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Depot goes green
- Details
- 09 October 2012
GREEN building practices are being used in the construction of Rea Vaya’s Dobsonville bus depot. Noise and odour reduction are included in the design.
INan age of lively environmental consciousness, Rea Vaya has stepped up to the plate to play its part. Its depot now being built in Dobsonville, Soweto bears testament to its green aims.
From its design, the top-class depot – which is on the verge of completion – has booked a place among leading green buildings. And its natural but contemporary design is something of beauty, and it stands tall among the humble homes of the township.
First off, a great deal of the material used in construction is environmental friendly. There has been relatively little use of concrete, and the structure of the bus maintenance section and the administration block is made of steel. On the sides it is covered with Lexan, a slightly transparent, plastic-like material.
Sebastian Adams, a quantity surveyor, explains that Lexan is durable and will last for a lifetime. He points out that the depot could be one of the first in Joburg to use Lexan for walling. “It is normally used on the rooftop of some buildings.”
Lexan comes with other environmentally friendly perks: by its nature it can act as a temperature regulator. On hot days, it can cool the temperature. And on cold days the material can absorb and retain solar heat, thus minimising the use of air conditioners and heaters.
Natural light
Another advantage lies in the material’s transparent nature. “The Lexan works well as it eliminates the use of multiple light bulbs by allowing natural lighting into the building,” says Adams. To boost the use of natural lighting, clear transparent plastic skylights have been installed on the roof of the administration block.
Similar innovations can be spotted elsewhere: the doors at the northern entrance are made from clear glass bordered by Lexan.
Energy saving is what the building is all about, and on the walls of the office areas there are no light switches. This is because it operates on sensor lights – the lights switch on when someone enters a room, and switch off automatically when the person leaves again.
In the same vein, the maintenance block has solar panels on its roof, which are connected to solar geysers. Pointing to the building, Silvino Page, the site co-ordinator says that once it is finished, the geysers will provide hot water to the bathrooms and basins. Automatic press taps have also been installed as a measure of saving water.
Page gives assurances that the geysers will work just as effectively as electricity powdered geysers. “They are very powerful and can absorb a lot of energy from the sun,” he explains.
Oil-water separators
The green endeavours on the building are far reaching. Other smart environmental protection engineering are the oil-water separators in the maintenance room and the wash bay area. The separator will come in handy during regular maintenance and washing of the buses, which often involves the drainage of water and oil. It will isolate oil and water into separate storage areas. “When the oil storage has filled up, it will then be taken for recycling. Water will go into the drains,” remarks Adams.
The same facility will also be installed in the wash bays. He explains: “When the buses are being washed underneath on the chassis, some oil will come out, though it wouldn’t be much, as in the maintenance area.”
Another fascinating feature of the depot is the noise barrier wall at the back. The wall, normally used by airports, keeps noise within the yard, and can even contain large noise effects.
Some out-of-the-box thinking came through in the building’s design. For example, in an effort to contain air pollution, the room in the maintenance block set aside to spray paint dents on the buses has been specially designed to trap the paint smell from going out into open air.
Even the decorations are designed to complement the environmental element. Once work is finished, there will be a large storm attenuation pond, which will store rain water to be used to water a small garden that will be planted around the pond. Adams points out: “This will create a more natural atmosphere.”
He reckons that the price of the material used is modest in comparison to what the company would have paid it had built with concrete or other regular materials. Work on the depot started in October 2011, and was due for completion in July 2012, but it was delayed by rain. It is expected to be completed by the end of September.
Related stories:
- Book looks at BRT legacy (News/Jun 2012)
- Rea Vaya is fighting climate change (News/December 2011)
- Rea Vaya charts a green path (News/June 2011)
- Rea Vaya goes green (Welcome/Rea Vaya goes green)
- Cutting gas emissions (News/May)
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