Cape Town - Nosango Plaatjie, a single mother-of-three who lives in the Enkanini informal settlement, can now keep the cold at bay thanks to a Stellenbosch University initiative known as the iShack.
“My old house was very cold. Cold air would come in while we were sleeping and make my children sick. This house is beautiful and very warm,” said Plaatjie, smiling from ear to ear.
The iShack, or improved shack, is the result of 18 months of research by the Sustainability Institute and Stellenbosch University, and aims to make incremental improvements to informal settlements.
The zinc 14m2 shack has a solar panel on the roof that allows for three lights and a cellphone charger inside and a motion sensor security light outside. The walls are lined with recycled cardboard boxes sprayed with a fire-retardant paint. The walls are insulated with long life milk cartons, with the shiny side facing out to reflect heat.
Windows are placed strategically on the north and east sides to create a natural draught for better air circulation.
The flooring consists of old bricks from a nearby landfill site.
The pilot project was enabled by funding from the National Research Foundation, and a recent grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will allow it to be tested.
The researchers tapped into local knowledge, incorporating a mud and straw wall as thermal mass inside the home that stores heat from the sun during the day and slowly releases it during the night.
Andreas Keller, an MPhil student involved in the project, said the aim was to address the desperate need for improved shelter in an affordable and sustainable manner.
Project supervisor Mark Swilling said
a new iShack, excluding the solar panel and lights, costs R5 500.
He said the next step would be to build more houses.
Residents of Enkanini, Khayelitsha, said they hoped they would also benefit from the iShack project.
Phathiswa Hlwili, a mother-of-two, said she hoped the entire community would benefit. - The Star