A Legal analysis on the regulation of
renewable resources to promote
energy efficiency in sustainable
building
Marjoné van der Bank
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Energy Postgraduate Conference 2013
Problem statement
• Buildings, including office blocks, manufacturing
facilities and homes account for more than 40
percent of the world’s total energy consumption,
according to the Green Building Council of South
Africa (GBCSA).
• For this reason it is argued that if sustainable
building were to be constructed and implemented,
the environmental impact of the built environment
would be reduced.
Green Building Council of South Africa 2011 http://www.gbcsa.org.za and also
Siemens 2010 http://www.us.siemens.com/sustainable -cities/index.html).
Renewable energy vs.
Energy Efficiency
Renewable energy
deals with the supply
side of energy.
Energy efficiency
deals with the
demand side of
energy.
South African Energy laws:
• The Constitution of the Republic of South
Africa, 1996
– Section 24, section 7(2), section 156(1)
– Schedule 4B
• Local Government: Municipal Systems Act
32 of 2000
• National Environmental Management Act
107 of 1998 (NEMA)
What is energy efficiency?
• According to the National
Energy Act 34 of 2008
– Energy resource
– Energy carrier
• Renewable energy
Regulation of energy efficiency
National
Provincial
Local level
Sustainable building
• Building Regulations and Building
Standards Act 103 of 1977
(NRBS)
• GG R 711 no 34586 of 9
September 2011
• South
African
Bureau
of
Standards
Tax incentives
•
•
•
•
Section 229(1)(a) of the Constitution
White Paper on Local Government 1998
Section 12i of the Income Tax Act
National Standard 50010
Principle of Subsidiarity
Governance should take place as close
as possible to the citizen
National Building Regulation
• GN 711 of 2011 incorporated SANS 10400XA (Energy usage in buildings) and SANS
204 (Energy efficiency in buildings into
regulations.
• SANS 10400-XA: what needs to be done
• SANS 204: how it should be done
Voluntary standards
• SANS 26000/ISO 26000
Challenges
Opportunities
• There is a need to move • The principle of subsidiarity.
towards
renewable
and • The promotion of voluntary
sustainable energy production
projects.
coupled with improved energy
efficiency
to
achieve • Government incentives.
sustainable development.
• Misalignment between South
Africa’s energy laws generally
and environmental laws.
• No synchronisation between
environmental laws, energy
laws and local government
laws.
Conclusion
• There is a call for a transition phase towards
renewable energy and this must be concurrent with
the instilling of energy use disciplines in the mind of
energy users.
• South Africa accustomed to an environment of
cheap electricity and therefore there had been no
motivation to be efficient with energy usage.
• There must be a mind-set change to promote
energy efficiency and sustainable housing.
• There are various tools in order to achieve this:
laws, policies and voluntary projects.
THANK YOU!
South Africa’s first refurbished building that received a
five-Star Green Star South Africa accolade in May 2012
is the Millennia Park office building in Stellenbosch.