While Gyproc RhinoGlide is designed as a filler for Gyproc plasterboard systems, it can also be used as an interior crack filler and for filling rough plaster surfaces before painting.

Gyproc RhinoBed is a quality setting adhesive for detailed finishing and fixing, it is also used as a joint filling for Gyproc RhinoCove and can be used in the Gyproc Drylining application.

Both products have bright new packaging, with improved product formula’s designed to offer customers many added benefits, making the job of plastering easier than ever before.

The new formulation Gyproc RhinoBed available in a 25kg bag and Gyproc RhinoGlide available in either a 10kg or 25kg size bag is now a finer product that is easy to mix and work with, requiring 150 grit sandpaper, resulting in far less dust. The application of the plaster sees a smooth finish, with less effort. Every bag now has a plastic lining, which increases the shelf life of the products to nine months.

In Gyproc’s commitment to putting the needs of the customer first and making ease of use a priority, the new RhinoBed and RhinoGlide product bags have simple and clear mixing and application instructions supported by simple easy to follow illustrations, aimed at ease of use and minimizing any error in the mixing and application process, when preparing and using the plasters.

All Saint-Gobain Gyproc products come standard with a product warranty that gives customers the quality assurance that Saint-Gobain Gyproc products have been tried and tested and are backed by over 80 years of experience and industry knowledge.

For more information visit www.gyproc.co.za

The biggest threat to the future economic growth of South Africa is the shortage of technical skills in engineering and technology, according to Bryan Perrie, managing director of the Cement & Concrete Institute (C&CI).

Speaking at a breakfast function in Midrand to mark the start of the C&CI School of Concrete Technology’s 2012 Advanced Concrete Technology (ACT) training course, Perrie said the shortage of qualified concrete technologists was a major component of the shortage of materials engineers in this country.

“The ACT course will this year expose delegates to a wide range of concrete disciplines and insights that could provide a competitive advantage to both delegates and their companies,” Perrie stated.

The globally-recognised ACT course is presented by the School of Concrete Technology every two years under the auspices of the Institute of Concrete Technology (ICT) in the UK.

Delegates are drawn from qualified civil engineers, cement chemists, concrete technologists and technicians involved in the building, construction, precast concrete, mining and also the cement, aggregate, admixture, and ready-mixed concrete industries. Successful candidates will qualify for free membership of the Concrete Society of Southern Africa while studying. The Society has officially endorsed the course.

Twenty-one delegates, drawn from all over Southern Africa, have enrolled for the 2012 course which will feature two guest lecturers from London:  Dr John Newman and Dr Peter Domone from Teaching and Learning Enterprises (TALENT). TALENT is also involved in training for the British ACT course.

C&CI’s School of Concrete Technology’s next ACT course will start in January 2014.

Further info: Hanlie Turner, tel 011 315 0300 / www.cnci.org.za

Christo Pienaar, marketing director of Modek, a company which specialises in glass reinforced polyester (GRP) and polycarbonate roof sheeting, says he believes that energy-efficient roofing is a real solution to the problem. “Although increasing parks and trees in urban areas are wonderful, the demand for space in cities does not make it a viable option. It’s also not possible to replace roads or parking lots with cooler surfaces. That leaves cooler roofing as one of the simplest and most cost-effective solutions.”

He says cooler roofing systems are a process that is encouraged to lower the energy consumption of buildings and reduce urban heating. “The roof reflects the sun’s heat and emits absorbed radiation back into the atmosphere, keeping the building at a cooler and more constant temperature.” He adds that the environmental impact is quite significant. “A Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory study recently found that worldwide reflective roofing would produce a cooling effect equivalent to offsetting a reduction of 24 gigatons of CO2 emissions. Unfortunately, unlike the United States, cool roofing is not required by law or rewarded with a rebate in South Africa, and very few companies have produced such roofing products.”

According to him, one such example is the recently launched Modek Heat Stop product. It is a polycarbonate-profiled extrusion manufactured in South Africa, which has a co-extruded layer of ultraviolet-stabilised surface protection on the weather side. “Microscopic reflective particles are incorporated in the core material, which creates the silver colour and reflective quality of the product.” He explains that it is a step in the right direction. “The product eliminates about 60% of the sun’s radiated heat and reduces the cooling load of the building, which in turn reduces the use of air-conditioning and lead to 10-30% energy savings.”

Energy savings are, of course, a huge bonus. International tests have found that a typical 4 635m2  eco-friendly roof can result in cooling savings of up to R69 650 per year as the temperature inside the building would be on average 5-7◦C cooler than with a dark roof.

