Using Onsite Service Enterprises to Improve Housing Sustainability and Affordability is the title of a recent paper I presented at the 2019 South African Energy Efficiency Confederation Conference in Pretoria. The paper proposes innovative strategies including Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), … Continue reading Using Onsite Service Enterprises to Improve Housing Sustainability and Affordability
Water Infrastructure for Human Settlements: Urban – Non-Urban Linkages and Water Access is the title of a paper developed with Professors Adeyeye and Chakwizira and presented at the 2019 International Conference on Resource Sustainability – Cities – Adelaide, Australia, 1-3 … Continue reading Water Infrastructure for Human Settlements: Urban – Non-Urban Linkages and Water Access
Does the Built Environment Sustainability Tool (BEST) Address Resilience Sufficiently? is the title of a paper at the Sustainable Urbanization through Research, Innovations and Partnerships Conference, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, 6-10 May 2019. The abstract for the paper is … Continue reading Does the Built Environment Sustainability Tool (BEST) Address Resilience Sufficiently?
Does the Sustainable Built Environment Tool (SBAT) Address Resilience Sufficiently? is the title of a paper at the Sustainable Urbanization through Research, Innovations and Partnerships Conference, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, 6-10 May 2019. The abstract for the paper is … Continue reading Does the Sustainable Built Environment Tool (SBAT) Address Resilience Sufficiently?
Household Expenditure Affordability Thresholds for Housing, Water, Energy and Transport in South Africa Human Settlements is the title of a paper at the Sustainable Urbanization through Research, Innovations and Partnerships Conference, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, 6-10 May 2019. The … Continue reading Household Expenditure Affordability Thresholds for Housing, Water, Energy and Transport in South Africa Human Settlements
Climate Change in the Built Environment: Addressing Future Climates in Buildings is a chapter in a new book called Claiming Identity Through Redefined Teaching in Construction Programs, edited by Sherif Mostafa (Griffith University, Australia) and Payam Rahnamayiezekavat (Western Sydney University, … Continue reading Climate Change in the Built Environment: Addressing Future Climates in Buildings
Green Building Technologies is a chapter in a new book titled Cases on Green Energy and Sustainable Development edited by Peter Yang. Cases on Green Energy and Sustainable Development informs and educates students and young professionals about renewable energy and … Continue reading Green Building Technologies
Recently I was asked to present on sustainable building rating systems in a webinar organised by the UN. There are now many different systems so it is becoming increasingly difficult to choose and distinguish between these systems. My presentation, therefore, … Continue reading 5 questions to ask when choosing a sustainable building rating system
Yesterday, Eliud Kipchoge ran the marathon in under two hours. This is the first time this has ever been done. As well as the Nike ZoomX Vaporfly running shoes and 41 pace-makers, a support car beamed a green laser mark … Continue reading How targets and indicators can help achieve ‘impossible’ goals
What is public project management? Public project management involves the development of government projects, such as the building of schools, clinics, and housing. Very few of these projects are completed on time, on budget and fully achieve the envisaged outcomes. … Continue reading Public Project Management
Increasing housing backlogs and rising house prices mean that self-build may be an increasingly attractive option for many households. Building on timber frame self-build project experience, I am developing a simple modular prefabricated timber unit that can be readily assembled … Continue reading Self-build modular prefabricated housing
Affordable high-density housing has a bad reputation. Often it is managed and maintained poorly and can have a poor reputation for safety and unreliable services. To address this in a number of projects on the drawing board I am developing … Continue reading Onsite Service Enterprises
Instruments and Capacity for Sustainable Built Environments is the title of my module of the Green Building Construction Course, being run by the International Training Centre (ITC) in Johannesburg from the 26 to the 30 August 2019. A summary of … Continue reading Instruments and Capacity for Sustainable Built Environments
Instruments and Capacity for Sustainable Built Environments is the title of my module of the Green Building Construction Course, being run by the International Training Centre (ITC) from the 10 to the14 December 2019. A summary of the module and … Continue reading Instruments and Capacity for Sustainable Built Environments
There is increasing pressure on water and sanitation systems in South African human settlements. Droughts have reduced water availability in many areas. Ageing infrastructure and a lack of maintenance have contributed to water supplies being unreliable in some regions. Water … Continue reading Sanitation Options for Sustainable Housing: A Decision-Making Tool
1. Sustainability targets: Develop clear quantified sector targets based on science and human development commitments. 2. Alternatives: Identify and test alternative, radically more efficient approaches and scale up these up based on evidence. 3. Integration: Rapidly integrate effective approaches to practice. … Continue reading Six things we should be doing to make better progress in terms of sustainability
1. A disconnect between what is required by science, what has been committed to, and what actually happens on the ground. 2. Only small incremental amendments to systems are being made – these are insufficient – radical change and … Continue reading Four reasons why we are not achieving the required progress towards sustainability
“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
