ADVERTORIAL
SANRAL Southern Region’s Corporate Head Office, Baywest, Port Elizabeth Overview SANRAL Southern Region’s new corporate head office in Port Elizabeth is the first 5 Star Greenstar rated office building in the Eastern Cape and the first in the new 320ha Baywest Precinct. It is located directly adjacent to Port Elizabeth’s N2 freeway as one approaches the city from Jeffries Bay. The building is conceptualised as open, connected interior spaces, enclosed in bold, context-responsive facades and a sweeping roof line. The focus of the green design was threefold. Firstly, to dramatically reduce energy use, secondly to save and reuse potable water and thirdly to provide a quiet, productive work environment. The client called for a 5 Star Greenstar Design and As-built rating using the Office v1.1 rating tool. The design rating has been achieved. The sustainability focus was three fold: Energy reduction - the project has included thermal double glazed facades, a highly insulated roof and ground floor slab and a 85kW peak roof mounted solar
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SUSTAINABLE ENERGY RESOURCE HANDBOOK
PV grid-tied system, which provides 40% of the building’s total energy requirement. Reduction in the use of potable water – this is made up of a rainwater harvesting system with 30 000l tank capacity which collects condensate and rainwater for toilet and urinal flushing Reduction of external and internal noise reduction. This was achieved using various sound absorbing materials and acoustic engineering strategies. SANRAL Baywest- PV System A photo voltaic system was installed, in line with the energy efficiency philosophy of the building. The photo voltaic system is a 109.7KWp system consisting of 414 x 265w panels and 3 invertors. The system was installed on top of the concrete roof slab. The system is mounted on brackets directing the panels towards the sun, to achieve maximum exposure. Currently the system is not a grid tied system as the local authority does not allowed