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The most extravagant greenhouses / buildings

Before we look at the largest and most extravagant greenhouses I think we need to cover what a greenhouse is. A Greenhouse is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to industrial-sized buildings.

The idea of growing plants in environmentally controlled areas has existed since Roman times. In the 13th century, greenhouses were built in Italy to house the exotic plants that explorers brought back from the tropics. Greenhouses in which the temperature could be manually manipulated first appeared in 15th century Korea. The concept of greenhouses also appeared in the Netherlands and then England in the 17th century, along with the plants. Today the Netherlands has many of the largest greenhouses in the world, some of them so vast that they are able to produce millions of vegetables every year.

The golden era of the greenhouse was in England during the Victorian era where the largest greenhouses yet conceived were constructed, as the wealthy upper class and aspiring botanists competed to build the most elaborate buildings. A good example of this trend is the pioneering Kew Gardens.

Kew Gardens is a botanical garden in Southwest London that houses the “largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world”. Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden in Kew Park, UK, its living collections include more than 30,000 different kinds of plants while the herbarium, which is one of the largest in the world, has over seven million preserved plant specimens. The library contains more than 750,000 volumes, and the illustrations collection contains more than 175,000 prints and drawings of plants. It is one of London’s top tourist attractions and is a World Heritage Site.

A Conservatory is a building or room having glass or tarpaulin roofing and walls used as a greenhouse or a sunroom. If in a residence, it would typically be attached to the house on only one side. Conservatories originated in the 16th century when wealthy landowners sought to cultivate citrus fruits such as lemons and oranges that began to appear on their dinner tables brought by traders from warmer regions of the Mediterranean. Municipal conservatories became popular in the early 19th century.

A traditional conservatory at the Horniman Museum in London.

In the UK the legal definition of a conservatory is a building that has at least 50% of its side wall area glazed and at least 75% of its roof glazed with translucent materials, either polycarbonate sheeting or glass. Today the terms sunroom, solarium and conservatory are used interchangeably by the public, but in general, the term conservatory and particularly English conservatory evoke the image of an ornate structure, echoing the traditions of that Victorian era of conservatory building.

Anthaeum, Hove built in 1830 with the world’s largest dome, was an iron and glass conservatory planned by English botanist and landscape gardener Henry Phillips and designed by architect Amon Henry Wilds on land owned by Sir Isaac Goldsmid in Hove, Sussex. Conceived on a grand scale and consisting of a gigantic cupola-topped dome covering more than 1.5 acres, the structure was intended to enclose a carefully landscaped tropical garden, with exotic trees and shrubs, lakes, rockeries and other attractions. Disagreements between the architect, the project engineer and the building contractor led to structural problems being overlooked or ignored, though, and the day before it opened the Anthaeum collapsed spectacularly in 1833.

Adelaide’s Bicentennial Conservatory was constructed in 1987 and opened in late 1989. The building was designed by local architect Guy Maron and has won awards for its design, engineering and landscaping. It is 100 metres long, 47 metres wide and 27 metres high making it the largest single span conservatory in the southern hemisphere. The conservatory houses at risk or endangered tropical rainforest plants from northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and South Pacific Islands.

Adelaide’s Bicentennial Conservatory

Although there are lists of spectacular glass houses or conservatories, the Palm House at Schönbrunn Palace Park in Vienna takes the cake as the largest glass house in continental Europe. It is 111 metres long, 28 metres wide and 25 metres high composed of 45,000 sheets of glass. It is also among the largest botanical exhibits of its kind in the world, with around 4,500 plant species. Devised by designer Franz von Segenschmid and constructed by metal worker Ignaz Gridl in the 1880s, it is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Palm House at Schönbrunn Palace Park

No matter how extravagant the building or greenhouse the importance of greenhouses still remains. Greenhouses allow for greater control over the growing environment of plants. Greenhouses may be used to overcome shortcomings in the growing qualities of a piece of land, such as a short growing season or poor light levels, and they can thereby improve food production in marginal environments. Greenhouses are also increasingly important in the food supply of high-latitude countries, as they may enable certain crops to be grown throughout the year.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kew_Gardens

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmenhaus_Sch%C3%B6nbrunn

http://greenarea.me/en/109899/the-importance-of-greenhouses/

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About Helga Venter

My name is Helga Venter. I started with the company in 2004 and was promoted to Financial Director in 2007.

