It is predicted that by 2050, nearly 70% of people worldwide will reside in urban areas, up from 55% of the global population who currently live in cities.

As a result, 78% of the world’s energy is being consumed in cities which produce more than 60% of greenhouse gas emissions. This is set to increase following the speed and scale of urbanisation. To mitigate this impact, smart cities may provide a solution to reduce energy consumption while still meeting service demand, improving grid stability and overall quality of life.

In positive news, two years after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced his future plans to build the first smart city in Lanseria, the draft master plan has been completed and is out for public comment. The city will house between 350 000 and 500 000 occupants within the next decade.

Dr Andrew Dickson, Engineering Executive at CBI-electric: low voltage says that while our Government works towards building new smart cities, South African citizens can start building their own smart cities at home by investing in smart home technologies. “This is because smart homes will be a key component in the creation of smarter cities.”

Smarter consumption

He explains that South African households consume roughly 17% of the country’s total grid electrical energy and can account for up to 35% of national electricity demand during peak period. “Installing smart home devices, which use an internet-connection to enable the remote monitoring and management of appliances and systems such as lighting and heating, can help improve energy efficiency in the residential sector. This is because smart home devices not only enable users to keep an eye on how much electricity their appliances and systems consume, but also schedule them to turn on and off at specific times on a daily or periodic basis to reduce consumption.

“The need for these solutions is all the more pressing when one considers that a third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions are the result of household energy consumption. To put this in perspective, South Africa is the 14th largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, with the average South African emitting approximately 7.41 tons of CO2 – nearly double that of the world average of 4.47 metric tons per person. These emissions result from everyday routines such as turning air conditioning systems on and off, however, home automation has been found to reduce emissions by 12.78% – something which will be crucial for helping South Africa fulfil its commitment to limit its annual greenhouse gas emissions to between 398 to 440 million tons of CO2 equivalent by 2030. In the United Kingdom, for instance, the Nottingham City Council revealed that the city managed to reduce CO2 emissions by 26% from 2005 levels using smart homes as one of the tactical solutions.”

City-wide benefits

Dickson notes that smart homes also present cost-saving opportunities not just for those living within them but also for the cities in which they are situated. “By being able to remotely monitor their energy consumption, smart homeowners are able to save on their monthly electricity bills. But imagine what would happen if this concept was applied to a city-wide housing grid. This could enable local authorities to track energy usage and spikes across the community, ensuring fairer pricing as well as the ability to tackle outages, energy leaks and the environmental issues associated with overuse.”

He concludes by saying, “With 70% of South Africans set to be living in urban areas by 2030 and the cities of Johannesburg, Tshwane, Cape Town and Ethekwini under pressure to accommodate everyone, now’s the time for investment in smart home technology. I envisage smart homes working together to benefit all citizens and positively impact our planet.”

For more information, go to cbi-lowvoltage.co.za.

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Lees in Afrikaans.

Jürgen Kieslich is a Cape Town-based architect who bought a small block of flats in Woodstock and set about greening its energy consumption. A few years on, he realised that not everything is as cost- and planet-efficient as the green-washing marketers would have us think. He shared 10 ways to green your home.

1. Start with the basics

Insulation is the cheapest way to moderate the temperature in your home, bringing down your electricity bill. Insulate the roof, walls and floor – over 40% of a home’s heat is lost through uninsulated walls and roofs. “Once it’s done, you never need to think about it again,” says Jürgen. Windows contribute another 20% or more to heat loss, and here double-glazing is the way to go for insulation. “Even the smallest electric heat source would work six times better with double-glazing and sealed windows,” Jürgen points out. It may be expensive but they also shield against blazing sunlight in summer and act as a significant sound buffer.

2. Choose the tried and tested

Jürgen installed a brand-new plastic plumbing system that promised to be über-green. It delivered all it had promised but when it came to maintenance a few years later, he discovered the system had failed to take off in South Africa and no one knew how to fix it. Work with technology, products and companies that have been around the block.

