No building should have open doors and windows and have the aircon running in summer and the heating system running in winter. This is a waste of a very precious resource. Air condition units need not run at 100% as they now do . Checkers, PnP, Spar, DisChem, Clicks to name but a few are prime examples of this waste. Arguments about fresh air do not stand up if you understand the technology. Aircon systems use fresh air intake and possess temperature control, so there is no need for open windows and doors, you're cooling the great outdoors. How ridiculous!! There are changes that need to be made to the national building code.

A building code change and monitoring could reduce the level of power consumed for the purpose of keeping the shops at 20 degrees C. Revolving doors lessens the loss of the cool interior air. To allow for the movement of carriages and shopping baskets there would need to be access to enter and leave through single door each side of the revolving door. The same applies for the heating in winter with hot air drifting out open doors, again totally manageable with revolving doors.

Another incentive for home owners, would be a tax break for them to install solar geyser heating panels. Not only would they be saving money in the long run, but it is foolish to have the amount of sunshine this country has per annum,that's free, and instead draw on a resource where the demand exceeds Eskoms ability to supply. Then there is the problem of extending Eskoms use of coal and the emissions from its use contributing to global warming , while many on this planet are trying desperately to reduce emissions.

Another construction problem involves the piping from the geyser to the various hot water taps, the pipes should be insulated. I determined that each time the hot water was needed in the kitchen the run off was 2.5 liters multiply that by the number of household across the country that is a lot of water wastage, but also when the tap is shut the water in the pipe back to the geyser cools down. Its just logical that all builders be required to insulate, and existing homes should be offered a one time tax break to have hot water pipes insulated.

Most of these problems simply require a Building Code Amendment. While Treasury would end up bearing the cost of tax breaks, it would gain by reducing the expenditure for coal. It is a win, win.

J Copeland de Jager