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Ultimately when I was chosen for this topic, my first thought when hearing “Environmental Impact Assessments” (EIA’s) was little butterflies, tree huggers and strange frogs of which there are only 2 left. But there most certainly is a lot more to it!

First things first… what exactly is an EIA? Very simple really, thanks to my bestie, Google: “Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a process of evaluating the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development, taking into account inter-related socio-economic, cultural and human-health impacts, both beneficial and adverse.”

Source

Still not sure? Let’s get to it then!

EIA in South Africa all started back in the ’70’s. It started out voluntarily until 1997 when the government passed EIA regulations under the old Environmental Conservation Act (Act 73 of 1989). Activities, such as projects, policies, programmes and plans, which have a significant effect on the environment must be investigated and assessed, to bring any valuable concerns to light. This does not, however, mean that the project won’t move forward, the EIA test is to gain clarity so that developers/clients are made aware of any impacts the project will have on the environment or culture upon completion.

There are two levels of assessment, namely: a Basic Assessment process and a full EIA. The full EIA process entails the following steps:

1. Screening
2. Scoping
3. Assessment study
4. Review
5. Decision-making
6. Follow-up

The length of the EIA will depend on the project under review. The process usually lasts between 6 and 18 months, approximately the same length as the feasibility study. Now, let’s have a look at each step individually and what each step of the process entails.

Screening:

This process is completed by the relevant authority at national, provincial or local level. As previously mentioned, there are two levels of assessment. Basic assessments are done to streamline the EIA so that smaller projects/activities (ie. road widening, construction of dams below 5m in height etc) are not subjected to a full EIA. These assessments, therefore, do not include a scoping phase. An Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP) is required to determine whether a basic assessment or full EIA is required. The EAP will consult with the public, designated competent authority and relevant stakeholders. The input by the stakeholders is required before submitting the screening report for screening decisions by the DEA. A full EIA is needed for projects that will have an effect on a national protected area. In these instances, the Minister is designated as the competent authority. The estimated time frame for the screening process is 30 days.

Scoping:

Scoping is the process of identifying the key environmental issues and is the most important step within an EIA report. Scoping is important for two reasons: a.) so problems can be pinpointed early allowing mitigating design changes to be made and b.) to ensure that detailed prediction work is only carried out for important issues. Scoping is only required for projects that undergo a full EIA. An approved EAP may be appointed at this stage. After the application is submitted, the proponent must:

1. Conduct the public participation process;
2. Give notice in writing of proposed application to any state agency with jurisdiction over the proposed activity;
3. Open and maintain a register for public participation;
4. Consider all objections and representations received from interested and affected parties;
5. Identify relevant issues, potential environmental impacts, alternatives of the project activity;
6. Prepare a scoping report which must be reviewed and commented on by all concerned parties;
7. Give interested and affected parties an opportunity to comment on the scoping report;
8. Submit the scoping report to the competent authority for review and decision-making.

Once all documents are submitted, the competent authority makes the decision on whether the report has been approved, rejected, or if amendments should be made. Scoping is done to identify key interest groups, both government and non-governmental. Individuals who are affected by the project need to hear about it as soon as possible. The estimated time frame for the scoping process is 30 days.

