Showing posts with label rammed earth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rammed earth. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Looking Beyond COP17



As Durban, and the rest of the world, reflects on the Conference of the Parties’ 17th Climate Change Conference 2011 (COP17) that was held last week, it’s easy to say that not much was done.  The Kyoto Treaty, which was on the cards as a massive topic for debate, has been extended another six years, and will be up for review in 2017, with it’s expiry set for 2018.

America, Japan and Australia all found enough wriggle room to avoid confronting their non-adherence to reducing their carbon emissions to the agreed amount and many other discussions were held that served to inform, more than incite change.

But the bigger picture is this:  the world is concerned and South Africans were made aware of the weight and intent of the international players to unite and build a future that is sustainable for destined generations.

As a passionate and devoted green builder, Vexiflex is not sitting around and waiting until politicians and tree-huggers agree; we believe that the world is already behind in protecting and looking after our environment.  The oldest instruction to mankind was to ‘tend the garden’, and we understand this to mean that we need to be responsible with what we have in a way that will provide more for others.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Rammed earth

Construction process of rammed earth.
Drawing on knowledge that dates back over 10 centuries, and was used to build the Great Wall of China only five short centuries back, rammed earth is natural, sustainable, 100% green and extremely cost effective.  As the world buzz is green focused, Vexiflex, and other local builders, are starting to explore the applications of this building methodology that uses sand, gravel, lime and chalk.

Earth is a natural, durable, healthy and strong building material and has around 300-psi compressive strength rating.  It doesn’t require the use of toxic treatment substances that some building materials require which minimizes its carbon footprint.  The process involves the erection of steel and wood frames that are placed parallel to each other.  The damp earth mix is poured down the middle to a depth of around 10-25cm and then compacted to about 50% of its original height. 

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