, is becoming of utmost importance. This philosophy has extended into what has become known as ‘Green’ Architecture; and architects, property developers and property owners are seen as having a responsibility to the earth and humanity to create sustainable, ‘green’ projects.
By making environmentally friendly decisions from the word go that will reduce waste and pollution both during and after construction, architects and developers can make an enormous difference to the environment as well as reduce overall running costs of the completed development. While construction costs of environmentally friendly buildings may be slightly higher and require more innovative solutions than traditional construction processes, the end result is a building that runs more efficiently because energy conservation and active minimisation of waste forms part of the core design plan. In a recent US study, 84% of ‘green’ building owners reported that they had lower energy costs, with 68% reporting lower overall running costs.
So what does ‘going green’ entail in terms of commercial property development and construction?
The developers of Imbonini have taken many factors into account during construction to ensure an environmentally friendly development. Fundamentals such as choice of site and minimising waste and pollution during construction are certainly contributing factors to ‘Green’ architecture, however there is so much more that needs to be thought of.
The indirect effects of property development and construction include water and energy usage, impact on humans who will be living or working in the building and effective, efficient building maintenance post construction (to name a few).
There are 6 basic principles of ‘Green’ architecture, and construction, and design and daily maintenance at Imbonini applies as many of these as feasible to ensure structures that are both environmentally and people friendly.
1. Optimising Site or Existing Structure Potential
This includes reusing or renovating any existing structure (rather than demolishing and creating waste) as well as conducting studies of the site to make sure that it is optimally suited to the type of development proposed. Although the Imbonini site offered negligible usable existing structures, the developers located the estate in a way that it would make the best use of existing infrustructure, allowing for convenient access to the development without the need to deplete resources by building new roads. In fact, as a result of development at Imbonini (and enormous growth in the whole area of the North Coast in general), existing roads are being upgraded to allow for greater volumes of traffic, which will ease traffic flow and in the long term, reduce CO2 emissions from congested traffic.
2. Optimising Energy Use
In the design phase of development, it is imperative to find solutions that will reduce energy consumption. All of Imbonini’s factory designs incorporate solid white roofs. White roofs reflect the heat of the sun rather than absorbing it, which results in natural cooling within the structures. While the need for cooling systems is certainly not eliminated, it is drastically reduced – a huge cost saving initiative for tenants and investors.
3. Protecting and Conserving Water
Steps should be taken to ensure that any water existing on site is not contaminated during constuction, or once the building is in use. Both during construction and after, strict water policies have been in place at Imbonini. Large portions of Imbonini’s open space consists of natural wetlands systems, as specified by the DAEA, and every effort is made to protect these systems and make sure that water is not contaminated. Tenants are ‘policed’ to ensure that no oils or chemical substances are disposed of via the stormwater drains, and hefty fines of up to R1 million can be levied by the DAEA if necessary.
4. Using Environmentally Friendly Resources
Materials that have little or no negative impact on human health or the health of the environment should be used throughout construction. At Imbonini, a simple design choice such as white roofing doesn’t just save on energy costs – the reduced energy consumption also results in lower CO2 emissions made by the development as a whole. If every roof in the entire world was painted white, the result would be a reduction of 44 billion tons of CO2 gasses per year. Or to put it another way, it would have the same effect as removing every motor vehicle from the road for 11 years.
5. Ensuring a High Indoor Environmental Quality
The completed building should maximise the use of natural sunlight and ventilation, and as far as possible avoid the overuse of air conditioning systems that create an unnatural, unhealthy environment for people working within the building. Again, Imbonini’s white roofs create natural cooling, reducing the need for man made cooling systems – and ensuring a healthier indoor environment.
6. Optimising Operational and Maintenance Practices
By specifying materials and suggesting systems that reduce maintenance requirements, architects and developers ensure that maintaining a building requires less water, energy and use of toxic cleaning chemicals, which are harmful to the environment as well as human beings.
In addition to strict water policies, environmental maintenance is high on the list of priorities at Imbonini. Because of the wetlands systems that form part of the estate, ensuring that these areas remain unaffected by industry is very important. Dedicated staff are responsible for keeping the wetlands grounds free from alien plants, and all garden areas are kept indigenous. Stormwater controls are carefully maintained to ensure that there is no washing away of the topsoil or soil erosion. The detrimental effects of soil erosion are diverse, from creating harmful balances of chemicals in the soil that can contaminate water, to increasing the chances of landslides and compromising the stability of building foundations.
The developers of Imbonini have made every effort, right from the start, to ensure that the estate’s environmental impact is minimal. Even though the development is an industrial concern, seemingly at odds with nature, various principles of design and maintenance work together in an almost organic fashion to ensure environmental stability; reducing energy consumption, saving costs, lowering CO2 emissions, protecting water and ultimately resulting in a healthier working environment for all.
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