Gold Partners have technical expertise in specific industries, solutions, support, training, implementation, and consulting services. To achieve this status, The CAD Corporation has consistently demonstrated a high standard in the delivery of integrated engineering software solutions, constant service & support to the industry and market impact based in and around the Autodesk Software solutions.

Leon Smalberger, Managing Director of The CAD Corporation, said, “We are honoured to have achieved the status of Gold Partner. We feel that this award shows that we responded well to what were sometimes highly challenging market conditions. We worked hard to understand the needs of our customers, assembling and utilizing a highly specialised software-engineering team. Our aim has always been to solve our customers design problems, making them more productive, competitive and profitable. We are, and will always be, here to serve them.”

The award of Autodesk’s Gold Partner designation coincides with The CAD Corporation’s announcement that it will be moving into its new administrative headquarters in Centurion, Gauteng in March. The CAD Corporation has enjoyed significant growth in the past two years and has been one of the fastest growing Autodesk partners in the history of the African region.

“We need new facilities to keep our growth on track and stay competitive,” Leon continues. “This will position us perfectly to provide our services to a wider and more specialised customer base.”

FIRESPEC offers a turnkey service, backed with a standing offer of service and maintenance that cannot be rivalled. “With the current state of the economy globally, an emphasis on existing building performance and also on refits is of great importance to both engineers and facilities managers. We provide the asset manager or owner with the peace of mind of knowing that fire and security solutions continue performing and are in good hands on an ongoing basis. We stay in touch with international trends via our technology partners worldwide and we ensure that out technicians are able to install and to service new and existing equipment to a high standard”.

FIRESPEC offers a comprehensive range of fire-protection and security solutions that apply to a wide variety of buildings, including airport terminals, oil refineries, financial institutions, hotels and academic institutions all the way through to ordinary domestic homes. Examples of widely different projects undertaken in recent times by FIRESPEC include:

• The Chevron Refinery in Cape Town
• The Artscape Theatre Complex
• The Departures Terminal at Cape Town International Airport
• UCT – all three campuses
• Obz Square
• Cavendish Square
• Blue Route Mall

During its 40 years of trading, the company has been involved in a range of challenging projects, both fire and security. It is responsible for key service and maintenance contracts for a number of high profile facilities. FIRESPEC has forged international technical and product alliances, giving it access to state of the art product offerings, equally applicable to both fire and security protective services. Its mission is the safeguarding of people and property.

FireSpec employs more than  45 personnel, including highly trained  specialists, who regularly undergo  training  and updates  in the relevant fields of expertise.

FIRESPEC’S products include both active and passive offerings. Slootman’s believes that one of their passive products, FIREBOARD CS™, offers great potential in the low income or even informal housing environment. “Correctly placed on the outer walls of a home, this product resists fire penetration for up to 2 hours duration and can help prevent the spread of runaway fire from one dwelling to another such as happens in the informal settlements”, says Slootmans. “One the other end of the spectrum, our Intumescent coating is being used to protect steel framework in major upgrades such as the Blue Route Centre in Cape Town. We urge architects, engineers and facilities managers to give us a call to help them with their building protection planning”, he added.

CONTACT:

Leo Slootmans (CEO)

021 685 1111

leo@firespec.co.za

Adam Rodger (GM, Passive Division)

074 147 3482

adam@firespec.co.za

Excerpts of the relevant portions of the National Standards are set out in the course slides, or in a training manual, a hard copy of which will be provided to delegates.

Duration: Full day – Lunch, teas and coffee to be served.

SAIA CPD points available: 0.5, with 1.0 applied for training material.

Johannesburg
20 February 2012
08h00-17h00
Gauteng Conference Centre

Durban
22 February 2012
08h00-17h00
Durban Jewish Club

Port Elizabeth

21 February 2012
08h00-17h00
Singa Lodge

Cape Town
23 February 2012
08h00-17h00
River Club

 
For further information, kindly contact us via email: spadmin@zamail.co.za

Spend the day exploring 19th century Trappist architecture at Centocow Mission and see restoration work in progress.

The Mission was founded in 1888 with funding from a Polish princess. The first church was built in 1892, in 1910 the foundation stone was laid to build a larger church dedicated to the Sacred Heart. All the buildings at the mission where built of bricks made on the site by the monks. “The Sacred Heart Church is one of the finest of all Trappist Churches” to quote the Mission’s website (centocowmission.org).

The main focus of the visit will be on the first church, which is currently undergoing restoration to convert it into a gal-lery featuring the work of the late artist Gerard Bhengu. Bhengu was born and grew up in Centocow and is best known for his artwork documenting the culture of the Nguni language tribes in southern KwaZulu Natal.

