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CMA ANNOUNCES AWARDS
FOR EXCELLENCE 2016
The Concrete Manufacturers Association (CMA) NPC has announced
that its Awards for Excellence
competition will be run during
2015/16. PPC, the leading supplier
of cement in Southern Africa, is the
anchor sponsor of the competition.
According to Echo Group managing director, Monique Eggebeen,
who chairs the CMA’s Awards
committee, the essential purpose
of the awards is to recognise
excellence in the use of precast
concrete and to honour those
professionally associated with its
diverse applications.
“This is the pinnacle event in the
precast
concrete
construction
calendar and it presents an outstanding opportunity for CMA
members, both large and small, to
showcase their products and to
establish themselves as trendsetters in the use of precast
concrete,” says Eggebeen.
The competition is open to all
providing the precast products
entered for the competition were
made by a CMA member. Entries
must be submitted by no later
than October 16, 2015. There are
six award categories in this
year’s competition:
• Aesthetics Commercial
• Aesthetics Residential (Private
Single Dwellings)
• Community Upliftment
• Technical Excellence
• Innovation
• Precast for Life
Entry leaflets can be downloaded
from www.cma.org.za.
THE TECH BUTLER SEES HUGE POTENTIAL FOR INNOVATIVE
RADIANT HEATING AND COOLING CEILINGS
Although not a new product in the international built environment, radiant ceilings have
only recently begun to be embraced by South African architects, engineers and
sustainability consultants.
Radiant Ceilings
Radiant ceilings provide targeted, fast cooling that requires a minimum input of resources
that can be regulated individually. These systems use radiant heating and cooling as opposed
to traditional air conditioning which uses air to transport the heat.
One of the best materials to use in radiant ceilings is graphite, which is a very good
conductor. The extraordinary thermal conductivity of the material enables a very fast and
uniform heat and cold distribution on the panel´s surface and thereby to the room. This
precondition allows a much more consistent distribution of heat or cold, as well as a higher
(during heating) or lower (during cooling) average surface temperature, compared to
conventional systems. The heated and cooled cassettes have a copper or aluminium meander
installed in the cassette through which the hot and cold water is passed, heating or cooling
the room. The system runs on a heat/chiller pump, which does not require as low a water
temperature as traditional chilled water systems.
Major Energy Savings
Radiant ceilings can heat up and cool down in less than 2 minutes, which saves energy.
Radiant ceilings still require an air turn in offices but can save up to 30% of the energy used
compared to air conditioning as well as the overall comfort factor which is up to 40% better
than having air warm and cool the area. There are no draughts or cold and hot spots. Another
major advantage of the radiant ceiling is that if the building is modelled correctly and the
heat load of each of the areas is known, the correct number of active panels can be used,
thereby ensuring maximum efficiency.
Radiant ceilings come in four types, namely Cassette, Baffle, Continuous and Canopy.
The ceilings can be customised to any shape, colour or surface finish and can be designed
to fit almost any architectural or engineering specification.
Contact Michael Carter at The Tech Butler: 082 562 5063 www.thetechbutler.co.za
Any queries regarding the competition should be referred to the
competition organiser,
John Cairns:
Tel: 011 431 0727
or 079 884 7986
[email protected]
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