NEWSWORTHY
NATIONAL ENGLISH LITERARY MUSEUM ACQUIRES 5-STAR GREEN STAR SA PEB V1 AS-BUILT RATING
The National English Literary Museum was the first Public & Education( PEB) building in South Africa to achieve a 5-Star Green Star SA rating for its design in November 2013, and it can now add an impressive 5-Star Green Star SA PEB v1 As-Built rating to its list of achievements – a first for the Eastern Cape as well as South Africa.
The building aims to reduce potable water consumption by more than 95 % below benchmark, and water meters have been installed for all major water uses to monitor and facilitate management of water consumption. Storm water detention ponds were introduced to release storm water gradually and prevent the erosion of the related river system. Rainwater is harvested from the roof area and used for irrigation, toilet and urinal flushing; and xeriscaped landscaping was used to reduce the need for irrigation as the garden consists of indigenous plants that are endemic to the environment.
Annelide Sherratt from Solid Green explains that a Topsoil Management Plan( TMP) was implemented to guide the contractor on separating all topsoil impacted during construction, in order to protect it from degradation, erosion, or mixing with fill or waste. This way, 75 % of the original topsoil was retained on site.
Air-conditioned and mechanically assisted natural ventilation systems were specified to effectively deliver optimum air quality to each occupant throughout the occupied area. The air-conditioning system is a Variable Refrigerant Volume( VRV) system with heat recovery, which can provide cooling and heating simultaneously to different parts of the building. This feature has the potential to deliver maximum energy savings.
Furthermore, a heat-recovery system can transfer the heat extracted from those spaces requiring cooling to areas demanding heating, thus reducing energy requirements and operating costs. The project only utilised refrigerants and other gases with zero ozone depletion potential that do not contribute to long-term damage to the Earth’ s ozone layer.
Natural lighting to interior spaces has been optimised; artificial lights can be adjusted individually; and occupancy sensors were installed in order to further reduce energy consumption. In addition, energy-saving heat pumps have been installed at dedicated points of the building to supply hot water and heating systems.
A unique feature of the building is the archive section, which has been placed below the ground with a green roof that insulates the building, making air-conditioning unnecessary in these spaces. And, on the north and west façades of the building, gabion walls and natural stone cladding have been used as thermal massing to stabilise the indoor air temperature.
Green materials used include recycled rubber and bamboo flooring, low VOC paints, coconut mosaic wall cladding, and recycled plastic carpets. Where possible, materials were reused and recycled and sourced locally, to minimise transport distances and fuel consumption.
The National English Literary Museum not only provides a valuable cultural resource to the Eastern Cape, but is also an important learning resource for building users and visitors on the benefits of green building design, construction and operation.
CHRYSO S. A. ACQUIRES EXPERTISE OF ACCLAIMED FRENCH DECORATIVE CONCRETE PRODUCER
Chryso Southern Africa has added the Moderne Méthode range of respected European decorative concrete products to its Concrete Aesthetics division. Shaun Gayaram, Chryso SA’ s Project Manager: Concrete Aesthetics, says the Chryso Group in France recently acquired Moderne Méthode, and its Béton Academy training facility, both established and developed in France. The acquisition has now started operations within Chryso Southern Africa and its developer, Michael Archambault, visited South Africa recently to demonstrate the decorative finishes to Chryso staff. Archambault is vastly experienced in the field of decorative concrete and has, for example, worked on the Paris Disneyland theme park. Gayaram says the decorative concrete offering of Moderne Méthode is wide-ranging and built on the company’ s expertise in stamped, polished and microtopped concrete, millimetric coatings which feature overlays of stabilised sand, granite, marble, and resins and also include finishes with a metallic appearance.“ These innovative, robust and sustainable pattern-imprinted concrete systems are extremely attractive and versatile and should have major potential as overlay for both new and restored concrete surfaces in South Africa,” Gayaram stated. http:// za. chryso. com
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