suppliers on board with her vision. ‘The city’s plan-approval
department rejected 43 items in our first submission,’ she says
with a sigh. ‘The people there were adamant, for example, that
in addition to our water harvesting tank we install an expensive
storm-water attenuation tank that would seldom see a drop of
water. They were also anxious that our system might somehow
return polluted water into the eThekwini system. We had to
prove our technology had one-way valves preventing that. With
the thumbs up from the storm-water department, we were also
eventually able to avoid having to buy the expensive additional
tank by installing a much smaller overflow from the rain tank.’
It’s a matter of pride to Jane that all this green technology is
barely visible. ‘We wanted a beautiful, contemporary house, not
a hippy hobbit home,’ she says.
Whirligigs, solar panels and water tanks are hidden from view,
and it’s only on inquiry that visitors discover that the elegant
decking and outdoor furniture are recycled plastic, the wall paint
comes from Earthcote and Dulux’s ecofriendly ranges (‘all the big
names now have them’), and the ceiling insulation is made fromrecycled plastic bottles – as are the surprisingly soft Nouwens
Ecotwist carpets.
Kitchen cupboards are of sustainable bamboo (‘it can grow
up to 60 centimetres every day!’) and the Samsung Radianz
counter tops comprise 60 per cent recycled content. Household
appliances are energy efficient; all sanitaryware is designed to
minimise water use; and the furniture throughout was brought
across from their previous home and simply reupholstered and
offset with Jane’s own vibrant mosaics.
‘People need to know that green design has nothing to do with the
aesthetics of a house,’ she says. ‘It simply means building in harmony
with the natural environment and cooperating instead of fighting
with the climate.’ gorgeousgreenhouse.wordpress.com166 HL OCTOBER 2015 HOUSEANDLEISURE.CO.ZAGREEN LIVING SUPPLEMENT
1015_HL_162_167_GREEN LIVING_house_RFO.indd 166 2015/09/04 9:58 AM