Gauteng’s first environment-friendly and ecosensitively planned light industrial development, the Lanseria Corporate Estate (LCE), is attracting interest from developers and investors.

In a world where a price is put on carbon emissions, and because South Africa is quite proactive in terms of emissions mitigation and combating global warming, the importance of procuring from a ‘green’ supply chain is becoming more important. Companies that are storing or assembling their products in a carbon-neutral industrial estate will already be put at an advantage in this regard.

Situated north-west of Johannes-burg, adjacent to Lanseria Airport, LCE covers 90 ha of land, and 169 industrial stands, ranging from 3 500 m2 to 7 300 m2, are available.

LCE has an emphasis on aesthetic beauty and environmental sustainability, and there has been a significant amount of planning going into the estate to set it apart from any existing industrial park in South Africa at the moment, with controls in place to achieve an environ- ment that is pleasing for all who work there, without compromising on safety and convenience.

“It took us about a year longer than it would normally take to plan this light industrial estate, because we spent a lot of time upfront thinking about how things should be laid out and implemented, what we should ask for from investors, and what we, as developers ourselves, could do in terms of common areas. “We sought out where we could increase effectiveness in stormwater management, waste management, energy efficiency and greening up,” Lanseria Trust One trustee Jurgen Erhart tells Engineering News.

The estate’s Property Owners’ Association will ensure that the irrigation and main-tenance of public and visible private spaces take place regularly and effec-tively, ensuring a degree of uniformity and consistent quality.

LCE will have its own sewer plant, which has already been approved in principle by the Johannesburg City Council. The wastewater which goes through the plant will be treated and reticulated for outside irrigation purposes so as to reduce water use on the estate.

Also, in terms of water management, the estate will make use of permeable paving technology, which is a sustainable urban drainage system whereby runoff and rain- water filters through the paving and is stored in a subbase reservoir system. This Formpave system makes use of an Aquaflow paving block, which allows water through at a specified rate. The Aquaflow blocks are bedded on a laying course of 5 mm to 6 mm crushed stone underlain by an Inbitex geotextile membrane. This membrane separates the laying course from the subbase stone, which is carefully sized to create a 30% reservoir capacity. The membrane traps silts, oils and heavy metals and promotes the growth of microbes, which digest the oils and some heavy metals. Purified by filtration and microbial action, the water in the system can be harvested and reused. “This is much more efficient than general paving and standard on-site water attenuation systems. “It is not commonly used in South Africa, and may be a bit more expensive, but environmentally it is worth it,” says Erhart.

Another important aspect of LCE is the ‘greening up’ that is part of designs. Along the main boulevard, there will be seven lines of trees and large shrubs between buildings, and significant open spaces. Side roads will be greened up similarly.

It is envisaged that there could be about 10 000 people working at the estate eventually, and for this reason developers have been striving to ensure that people enjoy going to work at the industrial park.

“One of the visions is to include a soccer field, so that people can look forward to playing a soccer game during their lunch break. There could also be a gym, and enough space to jog along the tree-lined streets,” relates Erhart.

The developers are also interacting with Trees for Africa, which is able to estimate the carbon footprint created by a contractor during construction of the factory or warehouse within LCE, as well as a company’s carbon emissions while occupying the land in the industrial park, by using a carbon calculator. These calculations can then aid in offsetting the impact by advising a company to do simple things such as planting trees, perhaps, in a nearby township.

Another important factor, which should contribute to the sustainability of this industrial park, is that developers and investors who decide to build on the estate will be required to submit their plans to the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for assessment. The CSIR will compile a report for the developer using the sustainable building assessment tool (SBAT), which has been drawn up by the CSIR. The centre is, in fact, amending the existing SBAT system for application to a light industrial development, as LCE is the first industrial park to request information on the sustainability of light industrial operations.

The SBAT supports the implementation of more sustainable practices, such as local procurement, using environment-friendly materials, increasing energy efficiency, and lowering noise pollution, in the building and construction industry in South Africa, and includes social and economic criteria as well as environmental sustainability criteria. The tool, which is currently used as an indicative guide to the performance of buildings in terms of sustainability, suggests a framework whereby property owners and designers assess the sustainability of their project.

“We couldn’t impose strict rules on developers in terms of sustainability, but, at least this way, by making them submit plans and giving them feedback, we can make them aware of things they should be doing and what they could work on. “I believe that it will encourage people to think of the sustainability of their developments; it is, of course, up to them whether they implement the advice or not,” states Erhart.

He maintains that the trickledown effect should also affect sustainable planning and thinking by owners, developers, architects and builders with regard to their other projects and so have a positive effect beyond this estate.

“Today, being environmentally and socially responsible makes good business sense, and I hope this could set a new standard for industrial developments, where developers and architects put more thought into planning,” concludes Erhart.