project - Trademax Publications

PROJECT
The house faces the appropriate direction for ensuring bedrooms can benefit from
sunlight, while the living room faces north
the durability of the home,” explains Hans Ittmann, Executive
Director of CSIR Built Environment.
Some contractors in the low-income market do not lay
foundations to standard. To eliminate cracked walls resulting
from sub-standard foundations, a CSIR technology developed
for roads was adapted to form the foundation slab of the house.
“Local labour can be used to construct such foundations, which
is based on ultra-thin, continuously-reinforced concrete
technology,” says Ittmann.
“We used a modular, design-to-fit approach similar to a Lego
set where pieces have to fit together correctly to form the bigger
unit,” explains Llewellyn van Wyk, senior researcher at the
CSIR. One big difference to current low-income houses is the
design of the bathroom and kitchen area, and the use of a
waste outlet manifold that is pre-manufactured, quality-tested
and installed on site. This reduces the extent of the plumbing
installation substantially while ensuring that the installation is
done to the required standard.
“Standard low-income houses have no
ceilings and thus no insulation, which
results in incredible variations in
temperatures,” says Van Wyk.
The thermal performance of the roof was
improved dramatically with the addition
of an insulation material that doubles up
as a ceiling. The house faces the
appropriate direction for ensuring
bedrooms can benefit from sunlight, while
the living room faces north.
The CSIR low-income housing initiative is
a research project-in-progress. The most
recent additions include a solar-powered
geyser on top of the roof and a photovoltaic
panel above the front door for
powering lights inside the house. “CSIR
researchers will continue to pursue
improved performance and sustainability
for the low-income housing sector to
impact on the quality of life of
communities,” concludes Sibisi.
Incorporating most components of the CSIR-developed lowincome
house, local authorities will have demonstration units
constructed in the Buffalo City Municipality in the Eastern Cape
and at Kleinmond in the Western Cape.
The use of a waste outlet manifold that is premanufactured,
quality tested and installed on site
reduces the extent of the plumbing installation
substantially
37
SA Affordable Housing November/December 2009