Our building system provides a complete 4 in 1 building solution that incorporates modern lightweight formwork, a cement and sand batch weighed mixer, powerful concrete pump and a green foam generating unit, resulting in a cost effective, thermally efficient building method that will save up to 60% on raw materials and is 3.5 times faster than conventional building methods.
The machine that we use can deliver 7.5m3 of concrete per hour and has the power to pump 250m horizontally and 125m vertically, for high rise buildings or mountainous terrain. The system is ideal for the mass production of sustainable high quality living units in the form of apartments or houses.
The carbon foot print on the usage of products is very low, as once the technology, formwork and machines are on site only river sand, crusher dust and cement are delivered to the construction site. The machine can also be used for multiple functions on the site, such as, foundation pouring, laying of screeds, spray plastering and filling consisting of various concrete formulations and densities, giving compressive strength results from 1mpa to as high as 35mpa.
The mixtures are electronically controlled, very consistent and easy to program. This makes the use of semi and unskilled labour a reality, involving the communities within a geographical area and making the labour force more productive by delivering much needed, energy efficient houses, that resemble that of conventional brick houses but, are of a superior quality.
The average lightweight concrete mix used for houses has a density of 1200kg/m3 and a compressive strength result of 5mpa at 28 days. The homes are normally cast as one unit from floor to roof height in one single pour and single units can be constructed with wall heights of 2.4m – 2.7m and 3m respectively. The wall thicknesses vary from 125mm to 220mm. The foam additive is non-toxic and contains no animal protein. It is designed to reduce the weight of normal concrete, thereby providing concrete that is aerated and has enhanced thermal properties.
The product has been tested as a system and has an excellent 4 hour fire rating. It also complies fully with the new SANS 10 400 energy requirements. With all of the relevant tests completed, excellent results have been achieved. When the product was tested for water absorption, thermal and acoustics rating, it was an all-round winner. Structural integrity testing has been completed at the CSIR, Pretoria, for Agriment Certification purposes. The results were exceptional!
Another feature that makes the green foam concrete product unique is the fact that it can be nailed, drilled into and sawn without the use of specialised equipment. No wall plugs are required to hang objects such as pictures on the walls, wide thread, wood type, screws are simply screwed directly into the wall material.
The lightweight form work is manufactured from durable, lightweight steel and after 300 uses can be recycled, if damaged at that stage, or repaired for further use. This makes it the most cost effective form work system available. The shutters are selected, from the large range of sizes available, according to the architect’s design and drawings, which are then re-used for repetitive work.
The form work for a 54m2 two-bedroomed house will take six people six hours to erect and the pumping of the lightweight concrete can be completed in 1.5 hours. Therefore, it is possible to pump a number of houses per day, providing you have an adequate number of shutters and work force teams. Form work can be made for any sized home and design.
Form work panels are produced by high accuracy machines, which allows for a high degree of accuracy and are easy to erect/dismantle using a simple, fast, connecting clip that is applied by hand. Each set of shuttering has two connecting spacer ties, unique in the sense that they run past the sides of the shutter and do not have to be aligned; this simplifies the form work erection process considerably.
The end result is a perfectly straight and smooth off-shutter surface that is mechanically sprayed with a water proof skim coat. This spray plaster application is very quick and extremely cost effective. The plaster can be given a colour of choice, by simply adding a colour pigment into the mixture.
Huge savings on downtime in bad weather conditions can be realised as the equipment can function in all weather and climatic conditions, even in severe muddy conditions. Building sites, isolated from roads during rainy weather and grinding to a halt become a thing of the past. Ready-mix trucks are not required for any function and we can pump from a road up to 250 meters away! To conclude, our building system is already changing the way buildings are constructed, by providing solid walls, that are easy to erect, strong, durable, energy efficient and cost effective.