SAISC SASFA
SASFA 2016: Year in review
The mission of the Southern African Light Steel Frame Association( SASFA) is to develop and grow the Southern African and export markets for light steel frame building( LSFB)
By John Barnard, Director SASFA www. sasfa. co. za
LSFB has developed into a viable alternative building method for a range of low to medium rise buildings during the past ten years. The steel consumption of this industry has grown to some 20 000 to 25 000t / yr of high strength galvanized steel sheet, as well as significant volumes of cladding and lining materials, fasteners and insulation. LSFB is increasingly being used in multi-storey office and commercial buildings, where it is replacing heavy masonry curtain walls.
The following is a brief summary of SASFA’ s activities and achievements during the past year.
Publicity
• Growing the awareness of light steel frame building as an environmentally friendly and sustainable building method is one of SASFA’ s primary objectives. The target audiences range from the professions – engineers, architects and QS’ s – to builders, the building material supply chain, building authorities and financial institutions right down to prospective clients. The major promotional activities were:
- Media articles: some 30 media articles were placed in 13 prominent publications to expand awareness of LSFB.
- Steel Awards: 15 LSFB entries were received – almost a third of the total number of Award entries! Two projects were selected as joint winners of the Saint-Gobain sponsored light steel frame building category by the judges – Façade Walls Mall of Africa and the Clinic, Mbabane Hospital, Swaziland.
• A quarterly informal newsletter is sent to members to keep all informed about developments in industry.
• SASFA website: continues to draw more than 1000 visitors per month, and serves as an important source of information for all.
• Liaison with professional groups: a presentation on LSFB was made to a NHBRC seminar in Nelspruit, and to several architect practices.
• Industry feedback meetings( 3) were held in the major centres. It serves as an excellent forum for networking.
• Presentation on LSFB was made on request to Smartbuild, an international conference on innovative building technologies.
Training
As part of the strategy to protect and enhance the quality of LSF buildings, SASFA offers a number of training courses,
36 Steel Construction Vol. 40 No. 6 2016