Salt Rock’s urban warrior

Richard Compton takes an intriguing walk through the province’s first truly eco house.

It’s intriguing to watch how 21^st century life has worked in the favour of an old game ranger! Having given his life to protecting things, saving things, warding off artifice, Paul Dutton, 75, now wants to culminate his environmental passion in, literally, a living legacy!

As society immerses itself in lowering its carbon footprint and familiarising itself with the finite (and costly) nature of elementary resources, up pops a home that is being heralded as KZN’s first truly eco house. And this is no Swiss family Robinson makeshift, either!

Solaris, as it is aptly named, appears as the urban embodiment of all Dutton’s survival instincts and earthly intellect. The very issues of sustaining life, those delicate and fundamental matters of conservation that consumed his working career, have been massaged into our living rooms. Yes, the game ranger has become the talisman of our urban lifestyles!

Dunkirk Estate in Salt Rock might be one of myriad gated communities along our coast. It’s certainly a far cry from the vast open spaces on which Dutton cut his teeth. But it is here, on one simple, postage stamp plot, that we can peek into a more frugal future. Solaris invites the home buyer into a world of wise usage – and diminishing costs.

Elegantly concealed

Elegantly concealed behind a variety of indigenous trees and shrubs, the double-storey, three-bedroomed home offers its green wisdom from the very entrance; where the hot tarmac of Glades Drive gives way to the much cooler, lush green “grass block” driveway. Importantly, this stable, grass carpet allows rainfall to replenish the surrounding earth’s water table instead of rushing off into municipal culverts that dump it into the sea.

This “soft” development footprint of the home’s surroundings is repeated in his minimising lawn cover (demands too much water as well as power for lawn mowers) and introducing indigenous ground covers, which reduce soil erosion and provide habitat for wildlife.

Now for the harder issues, the things that save on the bottom line! Let’s talk water. No guttering on the roof and yet all the rainfall runs off and is captured and funnelled through subterranean pipes and stored in a 10 000 litre, underground, concrete conservancy tank. The water is filtered twice and ready to be pumped back up to the house for all uses.

And when it comes to “grey” water, from baths or showers, this is also collected     in a concealed, 500 litre stainless steel reservoir; this water to be used for general outdoor purposes, such as watering the eco-garden, washing of cars etc.

The hugely topical issue of electricity has been addressed by Dutton through the installation of photo voltaic cells on the roof, storage batteries and a solar heated water geyser.

One evening I decided to live Solaris.

Disconnected

At the outset I ensured the home was disconnected from the municipal grid. Then I drove into the garage by activating the garage door; sat in the living room, turned on the TV, boiled the kettle on a gas stove for coffee, fetched the milk out of the fridge, turned on my laptop (attached it to the mains), switched on the ceiling fans and while all were operating I went upstairs and turned on the outside shower.

I paused nervously. Surely something was going to literally trip up on me?

Hot water poured out with good pressure and I left it for five minutes. It was nice to know the geyser had been heated by the solar panelling and the water had been pumped up from the conservancy tank – and powered by the photo voltaic cells.

Went into the bedroom, turned on the lights, put my clothes back on and went downstairs again. What’s for supper? Whatever was on the menu would have been cooked inside or atop a gas stove.

It was a pretty warm evening so having returned to the TV, I appreciated a lovely breeze flowing through the sitting room. Not for the first time I noticed the architectural design was elegantly geared towards maximising the natural elements; in this case extensive aluminium ceiling windows on both sides of the room created a cooling through draft. This along with the fans would pretty much negate a need for air-conditioning.

So an hour later I had pretty much acted out a very normal evening at home. And for all intents and purposes it had cost me zip! (It’s comforting to know, however, that if your energy usage exceeds what the solar panel charged batteries have in store – or the water is depleted from the conservancy tank – then the municipal circuit is immediately activated).

Dutton’s attention to prudence is almost inevitably peppered throughout the house. The beautiful wooden panelling throughout (including the staircase) is not imported timber harvested from rapidly diminishing Indonesian rain forests but come from an alien and locally grown tree, Cedar of Lebanon. Even the home’s paint is water-based and thereby reducing any reliance on more toxic oil-based paints.

Whoever buys Solaris will be opening the door not just on a beautiful home but a lifestyle that asks very little of us, really; Perhaps, yes, just a considered nod towards some thrift.

Paul Dutton

Paul Dutton is one of South Africa’s best known and most respected conservationists who in 2000 was a nominee for the Audi Terra Nova Award for conservation.

Having worked for 14 years as a senior game ranger with the then Natal Parks Board, he is most popularly known for being the ‘flying face’ of conservation in southern Africa. He is a founder member of the Bateleurs – flying for the environment in Africa, a NGO that uses voluntary pilots and their aircraft for missions related to the natural environment.

Dutton, who has an MSc in coastal management, has worked as a consultant in many Sub-Saharan countries and coastal environments in the Western Indian Ocean. Much of his work has been concentrated in Mozambique where he worked with the country’s conservation authority highlighting the plight of the dugong in the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park. In both this and the Chimanimani Mountain project, he helped realise their national park status. More recently, Dutton consulted in the ongoing efforts to help resuscitate the Gorongoza National Park.

Part of his environmental consultancy work has been concentrated closer to home, specifically helping promote more eco compliant developments in KZN gated estates.