Self-sustaining Green Villages for Health and Wellbeing

The global elderly population is growing due to longer life-span and when coupled with rural urban migration is causing pressure on social housing and healthcare. Our project will create Green Villages that are self-sustaining communities that use IoT to manage energy, water and food security with improved health and well-being. This is achieved by green building design, renewable energy, alternative water supply, sanitation and aquaponics food production, monitored using IoT devices and managed with AI-ready web applications.

Recycled 12m shipping containers are used to construct the framework for a Green Village, consisting of modular apartments interwoven with aquaponics tunnels. Bioclimatic design approaches are used to ensure passive climate control.

Green Villages have the potential to affordably and rapidly provide housing and improved mental and physical health for millions of elderly persons suffering due to rapid urbanisation happening in developing countries.

In 2017 the elderly population in South Africa was estimated at 4.6million persons above sixty.  Projections show that the older population will continue to increase with more than 6.5million elderly persons in South Africa by 2030.

South Africa is ill prepared to cater for the needs of the growing proportion of the elderly. A recent study indicates that 30% of persons above 60years will at some stage require treatment for mental health. The WHO estimates that 38% of South Africans between the ages of 65 and 74 have limitations in eating, bathing, dressing, getting in and out of bed, or using the toilet. Living arrangements are fundamental in old age, particularly during frail years, as it is determining factor on the extent to which elderly access health care and social support.

Worldwide it is expected that the number of older people will surpass the number of children by 2045. The global population of people older than 60 will double – from 900million in 2015 to 2billion in 2050. The number of persons aged 80 years or over is projected to increase more than threefold between 2017 and 2050, rising from 137 million to 425 million.

For the past 3 years Eco-V has been working with the SAVF to understand the sustainability needs of 30 old age homes and 50 housing schemes in their portfolio. A GreenTower Microgrid pilot project has been in operation at an old age home for 2 years, providing solar hot water and electricity, with IoT performance monitoring. Collaborating with the Royal Academy of Engineering we have been evaluating sustainable water treatment and aquaponics gardens. The sharp rise in the cost of electricity and water coupled to intermittent supply as well as increased cost of healthy meals are major concerns affecting sustainability.

The SAVF was established in 1904 and is a private non-profit welfare organisation in South Africa that serves 274 thousand people in need from 178 facilities annually.

The principal aims of the Green Village project are to develop a replicable sustainable housing model for the elderly that improves general wellbeing and meets UN Sustainable Development Goals and can benefit the elderly throughout the developing world. UNIDO has appointed a consultant to assist Eco-V in developing a bankable business case for funding from PFAN with social and humanities research to be co-ordinated by PsySSA (Psychological Society of South Africa).  

The Green Village project uses a modular design methodology that is scale-able to serve large communities and will validate how formal and informal infrastructures interact to affect the well-being of elderly people.

Eco-V improves energy and water security using award-winning containerised GreenTower Microgrids that provide renewable energy from hybrid solar with borehole water and recycled greywater using energy efficient water treatment. GreenTower is driven by next generation “Internet of Things” software for remote monitoring and management to enhance performance and improve end-user experience. 

GreenTower Internet based software will enable Eco-V to use an IA engine to improve performance based on climatic conditions and end-user usage patterns in the Green Village context. Other capabilities include fault identification and automation of maintenance scheduling. On the other hand IA would monitor and assist in managing healthy behaviour. We will upcycle 12m shipping containers using green building insulation techniques to provide affordable single bedroom apartments interwoven with aquaponics greenhouse tunnels. Aquaponics minimise consumption of water and energy while the combination of fish, vegetables and herbs maximise food production. The Green Village pilot project will be implemented on a property owned by the SAVF and cater for 20 apartments housing two elderly persons each. 

Persuasive technologies have emerged as powerful tools that sway behavioural change and well-being in daily life. Our technologies are designed to support water and energy consumption behavioural change with smart metering systems that can collect real-time consumption data. The technology can be extended to ‘personal informatics systems’ that collect personalised relevant information for the purpose of gaining self-knowledge and resource management and would include movement sensors that monitor exercise and sleeping patterns for improved general health. 

In the Green Village project, an open source Content Management System (CMS) will be used to visualise water and energy consumption to enable our engineers as well as facility managers to monitor energy and water usage while providing an interface to the AI management engine. On the other hand, the elderly and health care staff will directly benefit from the data generated by the movement sensors. 

Similarly, integrating a Social Media Platform (SMP) with the Content Management System will aim to ease the communication and creation of relationships between stakeholders (i.e., residents, health care staff, engineers and facility managers) to produce a sustainable impact and serve as a feedback mechanism to improve the well-being and satisfaction level index.

The Green Village project will serve to validate a new business model developed to improve the health and well-being of the elderly. The business model is enabled by GreenTower Microgrid technology with IoT software  ensuring operational savings that can be utilised towards health care services.

The Green Village is self-sustaining and provides energy, water and food security. Containerised apartments incorporate bioclimatic insulation with roof integrated Solar PV feeding grid-tied and hybrid inverters, with Li-ion batteries for electricity storage and supply. Heat pumps with large hot and chilled water storage tanks are managed for energy efficient hot water supply and building climate control using an IoT software platform. Aquaponics tunnels are integrated with the container exterior structure to provide beautifully green vegetable and herb grow beds as well as vertical gardens with fish tanks and water features. A borehole provides treated fresh water with bath water recycled for use in the toilets and for watering the lawn and flower beds. A bioreactor will treat the sewerage water on-site.

