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If you’ve got a passion for the wellbeing of our environment and all things to do with sustainable energy, then the City of Cape Town has an event you certainly won’t want to miss out on.

The City of Cape Town in collaboration with the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) has erected the ‘My Clean Green Home Pop Up’ at the Greenpoint park, which features Cape Town’s first net-zero carbon home. The idea behind the net-zero carbon home is to give Capetonians an idea of what sustainable living is all about.

The pop-up home is open daily to all visitors from 10h00 to 16h00 until Saturday, 14 March 2021 at Green Point Urban Park, and best of all, entry is completely free!

In order to create the home, the City of Cape Town teamed up with GBCSA to run a competition that called for professionals and students alike to develop a home that they thought best demonstrates sustainable living. The winning design comes to us courtesy of Team Mahali, who aptly named their net-zero carbon home ‘The Mahali hub’.

According to the Cape Town Future Energy Festival,  the Mahali hub features an innovative, modular ‘house in a box’ which was then covered by an overarching tree-like structure made from upcycled and locally available materials.

The net-zero carbon home also features solar power generation, energy-efficient appliances, passive cooling, rainwater harvesting and an edible food garden where you can grow your very own produce.

Take a look at the net-zero carbon home below:

While visiting the My Clean Green Home Pop Up event is a great way to spend the day with the family, it also provides a glimpse into what the future of construction could look like in South Africa. The City of Cape Town has made the ambitious commitment to being carbon neutral by 2050 while increasing our climate resilience, and this home is just one example of how we could achieve that.

As part of this commitment, all new buildings are to be carbon neutral by 2030, along with retrofitting existing buildings to be net-zero carbon by 2050. This aspect is particularly important if the Provence hopes to achieve its goal of being carbon neutral by 2050. Buildings currently consume around 38% of the city’s energy and generate 58% of its carbon emissions. This means that climate action in the built environment can make a huge difference to the environment.

If you won’t be able to make it to Green Point Park to view the Mahali hub, fear not! You can take a virual tour of the home from the comfort of your couch by clicking here.

During the virtual tour, you’ll be able to explore the home at your own pace while also finding interactive tips on how to be resource efficient in your own home.

Picture: Facebook/Cape Town Future Energy Festival

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