THE Drakenstein Municipality recently held an open day to introduce their Green Building Manual which promotes the use of recyclable and renewable ways of building homes.
The Municipality identified the urgent need to reduce the consumption of energy and other resources when constructing a new building, when making additions to an existing building and initiating a new development within the Drakenstein Municipal area and to respond to this need, a Green Building Manual was produced.
After taking all the variables into account and the amount of energy and resources wasted, it was decided to compile a manual (Green Building Manual) which gives guidelines on how to save, manage and reduce the amounts of energy and resources used during development. The Green Building Manual consists of simple and sustainable means to reduce the energy and resources during the life cycle of a building.
It gives guidelines on how to select the most appropriate site for development in the site selection phase, how to position the building on site in the design phase, the type of building materials and appliances to be used in the construction phase and the re-use of materials during the demolition phase.
Said Mayor Charmaine Manuel: “We all should strive to use renewable and re-usable resources to reduce our carbon footprint on the planet Earth”.
She added that the Municipality will embark on a process of making Green Building Manual booklets and posters available to all municipal offices and libraries, government institution, general public, building retail stores, developers and consultants to further acknowledge the importance of the green building manual.
