Alternative Technologies in construction

Alternative Technologies part 1

Posted By: Fundi Mfalme on 16th of November 2012

This week let’s start with conveying our deepest heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the slain police officers in Samburu. It makes us a laughing stalk as a country to send our defense forces to Somalia and send our police to their untimely deaths. That the government is silent on the issue and the police would not accept responsibility for the mistake is wanting. How can you send 20yr olds into an operation straight from training with absolutely no real life experience? And that each had only 20 bullets in a forest? With no tactical information, no aerial support? If you looking for more than 100 cattle why can’t you deploy a helicopter to spot the rascals and launch an attack? Why would it take 3 days to get the bodies of the police? In as much as we hate the police at times...we need to stand by them at this moment and say someone needs to take responsibility. We cannot cast blame on Politics here. This was a security situation that went horribly wrong because too many assumptions were made. Last week we penned off considering options to cut down the cost of construction. That brought us to the topic of alternative construction technologies. By alternative, it does not mean a replacement of the existing options but having other options that compliments or improves on the short comings of the previous. Africa at large has seen a great adoption of alternative construction technologies over time which has been meant to improve on what we had. From traditional Makuti houses, we went to mud walled houses with thatched roofs. This in essence is very similar structurally to certain technologies we will see. From mud walled houses, we developed to brick walled houses we developing to applying cement/sand plaster to resist the elements. This was then followed with brick walled houses with the joining compound being either cement/sand mortar or clay. Here cost played a crucial determinant role as people then and now still are skeptical spending too much on construction costs. The brick walled houses have been the longest in terms of a single technology with bricks being replaced with concrete blocks, stones depending on the construction costs and size of the project. All this still seem not fail providing certain issues to a construction project. Do not get me wrong, they are great technologies and I will not purport to offer a perfect solution, but people keep on coming up with technologies that meet the shortcomings of the previous ones, though said technologies too will have their own slight shortcomings. First we will start with Light Gauge Steel Construction, a technology for which am well versed and would gladly recommend. This is also one of the latest entrants into the Kenyan markets with only one company offering complete construction. Few other companies will offer trusses or just the structural element of a building. Light gauge steel construction is a technology widely used in the United States, Russia, United Arab Emirates, England, New Zealand, Canada among other places. It realistically adopts from our traditional mud houses with sticks. The company will take your architectural drawings and make a structural design out of. The design shall incorporate every element of construction including loads i.e. seismic loads, live loads, snow loads, wind loads etc depending on the location for the proposed construction. The structural design will also be done according to the region’s design code. From the design part, the file is sent to a machine that will from C sections out or steel coils of thickness between 0.75-1.15mm depending on the design. The machine will make braces, studs plates labeling each piece, punching screw holes as required, service holes etc. The sections are then assembled to together with ease and precision using power driven impact drivers with screws having special heads hence erasing the possibility of someone unscrewing. The individual sections are assembled to panels and the panels make the walls. The walls will then be clad using Magnesium Oxide Boards and the client has the option of either sound and/or thermal insulation added within the walls depending on the budget. The electrical and plumbing conduits pass within the walls giving great finishes and simplicity in working. Since the whole construction is done with steel, the finished construction will have very straight and true walls and amazing finishes with clients being spoilt for choice in terms of what finishes they want. The same process applies to the trusses. The roof covering can still have any material from normal mabati to clay tiles. With the whole process automated, the main advantages of the technology are speed, accuracy, and cost. Its automation process eliminates errors considerably with the accuracy of the final project to the architectural drawings being 99%. The construction time is reduced to less than half with a 40sqm house being done in record 45days. The structure has a basic shell life of 75+ years a cost that is comparable to conventional. The advantages of the technology are; Speed: Up to 50% FASTER than conventional construction Affordable: Competitive with conventional construction rates and with lower costs of labor, less waste superior completion times, generates a rapid return on capital invested www.fundimjanja.com Safe: Precision software accounts for natural elements like wind speed, seismic category, floor load, roof load, soil bearing pressure to provide you with a safe, code compliant structure that gives you peace of mind Eco-friendly: Less than 1% waste, no chemical treatments, protecting our forests Non-combustible: LGS does not burn or contribute to spread of fires Consistent: Accurate to +/- 0.5mm on frame production African Experienced: Ability to leverage best practices from sister countries Quality: And affordable raw materials The choice of finishes and colors is the clients, the foundation is same as always. This is an option to replace the traditional walling system and the heavy reliance on timber for trusses. It is also a system that takes care of our problems with steel recycling and offering a solution that is wholly recyclable but better than current. With a home with better fire resistance properties, better sound insulation, better thermal insulation, being done in half the term but still better structural design, it is an amazing option for the Kenyan construction industry. Source TechnoConstruct Africa Source suishousing.com For further insights in construction please visit our full site at www.fundimjanja.com