Assessment and reporting:

Once the scoping report has been accepted, the EAP will begin with the approved plan of study for the EIA. The applicant or EAP may appoint an expert to carry out a special study or a specialised process. The contents of an EIA report include the details of the appointed EAP, the description and location of the project, a description of the environment that may be affected, details of the public participation process, description of the needs of the project, description of the potential alternatives to the project and their analysis along with the indication of the adopted methodology, a summary of the findings and recommendations of any specialist report, all environmental issues identified with significant impacts, assumptions, uncertainties and gaps in knowledge. Reasoning as to whether the project should or should not be authorised, a draft EMP and copies of any specialist reports and any specific information that may be required by the competent authority. For projects that require a Basic Assessment, a Basic Assessment Report (BAR) is required.

Review:

The competent authority and other relevant authorities are responsible for the review, they can either accept the EIA report or refer it for specialised review by a team for their comments, this is usually the case where technical knowledge or a high level of objectivity is required. The time frame for the reviewing report is 60 days. For a Basic Assessment Report, the competent authority has 30 days to accept, reject, suggest alternatives, or to subject the report to a full EIA.

Decision-making:

After the EIA report is approved, a decision is taken on whether an environmental authorisation is granted for the activity. This is required before any activities can begin by the developer. The granting of an environmental authorization does not necessarily lead to project approval. Other licences separate from the one issued by DEA have to be received from other relevant authorities before proposed project activities can commence. The competent authority taking the decision on whether the environmental authorisation is granted or not can be the Minister of Environmental Affairs, Members of the Executive Council (MEC), the Minister of Mineral Resources for mining related activities, the provincial, or local environmental authorities with delegated powers. All decisions need to be made public. The competent authority must grant or refuse the environmental authorisation within 45 days. For Basic Assessments, the decision will be taken within 30 days from the approval of the BAR.

Monitoring, Compliance and Enforcement:

Compliance monitoring
Monitoring is a mandatory requirement. The applicant is required to submit an Environmental Management Plan as part of the EIA study report. This should include the requirements for the management, monitoring and reporting of the impacts of the project on the environment throughout the life cycle of the project.

Non-compliance penalties
The competent authority may suspend an Environmental Authorisation for several reasons, i.e. if there are reasonable grounds for believing that the contravention or non-compliance with a condition of the authorisation causes harm to the environment, or if it is necessary to prevent such harm. Furthermore, a person is guilty of an offence if that person provides misleading or incorrect information, fails to disclose information to the competent authority, fails to comply with a request to submit an environmental audit report, fails to comply with any conditions granted in an authorised exemption and continues with a project for which an Environmental Authorisation was suspended. The punishment for the offence could be imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or to a fine prescribed not exceeding R1 million, or (and this is the scary part) to both a fine AND imprisonment.

Public participation:

Public participation is required for projects that require only a basic assessment and projects that require a full EIA. However, there are no provisions for public participation during the decision phase and during monitoring of EIA activities. The public is given an opportunity to comment on reports and statements. The public is also informed about decisions and their reasoning.

Legal recourse:

A person who wishes to appeal against a decision must submit a notice of intention with the Minister in charge of the environment, the MEC or a delegated organ of state to the appeal authority. An appeal panel can be appointed to support the processing of the appeal. Recommendations are submitted to the competent authority in writing. The relevant authorities can then make a decision to the appeal.

In conclusion, Environmental Impact Assessments cannot give a precise picture of the future, much like we as South Africans don’t have an exact idea of where these “interesting” changes will take us. Environmental Impact Assessments enable uncertainty to be managed and to assist in correct decision making within the project process. A useful management general truth is to preserve flexibility in the face of uncertainty.

Sources: http://www.fao.org/docrep/V8350E/v8350e06.htm

http://www.eia.nl/en/countries/af/south+africa/eia

https://www.soas.ac.uk/cedep-demos/000_P507_EA_K3736-Demo/unit1/page_14.htm

About Elaine Cockcroft

I started working at Leads 2 Business in January 2016 and form part of the sales team as Account Executive based in Gauteng.

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