Timber iQ October - November 2018 // Issue: 40 | Page 14

ASSOCIATIONS
Green building a no-brainer
Green building needs common sense not rocket science, says the
Joint Building Contracts Committee (JBCC).
By Uwe Putlitz, CEO of the Joint Building Contracts Committee (JBCC)
12 OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2018 //
A
dministration of green building
projects does not require special
contract documents or ‘rocket
science’ but simply a discipline of good
planning, communication and record-
keeping by all parties involved.
Much has been written and spoken
about green buildings and their design
criteria and regulations, however, green
building procedures and end products
should be based on what all South
Africans, in all walks of life, should be
practicing – using common sense to
reduce wastage and conserve energy.
I believe that in the building industry
the same environmental concern should
be practiced right from the outset.
Specific criteria must be specified in
sufficient detail by the client to the
project team at the inception of a project.
When it comes to the method of
contracting, consideration must be given
to whether the traditional ‘employer
design – open tendering – construction’ is
the most appropriate form to employ for a
particular building project.
Principal contractors and specialist
subcontractors should ideally be involved
already during the green project’s design
process to identify the optimum solution
to all relevant aspects of the proposed
works to avoid later changes and the need
for new ‘specialists’ to play havoc with
the budget.
Furthermore, when a developer has a
programme to build multiple similar
buildings in a defined period, it would
make sense to employ the same design
and construction teams to reduce the
time, effort and costs incurred on
laboriously repeating all the initial
procurement processes.
Building sites, by their very nature, can
never be clean factory production lines.
But common sense – supplanted by
scheduling software – can accurately
determine the timing, quantum of
materials and use of construction of
processes on site, as well as the reduction
A prime green building example is Aurecon’s Century City premises in the Western
Cape which was the first 5-Star Green Star SA rated building in South Africa.
of storage space and elimination of multiple materials handling on site to
reduce waste and non-productive activities that delay progress.
Rocket science is not needed to ensure that only the required quantity of
materials and tools are delivered to site, instead adhering to a rigid checklist
to suit the programme works. If the contractor keeps the professionals on
their toes with timeous queries on aspects of unclear documentation, there
will be no delays, claims or disputes regarding ‘extras’ and almost no waste
accumulation on site.
I personally know of projects where this type of control was
successfully applied – long before the invention of computers and
the ‘green building’ buzzword.
GREEN FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED EARLY IN A PROJECT
AND SHOULD INCLUDE:
• Accurately defining the extent and scope of new projects.
• Identifying the operations that the new structure is planned for.
• How to use the least amount of the appropriate form of energy, both
in building and in occupation, for example, can daylight be used? Can
lights and air conditioning be automatically switched off when not in
use? Can recycled water be used for ablutions?
• Selecting the most appropriate method of speedy construction.
• Creating the least amount of waste.
• Utilising new and/or remanufactured materials, procured and
manufactured locally to reduce transport costs and pollution.