Gauge has been appointed to develop a range of bylaws for small and medium-sized towns to support more sustainable built environments. The bylaws aim to achieve objectives prioritised by local communities and councils as well as addressing global sustainability objectives. They include bylaws on energy efficiency, water efficiency, urban agriculture, waste and recycling, small enterprise development, stormwater runoff and biodiversity.
This accessible WC includes ample internal space, contrasting colours to distinguish walls from floors, simple grab rails and a neatly folded away baby changing shelf. It is in San Francisco and has been designed to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Some aspects may have to be changed to comply with local building regulations but it has useful details that could be incorporated into new inclusive designs.
Gauge has developed a range of tools to reduce construction waste. These include standard specifications and clauses that require contractors to develop waste management plans which aim to reduce waste and increase recycling and reuse.
However, for this to work, there must be a local support network of recyclers and in many areas, this does not exist. To explore this Gauge has been reviewing waste clubs and secondhand material and component markets.
This included a fascinating visit to Urban Ore in San Francisco. Urban Ore in San Francisco is a city block full of recycled products. These are bought and neatly stacked on shelves and in yards enabling them to be sold and used easily in new projects. These recycled products often have more character than new products and are a fraction of the price. A large amount of waste is also avoided. Further detail on Urban Ore is available here.
Biodiversity relies on a wide range of species, each of which has a particular niche and function within an ecosystem. Evolved landscapes, therefore, have a rich tapestry of different colours and shapes representing a multitude of different plants. This can be simulated in diverse indigenous gardens which have the wide range of plants whose colours and shapes can be contrasted against bare earth or sand to create visually stimulating landscapes.
Solar shading design can be tricky. Too much shading and your interiors are dark and lifeless. Too little shading and spaces are too bright and internal objects are silhouetted against the glare. Poorly designed solar shading can also limit views, voiding the whole point of windows.
This shading on the De Young Museum in San Francisco is an interesting balance, creating good views while filtering light at high level so that interiors still have good daylighting. The shading device is made of punched metal.
There are increasing concerns about obesity, loneliness and disease that result from passive lifestyles – people sit in front of computers for too long, children watch too much tv and everyone constantly refers to their smartphone for news and social media updates instead of actively engaging with each other and their environments.
The technologies (computers, tvs and cell phones) that have led to this are getting cheaper and more ubiquitous making the problem worse. Countering this effect will require parallel efforts to make access to sport and physical social interaction easier.
Fortunately, in most cities, there are many small areas of unused land that can be used. These could be designed for sports such as five-a-side football, basketball, volleyball and netball to encourage increased activity and social interaction. Almost any space will work, as is demonstrated by the irregular sports fields being developed in Thailand, see photo above and more here.
Gauge has been appointed by the Department of Tourism to audit tourism facilities at national parks around South Africa. The audits indicated that many facilities required improvements. This was the case even with facilities that have built recently when accessibility regulations and standard have been in place. Recommendations from the study, therefore, include the development of tools for improved universal accessibility. These tools aim to ensure that universal accessibility is integrated into policy and procedures and is not an ‘afterthought’ that may, or may not, be addressed.
Recommended tools include: a universal accessibility policy that ensures this is addressed in the planning, procurement and management of facilities, a universal accessibility toolkit that provides easy-to-use checklists which can be used to support assessments of existing facilities and design proposals and universal accessibility training to ensure that key personnel understand key concepts and can apply these.
The tourism sector in South Africa plays an important role in the economy and in 2016 contributed R 402 billion to the economy (9.3% of GDP, forecast to grow to 11.5% by 2023) and was responsible for 9.8% of total employment. In 2017 there were 123,000 rooms available for tourists and 25million stay nights were provided.
Energy consumption per night at tourism institutions varies between 11 and 40kWh and many establishments have practices and technologies that are not energy or water efficient. Research indicates that simple interventions in many establishments could achieve energy and water savings of 30 to 40%. This indicates that an effective energy and water improvement programme could have substantial impacts that would not only benefit tourism organisations through reduced operating costs but also reduce the pressure on municipal water and energy supplies and support South African in meeting its climate change commitments.
South Africa has a Responsible Tourism Standard that has been developed by the Department of Tourism and the SABS. It will also be embarking on a large-scale programme to upgrade tourism institutions supported through grant funding by the IDC. There is, therefore, an opportunity to validate the benefits of aligning with the Standard and to assess improved performance. An assessment and rating process provides a way of measuring and validating efforts made to achieve improved sustainability standards and performance.
The Sustainable Tourism Assessment and Rating System (STARS) is being developed to assess and rate tourism institutions and is based on SANS 1162:2011 Responsible tourism — Requirements. The rating tool and guides will be piloted at selected sites.