Conservation organisation World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) SA's new regional headquarters will be a redevelopment of an existing building in Braamfontein, one of Johannesburg's prime office space nodes.
According to Stephen Elliott-Wetmore, WWF-SA's corporate partnerships & innovations manager, a Lilliput waste management system will be installed in the basement. "This is similar to a septic tank but feeds grey water back into the building for flushing toilets etc. This will be the first building in Braamfontein to go off the formal sewerage system, saving water, and also generating only a few kilograms of solid waste a year," he notes.
Adding to what will be used for the building; Elliott-Wetmore says a solar panel will be installed for heating water for a shower for WWF members who choose to cycle to work, otherwise the building won't have hot water on tap.
He notes that the roof garden will act as a green lung with a catchment tank for rain water at the top, which also saves having to pump water.
Double-glazed "smart" glass will be installed, as will automatic light switches, and roller blinds with built-in solar panels.
Elliott-Wetmore says the project started in November last year, however, decommissioning of the existing building took place in January 2014.
"The concrete slab on the ground floor has now been laid, the shell for the stairwell and lift cavity is in place, and struts are already going up for the first-floor slab," he says.
He says the next few weeks will see further milestones, including shuttering for the first-floor slab (using cardboard for minimal footprint) and the installation of the water tank.
With this project, WWF is demonstrating what is possible in the green building industry and showing how existing buildings can be transformed sustainably.
According to WWF, the building sector is infamous for its unsustainable energy and natural resource use. The key reason this continues to intensify is because new buildings are constructed faster than the rate at which old buildings are properly restored or retired.
"We need to rethink the way we build. We should ask ourselves how far we can possibly limit our built environment impacts," he says.
The project promises to be a physical representation of WWF's mandate to protect the natural environment and to promote lasting sustainability.
The refurbishing is due for completion in October.
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