| New ‘Green’ Building Regulation Applauded |
| Posted by Enviroadmin |
| Wednesday, 12 October 2011 10:23 |
 The Sustainable Energy Society of Southern Africa (SESSA) has applauded new building standards which will be gazetted on November 9 this year requiring that at least 50% of the annual average hot water requirement of all new buildings must be met by sustainable or energy efficient technologies as opposed to electrical resistance heating technology.SANS 10400-XA, Energy Usage, as the new standard is known, is to be implemented in tandem with the revised SANS 20 National Building Regulations. The Sustainable Energy Society of Southern Africa (SESSA) welcomed the promulgation of SANS 10400-XA saying it paved the way for the country to begin realising meaningful energy savings. Until now, the deployment of sustainable or energy efficient technologies to provide hot water to domestic, commercial and industrial buildings has been driven in the main by environmental arguments, as the country’s relatively cheap electricity charges have made the utilisation of carbon-based energy sources highly cost-effective. Recent hikes in electricity prices have prompted an upswing in the number of sustainable and energy efficient installations, but not nearly enough to make a dramatic impact on the country’s energy usage. At COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2009, President Zuma committed South Africa to reducing its emissions growth path from a ‘business as usual’ track by 34% by 2020 and 42% by 2025. The adoption of energy efficient building standards and regulations could ensure that these targets are met. “SANS 10400-XA effectively commits the owners of all future buildings – be they houses, flats, hospitals, hotels, office blocks, shopping malls, factories and so on – to invest in sustainable or energy efficient technologies when it comes to the provision of hot water,” said SESSA Ambassador, Irvan Damon. “This is just the kind of legislation the country needs to achieve the savings our President has committed us to and add will some much-needed pace to our ‘Long Walk to Greendom’. “Once the lead-in time of six months allowed, for the industry and regulators within local authorities to prepare themselves, the legislation will then be enforced. This effectively gives South African individuals and corporates until mid-2012 to familiarise themselves with the standards, and ensure they comply.” The requirements for the use of water heating systems (as set out in the regulations and duplicated in SANS 10400-XA) allow for several alternatives, as the exact wording highlights: ‘A minimum of 50% by volume of the annual average hot water heating requirement shall be provided by means other than electrical resistance heating, including, but not limited to solar heating, heat pumps, heat recovery from other systems or processes’. SESSA represents several of the technologies mention through formal divisions – the Solar Water Heating Division, the Heat Pump Division, the Photovoltaic Division and the Biogas Division. While the capital outlay associated with these technologies is currently more expensive than traditional electrical resistance heating (elements), the resulting savings in energy will more than repay any extra costs that may be involved in building to achieve better energy efficiency. For example, the energy required for heating 200 litres a day is 36 500 kWh over 10 years. Currently in Cape Town (September 2011) at the highest domestic tariff, this would cost R49 000 – excluding electricity inflation. Installing a 3m2 solar collector could save 30 000 kWh over the same period. In rands and cents, for a solar water heater providing just 200 litres a day in 2011, the Eskom bill over the 10 year period would only amount to R 8 727 instead of R49 000, not accounting for electricity inflation. When it comes to heat pump technology, the heat energy produced is as much as four times the electrical energy used to drive the compressor. This means that a facility’s electricity consumption for water heating can be cut by 75%. Users of SANS 10400-XA – architects, specifiers and the like – will find numerous definitions and references to items associated with numerous energy efficiency technologies, not only those associated with the provision of hot water. This is because the standard is far-reaching and encompasses energy usage and building envelope, R-values, design assumptions, requirements for floors, walls, fenestration, roofs and ceilings, and so on. Damon pointed out that, if all new homes and commercial buildings simply immediately installed the mandatory ceiling insulation and advanced window systems, an estimated 3800 MW in electricity could be saved by 2020. This is about the same amount required to keep the lights on in Cape Town. The standards required by SANS 10400-XA will also be increased over several years. “Given that, in the global context, energy consumption in buildings accounts for about 50% of the total carbon footprint, and that South Africa generates most of its power from coal ranking it as one of the top 15 global polluters, creating more energy efficient spaces for work, play and home is a key intervention to addressing climate change. “Constructing energy inefficient buildings will soon become a thing of the past as the requirements in SANS 10400-XA will be slowly raised over a period of several years to ensure our low carbon culture future,” Damon said. Additional information on various sustainable and energy efficient technologies can be found on SESSA’s web site – www.sessa.org.za. An excerpt from the Government Gazette pertaining to the formal adoption of the new energy efficiency regulations into the building code has also been added to the members-only library: http://sessa.org.za/resources/members-only/resources/category/sans-10400-xa. ends Issued by C3 Communications: Cathy van Zyl +27 21 852 7198, +27 82 458 2194 Petra Peacock +27 11 794 4665, +27 83 303 1778 |