The church was built on a hillside with no foundations and over the years the mortar has practically turned to dust. Making the building structurally sound to ensure its longevity is one of the biggest challenges faced by architect Robert Brusse and engineer Hugh Bowman. One of the most excit-ing tasks under taken in this project is to prop up the church tower with temporary steel structure to allow the decon-struction of the walls below so they can be underpinned and reinforced. Robert will give a technical tour of the site and what has been revealed.

There is the opportunity to visit both churches and a nearby weaving school which has been established in a restored sewing workshop building.

RSVP: To give us a rough idea of numbers please RSVP to Kubash at the KZNIA. E: admin@kznia.org.za
Tel: 031 – 201 4128

Catering: to be confirmed: Either bring a picnic or there will be a simple lunch arranged

Meet at 10am at Centocow Mission, Creighton (+-2hrs drive from Dbn)

Directions from Durban: Take N3 North, then take exit 61, Rich-mond and Ixopo direction. In Ixopo make turn right onto R612 for Donny-brook and follow the road till the sign ‘Creighton’ or ‘St Apollinaris’. Then make turn left. Pass Creighton and follow the road for 5 km. At the sign ‘Centocow’ or ‘St Apollinaris’ turn right and follow the road until you reach the Mission.

With Marley Equator’s intelligent push-fit system, all you need to fit Marley Equator is a pipe cutter. In fact, with this state-of-the-art PE-X plumbing system, no pipe benders, flux, solder or naked flames are required at all. Even cutting Marley Equator pipe only takes a few seconds.

Says qualified plumber and business owner, Patrick Sylvester, “The workability of the Marley Equator system is great.”

Sylvester goes on to explain how he has experienced significant time-savings by being able to plumb the Marley Equator pipe from one point to the next, without the need for couplers or any special adaptors.

“In addition, the Marley Equator system is easy to work with, and it brings great value to the plumbing industry through its exceptional durability,” Sylvester confirms.

This view is backed by Sylvester’s client, Shaheem Kader, Project Co-ordinator for Pinelands Development Company (PDC), “Prior to using the Marley Equator system, we were experiencing a lot of on-site theft.” Accordingly, the decision was taken to move on to a more stable system.

“Marley Equator was an obvious choice,” says Kader, and both he and Sylvester are impressed with the added value and quality performance that the system offers. Kader goes on to say, “Because Marley Equator can only be disassembled using a special key, theft and tampering are now an unlikely occurrence.”

As a leader in the large-scale housing construction industry, consistent supplies of materials and technical on-site assistance are also of key importance to Kader and the team at PDC.

Says Kader, “As a value organisation, Marley makes sure that both the plumber and developer are kept up-to-date with any changes to the system by providing on-site support and back up services. As the preferred manufacturer to our plumber, Marley is always willing to assist.”

The Marley Equator range is also SABS-tested and approved, less labour intensive, requires less maintenance and needs no special tools for installation – making Marley Equator an obvious choice for specifiers and plumbers.

“The ease of installation and time-saving features of Marley’s PE-X Equator system make it a modern, affordable alternative to traditional copper systems,” Sylvester confirms.

For more information, visit  www.marleypipesystems.co.za

Leveraging off the momentum gained from previous Green Building Conferences, dialogue will continue at this year’s conference between industry experts about carbon and other environmental mitigation gains within the built environment.

“The property and construction sectors will be heavily impacted by climate change,” comments Gordon Brown, Director at alive2green.

“We are facing a new high tide line and an increase in the high-sea line attributable to the recent severe weather events and higher flood lines; this will need to be taken into consideration when building along the coastal and riverine banks. Buildings will also have to be built to more rigorous structural standards, similar to countries like Japan.

“It is also predicted that rainfall will occur less frequently but with greater intensity, drastically increasing the need to capture rain water, this however provides a great opportunity for future buildings to be designed as mini reservoirs,” adds Brown.

As has been the tradition at the Green Building Conference, the speaker panel will feature leading international speakers, “We are very pleased to announce that Stefan Zopp from Ateliers Jean Nouvel (AJN), of Switzerland will deliver a presentation, and participate in panel discussions,” indicates Brown.

Many other international, regional and local speakers will be taking part in an innovative quality over quantity format, structured to include interactive multi-disciplinary workshops.

Green Building Conference and Exhibition

Date: 25 – 26 July 2012

Venue: Sandton Convention Centre

Contact: info@greenbuilding.co.za / Tel: 021 447 4733

www.greenbuilding.co.za