AFFIES SCHOOL BUILT IN THE 1920’S IS JUST ONE EXAMPLE OF MANY, OF THE ENDURING QUALITIES OF CLAY BRICK
SANS 517 certification and the marketing
speak of the proponents of light steel
frame building.
The structural integrity and look and
feel (quality) of the five clay brick schools
inspected was palpably superior, similar
to that of the Bongolethu and Heideveld
schools. As for thermal comfort, the
efficiency with which insulated lightweight
IBTs facilitate ‘hotbox’ indoor environments
during summer days will further detract from
the quality of the teaching and learning
experience provided by lightweight IBTs.
There was zero evidence to support Dr van
Wyk’s general assertion that IBTs provide
“improved energy efficiency and quality
control” (Built - July 2014).
If we are serious about sustainable
infrastructure and job creation, as we
should be, then fabricated or prefabricated,
high maintenance, less energy efficient,
limited lifecycle lightweight IBT buildings,
as evidenced in these Agrément certificated
and SANS 517 compliant system built
schools referenced above, seems hardly
a plausible approach for providing social
LSF SCHOOL GAUTENG – SEPARATION BETWEEN AND CRACKING OF PANELS
infrastructure buildings that should be built
with a 100 year plus lifecycle in mind.
Sustainable Building
As highlighted in the Energetics full Life
Cycle Assessment, today’s environmental
paradigm requires we build buildings
able to endure with little maintenance, and
definitely no materials replacement, way
beyond the 50 year life cycle. Clay brick
buildings in all their forms have proven
themselves over the centuries to be more
than up to this task.
Looking to a sustainable, energy efficient
future, it may be considered most fortunate
that the South African building industry has
been founded on a masonry tradition that
endures to this day; a simple, cost effective
building methodology that science now
proves so relevant for achieving a more
sustainable future.
Holistic Value
The holistic sustainable value of clay brick
construction, buoyed by the scientifically
proven superior thermal outcomes double
skin clay brick walls provide, simply
amplifies the extent of the added value clay
brick construction offers over alternative
lightweight systems for building a more
sustainable, more energy efficient future
and keeping our world a better place.
14
Clay Brick