The business model hinges on 4 pillars: A quick and cost effective Green construction method; Renewable energy and water supply with on-site sanitation and re-use of water; Sustainable food production; and Using IoT to optimize performance and manage well being  - all serving to reduce operational expenses while improving the end user experience.

The unique value proposition of GreenTower Microgrids lies in the way energy is harvested and stored, with performance assured by IoT software. When combined with treated borehole water supply and greywater recycling it becomes feasible to pass on significant savings.

Building Information Modelling tools are used to develop a scale-able design for containerised apartments. Detailed thermal modelling and simulation software is used to evaluate bio-climatic design, building insulation, indoor/outdoor conditions and overheating analysis along with the entire energy and water supply infrastructure. An Internet of Things (IoT) management platform is integrated with an AI engine to enhance performance and automate fault identification and maintenance schedules. On the other hand IA would monitor and assist in managing healthy behaviour.

Persuasive technologies have emerged as powerful tools that sway behavioural change and well-being in daily life. Our technologies are designed to support water and energy consumption behavioural change with smart metering systems that can collect real-time consumption data. The technology can be extended to ‘personal informatics systems’ that collect personalised relevant information for the purpose of gaining self-knowledge and resource management and would include movement sensors that monitor exercise and sleeping patterns for improved general health. 

In the Green Village project, an open source Content Management System (CMS) will be used to monitor energy and water usage while providing an interface to the AI management engine. Similarly, integrating a Social Media Platform (SMP) with the Content Management System will aim to ease the communication and creation of relationships between stakeholders.

During the past 2 years the GreenTower Microgrid commercial pilot project at an SAVF old age home has provided the data for modelling the Green Village project.

Our involvement with the Royal Academy of Engineering started in 2017 when Eco-V was runner-up of the Africa Prize creating grant opportunities to collaborate with Imperial College London on GreenTower water treatment technology and with Coventry University regarding extending the GreenTower IoT software platform to include aquaponics and vertical gardens.

Coventry University, the SAVF and the Psychology Society of South Africa are keen to collaborate with Eco-V on implementing the Green Village pilot project

The GreenTower Microgrid pilot project currently serves 80 elderly residents at an SAVF old age home.

Within a year we anticipate serving 500 elderly persons and within the next 5 years 10,000 elderly people

Eco-V intends to set up a dedicated containerised GreenTower manufacturing facility within the next year. This will increase our current capacity from manufacturing one containerised GreenTower unit per month to manufacture up to 6 GreenTower Microgrid containerised units a week.

Within the next 5 years we anticipate implementing GreenTower Mirogrids and Green Villages throughout Africa trough a network of in-country partners that could impact millions of elderly persons by 2030

The barriers mainly relate to funding and human resources

We anticipate building a significant pipeline of bankable projects over the next year with access to funding from PFAN

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6 Full time staff

4 contractors

3 academics

André Nel is the founder of Eco-V and inventor of GreenTower™ technology and has a Master’s degree in Electronics & Software Engineering from the University of Pretoria. He has been registered as Professional Engineer since 1991 and after working in the South African space program in the early 90’s has contributed to his credo “the sky is not the limit” . With more than 30 years of experience, André has developed a wide range of skills ranging from Research & Development, project management, marketing, sales and executive management.

Hennie Nel is a co-founder of Eco-V and is responsible for the GreenTower IoT software platform. He is passionate about promoting the Green Economy and is highly skilled in managing client expectations while communicating advice in an understandable and assertive manner. In addition, he maintains good relations with colleagues and specialises in interpersonal communication, skills transferring and motivation.He has a bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of South Africa and is currently appointed in an executive capacity as Chairperson for the Psychology Society of South Africa (PsySSA) Student Division

Eco-V is currently partnering with Coventry University on further developing our IoT software platform with integration of an IA engine CMS and social media platform as well as green building design for health and well-being

Michelangelo Technology has been a technology partner for the past 5 years and has been assisting with GreenTower manufacturing.

ABInBev has selected Eco-V for their 100+ accelerator and have funded a GreenTower Microgrid pilot project with IoT performance monitoring during 2019 which will provide validation data for possible global implementation from 2020

GreenTower Microgrids currently provide Energy and Water security as a service for a beachhead market segment which is old age homes. Eco-V has recently been selected by ABInBev for the 100+ Accelerator to collaborate on their worldwide 2025 sustainability goals.

UNIDO has contracted a financial consultant to assist Eco-V in building a bankable business case during 2019 for PFAN funding in excess of $40 million in support of the GreenTower Microgrid pipeline for SAVF old age homes, ABInBev warehouses and Green Villages.

To date Eco-V has developed GreenTower Microgrids through a combination of own funds, funds generated from early adopters and grants. By securing a  pipeline of bankable projects over the next year we intend to get access to significant funding to accelerate growth

We believ that Solve would provide an opportunity to validate Green Villages and provide access to human resources as well as access to capital

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The Innovation Hub, Coventry University, PsySSA, ABInBev

Our next generation of GreenTower software will integrate IoT, IA and social platforms to enhance technical performance and also health and well being is ground breaking with the potential to improve the lives of millions of elderly persons across the developing world.

However we currently lack the resources to complete the software development within a relevant times-scale. The AI Innovation prize will create the opportunity to implement a Green Village pilot project that will create a springboard to validate the technology and business model

The Innovating together for healthy cities prize will contribute to the budget for manufacturing the pilot project Green Village containerised apartments and installing GreenTower microgrids for energy water and food security.

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The Innospark Ventures prize will create the opportunity to increase the development budget of the Green Village health and well-being software that will create a springboard to validate the technology and business model

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