The energy situation in South Africa has changed radically in the last ten years.

So what does this mean for the built environment? How do Architects need to respond to this?

This topic was addressed in my presentation at the Pretoria Institute for Architecture Design Build Conference 2023.

This introduced changes, challenges and opportunities such as the rapidly escalating cost of energy, an increasingly unreliable mains supply, improved availability and lower costs for energy-efficient equipment, metering and renewable energy systems, more discerning clients, climate change and tightening legislation linked to climate change

The implications of these changes confirm that different design approaches are required in order to develop high-performance, responsive and resilient buildings.  

The presentation showed how a structured approach can be used for this.

This includes Setting targets, Developing strategies, Modelling, Lifecycle costing, Site passive design, Building passive design, Building envelope and equipment optimisation, Controls, Metering and Renewable energy systems.