Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment

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Status and prospects of life-cycle assessments, carbon- and water footprinting studies in South Africa
(Springer, 2021-01) Harding, K.G.; Friedrich, E.; Jordaan, H.; le Roux, B.; Notten, P.; Russo, V.; Suppen-Reynaga, N.; van der Laan, M.; Goga, T.
Purpose Using the current state of life-cycle assessment (LCA), carbon-, water footprinting, and EPDs in South Africa, this work explores the challenges and opportunities for scholarly development in these areas in the country. Methods Being a relatively small LCA community in South Africa, academics, consultants, and other stakeholders were approached to provide lists of known studies, with further reports, that may have been missed, obtained through internet searches. Information was collated on database development, capacity building, and other aspects and presented here in a single paper. Results and Discussion While the authors are aware of companies working on LCA and related studies, hidden in confidential reports, we were able to find 27 LCA, 17 water-, 12 carbon footprinting, and 10 EPD studies. Although these studies have potential advantages for policymaking and business, their number, implementation, and impact remain limited. Conclusion While previously seen as an academic exercise, life-cycle thinking has been adopted by industry, private consultants, and the South African National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC-SA), amongst others. Growing interest has led to the creation of several training courses available at academic institutes, the NCPCSA, and consulting firms, ranging from basic understanding to advanced use of software packages and modeling techniques. The development of a national LCI database, and further exposure and opportunity for LCA studies, are important steps to hopefully spur LCA in southern Africa in the future.
Towards applying a green infrastructure approach in the Gauteng City-Region
(Gauteng City-Region Observatory, 2019-12) Culwick, Christina; Khanyile, Samkelisiwe; Bobbins, Kerry; Dunsmore, Stuart; Fitchett, Anne; Monama, Lerato; Naidu, Raishan; Sykes, Gillian; van den Bussche, Jennifer; Vieira, Marco
The Gauteng City-Region (GCR) regularly experiences heatwaves, raising renewed concerns over water security, as well as heavy and persistent rains, leading to severe flooding in some areas. In this context of heightened climate variability, thinking about ways to redesign our urban areas with more sustainable infrastructure solutions is becoming more and more important. Green infrastructure (GI) is emerging as an alternative approach to traditional (‘grey’) infrastructure in urban planning and development. Its emergence can be understood in terms of the growing demand for infrastructure and services, increased concerns over natural resource constraints and climate change, and the negative impacts associated with traditional approaches to designing and building cities. It has been proposed that GI can provide the same services as traditional infrastructure at a similar capital cost, while also providing a range of additional benefits. However, despite greater policy interest in green infrastructure in recent years, traditional infrastructure solutions to urban problems continue to dominate. This is partly due to the lack of a systematic evidence base to support GI implementation. There have been calls from decision-makers for more concrete examples of the benefits of successful urban GI applications, as well as for practical guidelines on their implementation. Towards applying a green infrastructure approach in the Gauteng City-Region is the GCRO’s eleventh Research Report. This report builds on the findings of two previous green infrastructure reports, as well as a CityLab process run with academics and government officials between 2014 and 2016. These outputs and the CityLab discussions highlighted as critical the need to for a deeper evidence base in building support for, and enhancing investment in, the GI approach. Unlike the earlier studies which were more theoretically grounded and policy oriented, this report comprises a number of technical investigations that more practically reflect on how a GI approach could be incorporated into urban planning in the GCR, and in other similar urban contexts.

Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment

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