yissie lance. once i've got some cash together, we need to chat son. some post-gas cash, that is. that herb garden conversion is right up my alley. literally. i have this alley up the side and back of my house i'd love to turn into something like that...

dh|

Im currently doing my engineering masters in engineering development, using the Karoo fracking project as a concept design... Lots of environmental management going into that!
We thought about getting the press involved last semester, but luckily we didn't. Most folks aren't too keen on drilling a bunch of holes in the Karoo...

Some nice pics posted. I'm an architect/space planner, we've done a fair bit of work in our office about 'greening' existing buildings

Geez Lance ..... my wife hates your guts!!!! She does a bit of (very amateurish) gardening, calls it landscaping, mainly as a form of relaxing ..... these blew her away ..... ?

Those gardens are stunning !! :applause: :applause:

Giggsy wrote: Wow Lance, we must chat (what a crazy house - some of the money that is out there astounds me...)

I do Leading Architecture & Design and Environmental Management, so Riaan and Chocklit there could be some synergies there ?

Let me know what you have in mind, and I'll assist wherever I can.

I'm in environmental management/energy/landscape design/architecture ?

I'm a mechanical engineer doing energy modelling on green buildings. We do everything from thermal analysis (daylighting, envelope, HVAC, etc) to smoke and fire modelling. We do some work with green building rating tools, with a focus on LEED.

I think we'll definitely end up talking in the near future ?

ParadoximA wrote: ...We do some work with green building rating tools, with a focus on LEED....

Hoe do you find LEED compared to the local/Aussie system? I like that the whole LEED 'ecosystem' is more mature, but US customary units annoy and confuse me. It seem that the sheer volume of LEED material out there makes it worth spending more time getting familiar with it, though.

ParadoximA wrote: I think we'll definitely end up talking in the near future ?

Definitely!

peterleroux wrote: How do you find LEED compared to the local/Aussie system? I like that the whole LEED 'ecosystem' is more mature, but US customary units annoy and confuse me. It seem that the sheer volume of LEED material out there makes it worth spending more time getting familiar with it, though.

I don't want to go too far into that on this forum ('cos I'll probably have to break the rules by discussing politics!), but you hit the nail on the head when you say that LEED is more mature - the massive number of LEED buildings going up around the world results in more feedback on what works and what doesn't, allowing for better optimization of the system itself. LEED is also starting to place more emphasis on the commissioning and proof that the building is really performing in reality and not just on paper.

That said, there is definitely room for a local rating tool that addresses the uniquely South African issues. We went across to Australia to talk to their GBC and understand where their Green Star (and therefore a lot of the South African one) came from and where it's going. Even with that background info, I can't say that one tool is better than another - you select the tool that's most appropriate for the project. In my experience so far, it all depends on whether the company is marketing the building locally or internationally, with the technical aspects being secondary in the decision process...

I hear you on the American units! They're getting better though, and we've been submitting projects in metric units without any problems.

Aubs1 wrote: Geez Lance ..... my wife hates your guts!!!! She does a bit of (very amateurish) gardening, calls it landscaping, mainly as a form of relaxing ..... these blew her away ..... ?

Those gardens are stunning !! :applause: :applause:

Thanks Aubs. ?

It's better to do gardens as a hobby and as a form of relaxation than as a living. ?

Tell your wife if she needs any plants/herbs/trees, etc, let me know, I'll send you to some wholesalers for killer prices.