3. Keep it simple

Although sometimes one has to take a leap of faith on new products, Jürgen advises that the simpler the solution, the more likely it is to work. “If it sounds like it is adding another layer of complication – this system is needed to supervise that system needed to measure this – then start worrying. It will require maintenance and solid technical acumen, which will cost you if you can’t do it yourself.”

4. The hot water solution

“Hot water is the biggest place to save on electricity,” according to Jürgen. However, he has learnt that solar water heaters don’t work that well in apartment blocks or anywhere where the panels are too far away from the water tank. If you can’t install the panels and the tank in close proximity to one another (and as soon as you receive advice that you will also need an extra this and that – see lesson 3) rather go for a hot water pump. Jürgen observed a 30 to 40% electricity saving all-year round with the pump and it costs one third of the price of a solar water heater.

5. Heat from below

Once you have a cost-effective source of hot water, Jürgen can’t stop singing the praises of water-based under-floor heating – especially if you’re going for those trendy but freezing concrete floors. The system could reduce your heating bill by up to 60%. It brings the floor up to about 23°C – taking the edge off the chill without making the floor hot. Electric under-floor heating, on the other hand, is electricity intensive. It causes air movement that stirs up dust and is wasteful because the hot air ends up at the ceiling. “It’s like the difference between a gas and an electric oven. Water-based under-floor heating is just moister and cooler,” says Jürgen.

6. Green the pool

Like maintaining a garden, rather than a chemistry experiment, natural swimming pools, or eco pools, are an environmentally friendly option. Yes, swimming is the last thing on your mind in the cold months. But, says Jürgen, because eco pools need three to six months for the plants to settle and algae to clear, autumn or winter is the best time to install them. Eco pools work by using plants and gravel as a filter, and the silky quality of the water has to be experienced to be believed. Traditionally a challenge for small spaces, Jürgen is currently experimenting with a vertical garden (above) to filter the pool water in his courtyard.

7. Plant a tree or three

Use your garden and surroundings to control sunlight by means of strategically planted trees. At the apartment block, Jürgen planted a row of poplar trees on the west side, which shielded the apartments from sun in summer by acting as a massive shutter, but had the opposite effect in winter when they lost their leaves.

8. Size matters

The larger the house, the more materials, maintenance, heating and cleaning are required, and none of this is getting any cheaper. “I’m trying to talk people into making smaller homes,” Jürgen enthuses. “Rather make the common room larger and keep the other rooms small. Make multifunctional rooms: do you really need a separate lounge, TV room or playroom?”

9. Rain farming

Unfortunately, Jürgen admits, rainwater harvesting doesn’t work that well in Cape Town unless you have a massive cheap storage solution for winter and a tiny garden to water in summer. However in summer rainfall areas such as Johannesburg, it’s an absolute must.

10. What about solar?

If you’ve down-sized your home and have the cash, then go solar. However, Jürgen regrets that solar just doesn’t cope well with high electricity usage. “At most, a panel can cope with a fridge, some computers, light bulbs, and the charging of cellphones and cameras,” he says. “As soon as you add a washing machine, tumble dryer, dishwasher, pool pump and television, you have to consciously make a lifestyle decision about how much you really need these things,” he concludes.

www.jkarchitects.co.za

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While human power generation and storage is not new, Ideso’s PowerPac is the world’s first product to offer a removable power storage unit that becomes a portable charging unit for use anywhere in the home or office.

With 80 minutes of cycling the hour-glass shaped battery will be fully charged and can be used to power an iPhone, a power tool, a PC, a tablet or a camera, all from this stored personal energy. So you can get a full workout while working up a charge too!

Established in 1955, the Singapore-based Red Dot awards recognises world-class design achievements and is one of the world’s most sought-after international seals of design quality.

Said Ideso MD, Marc Ruwiel: “With 58 countries competing, it’s great to receive this prestigious accolade, especially as we are the fourth South African company ever to win in the past 57 years.”

Ideso is now seeking an investment partner with an existing brand in the cycling industry to enable it to develop the PowerPac product further and get it into mass production.

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