All civil and structural design will adhere to ‘best practices’ and specific emphasis will be placed on exceeding the ‘Standard Practice Benchmark’ goals stipulated by the ‘Green Building Council’. It is our intention to use this opportunity in our role as ‘civil and structural’ engineers to work with the Design Team and Users of the Business School to develop a sustainable, high-performance building.
We will review the proposed site in its entirety and include the whole campus and the immediate community to recognise environmental, economic and social choices that will affect the project. Certain aspects that will be looked at closely include:
• Sourcing of Specialist Services
Our first option will be to source local specialists for geotechnical and survey requirements and thus reducing the ‘Carbon Footprint’ associated with travel, etc.
• Building Materials
Both the sourcing of local materials as well as paying particular attention to the type and make-up of the material will be investigated. These properties affect the ‘Thermal Mass’ and ‘Acoustic Comfort’ design elements of the building.
• Environmentally Responsive Planning
Typical example of a ‘Vegetated Roof’
Reinforced ‘Acoustic Block’
This includes exploring re-cycling of grey-water, management of storm water in response to SUDS initiatives (Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems), creation of ‘Vegetated Roofs’ including ‘Rain Water Harvesting’ and the installation of ‘Low-Flow’ fixtures to promote water efficiency.
Our Design and Detailing will comply with the relevant National and International Standard “Codes of Practice including:-
• SANS – 0100 -1:2000 Reinforced Concrete: Design
• SANS – 0100 -2:1996 Reinforced Concrete Materials
• SANS – 0160 -1:1989 Loading
• SANS – 0400: Application of National Building Regulations
• SANS 10162-1 2005 Structural Design: Design
• SANS 2001-CSI: 2005 Part CSI Structural Steelwork
• SABS 1200: Civil Engineering Construction
