The African Sustainable Housing Initiative

The African Sustainable Housing Initiative is a cooperation between the European regions of Lower Saxonia (Germany) and South Tyrol (Italy) and the region of East London (South Africa) to build low-cost and low-energy housing for the poor in South Africa. The majority of them cannot buy the necessary energy at a reasonable price. In addition, they live in houses with poor thermal insulation which need more energy than regular houses.

Low Saxonia and South Tyrol have built up expertise in lowering the domestic need for energy and freeing people from fossil fuels. Lower Saxonia has experience in both of these and a connection with South Africa’s East London region and South Tyrol contributed their knowledge of ‘KlimaHouse’.

Of utmost importance is the fact that the energy consumed in the private sector, mainly in homes, represents the major part of consumed energy: both electric and caloric.

The right approach

The global view: no additional CO2 emissions will occur, so the impacts of global warming will be less because fossil fuels are not being used. However, an improvement in living standards and comfort will happen;

The regional view: South Africa has no oil reserves, but there is coal available regionally. In the future, this would not be used on a large scale, so there would not be a further fossil-fuel dependency; and,

The personal view: the constantly increasing costs of fossil energy are a huge problem, especially for the poor. The economic gap between rich and poor will widen if no new way is found to help them decrease their fossil-fuel needs and dependency.

This win-win cooperative helps local action solve global problems and will succeed if it is followed step by step. And, of course, the recognition of local benefits always inspires people into action.

We need to deal with the three following sectors:

• Local administration: We need to activate the political cooperation amongst Lower Saxonia, South Tyrol and East London so the local governments become partners and prepare the regional administrative background.

• The technical and construction aspects: High insulation panels are a primary requirement. The panels used currently are made in a sandwich form with two metallic sheets on both external sides and with foamed polyurethane as insulation. Even if this is made from fossil origins, it is a starting point which will be further developed with locally available renewable materials. Technically speaking, there are many logistical issues to solve: thermal bridges, not loose energy, hygienic-sanitary conditions, local electricity and water supplies, waste conditions and so on.

• The human and social side of the project: Our goal is not to activate an European export to South Africa, but to solve the need for housing in this region and keep the solution in within the people’s social behaviours. This means low cost for acquisition and maintenance, but it also means respecting social beliefs and customs. The only way to fulfil the needs of local residents and increase their sense of self-esteem is to develop a new identity in their own social milieu. This way, the initiative will be accepted by all. When you possess your own quality home, gives you a sense of your own social status. It can count as a prerequisite to a professional career and a family life.

These three points of view have to be developed independently from each other, but must be well coordinated. The success of each step will be the responsibility of the working teams in place.

So, what’s next?

The political understanding between Lower Saxonia and East London already exists. The relevant parties have already expressed their interest and confirmed their active role in the project’s realisation. Work is going ahead on the technical level: A prototype 60 m? unit is planned. To envisage the actual houses on the specific sites, we need more details, in order to meet the needs and characteristics of the site where the houses will be built. This includes:

• The soil’s composition where the house will be built;

• Doors, windows and other components should be available locally, but have to meet specific criteria;

• The interior ventilation system has to satisfy cooling and heating requirements and has to be in line with microclimatic conditions; and,

• Sanitary facilities have to fit existing infrastructure (for example waste and water).

The project’s objective is to help poor regions become autonomous. To this end, it is a starting point to use locally available materials and renewable energy to satisfy the individual conditions, needs and wishes. The transfer of know-how from the two European regions is just the start; first in South Africa, but also in every other country where similar energy savings and low-cost structures are needed.