Be GENTLE on the big guy!
Recently something in Cape Town caught my eye and that was Red Brick Building. But trust me…it’s more exciting than it initially sounds!
We are obviously all aware of the effect of global warming and in Cape Town we are more than aware of the power shortages we have due to Eskom not being able to supply enough power to us. Everyone blames Eskom, but at the same time we need to take responsibility and look at ways to conserve power and also use other resources to generate power. Forget about the hassle of being without power for a couple of hours and think about the damage done to the planet form burning coal to power our lives.
Red Brick Building will be situated in Cape Town, a block away from Cape Technikon and is hopefully the start of a “greener” Cape Town. I think all buildings and apartments should be constructed this way.
You see, Red Brick Building makes use of grey water recycling, an energy efficient design, low energy lighting and solar heating. It’s a step in the right direction, or at least a leap looking at the other buildings in Cape Town. Nothing else I have seen seems to be designed this way.
Personally, I believe to further strengthen it’s green credentials, they could make more use of solar technology. Instead of just solar heating, solar panels could be used to supply power to the building, which would remove the strain on the national power grid. In addition, they could further enhance their eco friendliness by encouraging apartment owners to recycle. This could be done by having an area of the building where owners can leave their recycling(Tins, paper, plastic etc) and this can be collected by an independent company once a week, or as needs be.
The Red Brick Building is however, hopefully just the start of something bigger in Cape Town.
This brings me to another point regarding accommodation. The future relies heavily on all of us doing our bit to recycle,make use of solar power, biofuels and just live cleaner lives with regards to carbon emissions. People are not only going to want to live like this at home, but abroad when they travel. Cape Town is a major travel destination for people worldwide, and as people become more conscious of their carbon footprint, they will be interested in saving resources even when they travel.
It would therefore be interesting to see what sort of a response overseas visitors would have to staying in houses/hotels/apartments that make use of solar power, grey water recycling and the like. Would it be beneficial to equip your rental houses with these methods of energy conservation? Would your house be more likely to be rented by an overseas visitor if it has better green credentials than another similiar house? I believe in the future this will be a great deciding factor on where people choose to stay when abroad.
I’m not quite so sure if this will have an effect with the 2010 World Cup, because that is very soon. And I’m also not too sure if soccer fans are that concerned about energy saving because they are just here for the worlds biggest party!
But I do honestly believe that people who rent property should consider looking at ways to make their rental properties more energy efficient, and where possible, create their own power. It sounds cheesy, but the future is now, especially with regards to saving the planet. In addition, the money saving on electricity will benefit the person who owns the property. Maybe not short term, but long term it will definitely have a benefit. Not only to their wallets, but to the planet as well.
And saving the planet for future generations is surely far more important than financial gains in the short term.
Click HERE to go to the Red Brick Building website
Sean Lloyd
Editor
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