NMMU academics win award at sustainability conference
A paper on the development of one of South Africa's most unique off-grid homes received the Chair's Award at the recent Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society (SEEDS) international conference at Leeds Beckett University in the UK.
House Rhino
The study of the off-grid eco-home, House Rhino at Crossways Farm Village outside Port Elizabeth, was compiled by two Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) academics and presented to delegates from around the world.
The research report by NMMU Department of Construction Management academics Chris Allen and Katharina Crafford reinforces the growing call for housing developments worldwide to incorporate sustainable, energy-plus homes.
Unique solutions
House Rhino is unique to South Africa and, according to Allen, one of about 50 globally to incorporate unique water and energy-centric eco-building solutions, making it an energy-plus home. Energy-plus homes make use of energy efficient appliances while producing more energy from renewable energy sources attached to the home than is used from external sources, such as the electricity grid.
"Due to the energy crisis that South Africa has experienced over the past seven years, challenging preconceived ideas by creating attractive, affordable, energy efficient buildings has become critical to offsetting massive cost increases for electricity whilst providing a proof of concept project that professionals can reference," reads the research report.
"The Chair's Award is the pick by chairperson for the conference, Prof. Chris Gorse, for the best paper at the conference. Awards were also given in a variety of other categories linked to the various themes," explained Allen.
New knowledge
"It is obviously significant that from Gorse's perspective, he believed that it was the best paper at the conference - I would suggest from a new knowledge perspective. He subsequently discussed with me the possibility of incorporating the paper in an international journal, as well as the possibility of a book incorporating it alongside other research from around the world of a similar nature."
Brian van Niekerk, House Rhino developer and MD of the sustainable solutions company behind the project, Rhino Group, said the acceptance of the research showed a shift in the global mind-set towards the benefits of eco-wise building.
"In 2012 we took all our products and integrated them into developing House Rhino," said Van Niekerk. "This gave us the opportunity to build and integrate the unique off-grid solutions at the house, and at the same time expand our understanding into a number of new products and services."
