3-2-1 HOUSEZERO!

Lights out – water out. Nothing new in Jozi town.

Regular unplanned and planned power outages became a dominant problem in South Africa starting way back in 2008. Until this day in May 2021, a reliable power infrastructure for South Africa is still a “no”. We are still firing on all cylinders using coal to feed our power stations and we distribute electricity via an overloaded, completely outdated and badly serviced network. Not good at all. So in order to prevent the country from plunging into total darkness, the state owned power enterprise ESKOM uses planned outages to keep our lights on. As South Africans, we have a lovely sounding name for a very unpleasant thing like this: We call it “load – shedding”:

nounnoun: load-shedding

• action to reduce the load on something, especially the interruption of an electricity supply to avoid excessive load on the generating plant.

A similiar problem exists relating to SA’s water infrastructure. Permanent outages due to an aged infrastructure are the order of the day. An additional and bigger problem though is the resource itself – South Africa is already a water scarce country, the 30th driest in the world (according to WWF SA Report). In 2018, after three years of poor rainfall, the city of Cape Town announced drastic action was needed to avoid running out of water. Reducing demand was a key priority for the whole country and water restrictions were put in place everywhere. And they still are.

Now these and other challenges beg a couple of questions while in the process of building our next home – what kind of house are we gonna build? What’s the eco footprint while building and living there? Standard brick and mortar home? A hut? A what? “Classic” technologies like electrical powered geysers? May the force be with us…

Do. Or do not. There is no try.

When your brain is in overdrive and on fire, you need a way forward and sound advise. The only one who can provide this is Master Yoda. Always. And in our case the advice is clear: Do! Go off the grid you must. No prisoners. Net zero environmental footprint if you can. Solar PV, climate control system, hydroponic system, rain water harvesting, modular built – the works. A holistic approach is needed and the hunt for such a provider is on. If these requirements can be met and the whole thing could be packed into a modern design, a very attractive appearance & high end finishes, would you go for it? OF COURSE!!

Designed and made in the Republic of South Africa.

An honorary doctor in research goes to my wife, the lovely Soulmam. After an extensive search she shortlisted a handful of solutions and providers and finally she came across a local company that just does exactly provide what we were looking for. The name is housezero.co.za in Pretoria. An intense period of internal discussions followed and we have subsequently engaged with Housezero’s team. A few meetings later and we have decided to go on a journey with them! The video below is a rendering of one of their designs incorporating sustainable solutions for a sustainable lifestyle boasting a rock star design! Jawoll!

Where’s the water?

This week we were in Clarens on our plot to meet a provider for a potential drill for a borehole. This resource would eventually subsidise our rainwater harvesting solution during dry periods. Interesting experience how technology is used to measure the underground profile.

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Three spots have been found that are promising to earn us 500 litres + / hour. Now, this needs a second check and then a decision will be made where to let the drill down. I will keep you posted!

Never too old. Never too crazy.

To be continued – stay tuned, y’all!