INLSA
Residents of RDP houses in Isimosezulu COP17 Place are reaping the rewards of going green, seeing benefits in reducing their reliance on electricity or paraffin. Picture: Sbonelo Ngcobo
Yusuf Omar
Nonhlanhla Nkabinde’s Cato Manor RDP home has had an environmental make-over. Yet the reduction in emissions is not what she’s smiling about. “My electricity and water bills have halved,” she said.
“I used to boil water on the stove to have a bath and now I have a hot-water shower from the solar geyser,” said Nkabinde, 37, who has been living in her home, with six family members, since 2006.
“We are very lucky,” she said.
She can cook up a feast from her own vegetable garden. And because her corrugated-iron roof is now insulated with polystyrene, there is no need to light up a paraffin heater to stay warm.
Nkabinde is a resident of South Africa’s first green street. Nestled away in an unassuming cul-de-sac of a Cato Manor township, you will come across Isimosezulu (Zulu for “climate”) COP17 Place.
DURBAN 06-12-2011Going green on the RDP houses in Cato manor.Picture by: S’bonelo Ngcobo
INLSA
Built as a COP17 legacy project, which will remain long after the delegates have packed their suitcases, 30 RDP homes have undergone a “retrofit” green refurbishment to demonstrate the range of possible social, economic and environmental benefits.
At a cost of R30 000 per home, the green interventions include adding solar geysers for hot water; insulating the homes to keep them warm in winter and cool in summer; energy-efficient lighting to cut electricity bills; gutter systems to collect rainwater and vegetable gardens for food security.
Green Building Council of SA CEO Brian Wilkinson said: “South Africa has built over 2.5 million low-income homes in the past 15 years, and is targeting a further 3 million by 2025. So far, green considerations, such as passive design, energy/thermal efficiency and water efficiency have generally not been a priority.”
Council spokeswoman Nicole Sochen said that “by improving the energy efficiency of low-income homes, one reduces energy costs, and the health burden to the economy, because people get less sick, and general safety risks for residents because they no longer need paraffin heaters”.
