“Smart” and “Sustainable” have become buzzwords in literature about built environment and cities and are generally used to describe approaches which enhance the environmental performance through the use of technology. However, wide usage has meant that these terms have become … Continue reading Developing a Research Agenda for Smart and Sustainable Built Environments
Municipal electricity costs in South Africa have risen by 173% in the last ten years; an average annual increase of 17.3%. At the same time, public funding for schools has been dropped in real terms by 8% per learner over … Continue reading Rapid Identification and Evaluation of Interventions for Improved Energy Performance in South Africa Schools
Water and sanitation costs at South African municipalities have been steadily rising in the last 5 years and are particularly high in water-stressed areas such as Cape Town. Many areas of South Africa also experience water shortages and unreliable water … Continue reading Rapid Identification and Evaluation of Interventions for Improved Water Performance at South Africa Schools
As a continent, Africa is rapidly urbanizing and urban areas are expected to experience a growth rate of 3.9% through to 2050 (Bahri et al, 2016). Much of this growth is projected to occur in smaller towns with limited infrastructure … Continue reading Water, health and a rapidly urbanising Africa
The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals include specific requirements to address water, sanitation, hygiene and slum conditions (United Nations, 2018). SDG 6.1.1 sets a target for universal access to safely managed drinking water by 2030. This requires households to be able … Continue reading Water in the SDGs and the NDP
South Africa has been celebrating dams in the Western Cape filling up with the recent rains. Soon, however, it is likely that the real possibility that Cape Town would run out of water will be forgotten. Before this happens it is important … Continue reading How did Cape Town avoid running out of water?
Having developed and applied a range of tools to reduce construction waste, such as specifications, contract clauses, construction waste management plans and monitoring and evaluation systems, it is possible to reflect on what works. Key to achieving less construction waste … Continue reading Urban Ore
The 2017 National Education Infrastructure Management System report indicated that of the 23,577 public primary and secondary schools in South Africa, there were: 5,175 schools without water or with unreliable water supply 68 schools with no toilets 9,203 schools with … Continue reading School Water and Sanitation
The tourism sector in South Africa plays an important role in the economy and in 2016 contributed R 402 billion to the economy (9.3% of GDP, forecast to grow to 11.5% by 2023) and was responsible for 9.8% of total … Continue reading Sustainable Tourism Assessment and Rating (STARS)
Events such as flooding in Houston, USA, landslides in Free Town, Sierra Leone, water shortages in La Paz, Bolivia in 2017 and the prospect of water running out in Cape Town in South Africa in 2018 demonstrate that it is … Continue reading Climate Change: Implications for South African Building Systems and Components
There is an urgent need for better capacity and research on the water impacts of climate change. We are therefore working on a proposal to build capacity and evidence-based guidance that will ensure that new water systems and upgrades of existing … Continue reading Infrastructure for Water Resilience in Urban Areas
In this proposal, we propose using innovative and disruptive technologies and business models to create more accessible and affordable student services as a way of improving student throughput rates in South Africa. This is a brief summary of the approach: Student … Continue reading Applying Innovative and Disruptive Technologies to Improve Student Throughput Rate
Although difficult to measure, estimates indicate that the informal sector generates between 10 and 20% of the aggregate outputs of developed countries and between 30 and 50% of developing countries. However this sector is not only important for local economies … Continue reading Integrating Informal Trade
Rising unemployment is a sign that education and economic development strategies need to be rethought. I was invited to present some ideas at the ProSA Youth Development forum on ways of addressing unemployment through education and employment innovation. The talk … Continue reading Education and Employment
Climate change is creating significant hazards globally. These are usually described in terms of physical phenomenon such as sea level rises, droughts, flooding and erratic weather conditions. However, the way these phenomena are experienced is mediated by social vulnerability (Vincent, … Continue reading The Architecture of Social Resilience
It is increasingly clear that we need to develop alternative development trajectories as current trends are unsustainable. This invited lecture at the University of Pretoria presented current trajectories related to natural systems such as carbon emissions as well as to … Continue reading Alternative Development Trajectories
The SAICE Infrastructure Report Card for South Africa provides a condition assessment of infrastructure in South Africa and I contributed to the sections on education infrastructure. While the report is a snapshot in time, trends in condition deterioration or improvement … Continue reading SAICE Infrastructure Report Card for South Africa 2017
The Applying the Sustainable Building Assessment Tool presentation was made at the Green Buildings Workshop being run by the Tshwane University of Technology. The lecture covered: What is sustainability, and why is it important? What are the implications for buildings? Defining sustainability performance … Continue reading Applying the Sustainable Building Assessment Tool
Understanding the Built Environment Sustainability Tool presentation was made at the Green Building Workshops at Tshwane University of Technology. The talk covered the development and rationale of BEST and how it can be used to assess the sustainability performance of neighborhoods … Continue reading Understanding the Built Environment Sustainability Tool
Cities are complex and involve many stakeholders so achieving sustainability change can be difficult, slow and require a wide range of mechanisms. It is not sufficient to have a high-level ‘sustainability’ strategy; real change requires strategic targets to be integrated … Continue reading Measuring Sustainability Change in Cities
