Green building technics

These days everyone is very conscious about how building material and buildings effect the enviroment and how we can lower our carbin footprint on earth.  There are several systems availible such as generating our own energy for our homes, recycling waste materials, re-using old fittings or building materials evolve to be more sustainable.

Most of the systems and construction materials we know of are newly developed or inproved.  Some of our oldest systems are forgetten as cob building.  Cob building was used in the 11th - 14th century and in 1994 cob building imerged agaain.  This building method is very primitive and traditional.

Cob consist of sand, clay, straw and water.  The sand and clay acts as the adhesive of the material and the straw is added for its tensile strenght.  It is relativily load bearing in small structures but you can increase the load bearing capacity by adding struts or columns.  This building materail is fireproof, inexspensive but very labor intensive.  This material can be used to create artistic forms such as curved walls, pizza ovens and sculptures. 

On our trip tp Knysna, a few weeks back, we visisted a house built with cob.  I can not remember the owners name but I will refer to her as Nina.  She reminds me of Nina from 'Fiela se kind'. Nina's house is built from natural materials.  Stone wall for the foundations, cob for the internal, external walls and floors and timber frame construction where the house is suspended.

The house is located in the George forest, close to Wilderness.

 Photo's of hte visist...






Pansgrouw cheking something...












 The ceiling is woven banana leave. 

'Nina' is next to the bakkie..

Front door

Front door from the foyer

Foyer leading to main bedroom, bathroom

In the lounge area

Behind: is the kitchen

North side of house

Under the deck - the solar geyser is located here as well as wood for fires

The view from the deck - the mountain in the background is the Jonkersberg in Goerge.

Service courtyard

The recycle bins fit the style of the house

Project Management ... follow up...

This is a follow up to my post on the 23rd of March 2011...

It turns out that students enthusiasm only last till you give them work to do.  After I handed out the drawings for them to complete it took them about one week to produce any work.  The program I set up was totally ignored and it feels like I'm talking to a wall.  We initially decided to meet twice a week but since they are so behind I have to see them everyday.  One thing I learned in the office is that one never assume!

My group consist of four girls and one guy.  The girls did not disappoint me at all, i have absolutely no problem with them.  Maybe the occasional slim hand in. They at least listen to me but the guy, I have seen him twice in this 3 week project.  Send threatening emails which could end his studies at NMMU does not help at all not even my most unfriendly face.  The only motivation/threat they follow is from the big boss - Pansgrouw.   One positive thing about my group is that they have not made lame excuses for not attending meetings or why their work is behind.  I like to think that we communicate good with each other (touch wood - I have not heard any complaints).

While I was working I kind of envied the boss, he was never in the office.  On most of the projects he was the project manager.  It seemed like he only attended meetings, write the minutes, take the occasional photo for the staff if changes should happened and write a report afterwards, until I started with my first big project.  Attending meetings is the mild part of the project everyone do not always agree, the job is behind, people are losing interest in the project.  The admin is the hard part - coordinating the consultants etc. ensuring that everyone is up to speed.  Some times it felt like I was the project manager all the consultants phoned me about information about the project.  Someday it felt like smooth sailing and others like my boat is caught in a storm...  Thanks to this experience and my tutors I think I am doing well with my group.

inspiration

The voices in my head may not be real but they have some good ideas...

Project management

Management ... sounds like my kind of job.  Sit back, relax and dish out work so other people can complete it for you.  I THINK NOT.  Managing is a very responsible job.

This is our current assignment, supervising a group of 2nd year students to complete a full set of working drawings, like in a office.  The hand in date is the 7th of April 2011.

So what does a manager/supervisor have to do...

• Working out program to encourage progress - Fail to plan, plan to fail.
• Allocating students to specific drawings according to their skills.
• Avoid conflict at all times
• Be reasonable and responsible
• Stay calm - junior students can smell fear
• Be confident
• Use your natural talents to assist the group members in crit sessions.
• Be available at any time of day
• Keep them busy at all times, so that they don't deviate from the project.

My group is a hard working and enthusiastic bunch of people.  Everyone is working together and they have a lot of questions.  We are meeting twice a week for crits, Mondays at 14:30 and Wednesday at 12:00.

Thus far my program is complete and the students have to draw the plans. They have all the necessary information to complete the set in time for hand in. 

2nd years good luck!!!

It's done!

The brief was to draw up a suitable interior space of our choose from a book, publication, etc.  Once drawn, materials & lights must be added and rendered to match the original image as close as possible. 

This was my choose for this project..  It is a boardroom with barley anything in it, until you look closer.

 

 Tonight I reveal my final product.  Any comments?

 

This was a fun project, modeling all the different components.  Amazing how much I still remember, it feels like I can conquer any challenges.  Just wish the hand in was not on the someday as the hand in for DKD.

Next up 3D MAX.  Bring it on!

invitation by oriah mountain dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain! I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after a night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

Visit to the Biokinetics centre on the South Campus

So where is the Biokinetics centre? They are situated in building no. 11 behind the Education building. 

Taken from the roof of the Biological Science building.  The Biokinetics centre is middle of the picture and the education building on left hand side of the Biokinetics centre.  Bottom left is the international building.  Our site is the open space next to the Biokinetics centre.

On Friday 04 March 2011, the BTech class interviewed the head Biokineticist Liza Grenwell to get a better understanding of how the biokinetics centre works.  This is what she had to say...

Patients from the community get referred from doctors for physiotherapy and mostly for rehabilitation. The local community also uses it as a training facility, e.g. homes in the area and local suburbs.

A large portion of the patients are old with problems like cardiovascular disease, Parkinson’s disease and other medical condition that needs supervision during exercise.

Biokineticist monitor patients while they exercise, like blood pressure monitoring, heart rates, respiration. Training is one on one with the patients.

It is similar to personal training, but this is with medical supervision.

Athletes for high performance are also sent here. E.g. a boxer: reaction times will be monitored, resistance and endurance is tested. In a patient with a shoulder injury, after the healing process has passed, rehabilitation must follow: muscles are strengthened and stretched.

NOTE: After injury or surgery, Physiotherapists treat the patient for inflammation and mobilization. Thereafter the biokineticist do follow up rehabilitation.

Reception area: for access control (entrance and exit) with a work station,

Waiting area for patients waiting for their turn, either for assessment or exercise.

A consultation area: for individual assessment of a patient in private, laboratory that has equipment to do ECG and other tests. This assessment area should enter into the main gym.

Change rooms: Accessible to the main gym as well as future hydrotherapy centre. Male and female separately, wheelchair friendly, access for ambulance.

Offices: workstations for the staff with access onto the main gym so the supervision can continue especially onto the Cardiovascular exercise area.

First Aid room (defibrillators, first aid kit)

Gymnasium: Spacious and good ventilation. Lots of mirrors, this enables the patient to have instant feedback on the work he is doing.

Circuits, Stretch room, Plinths,

Functional training, bravo functional trainer cybex, benches, Treadmills and bicycles for increased heart rate and weight loss. Need a workstation in the middle.

80-100m straight is needed for warm up and walking, sprints, etc.

Student recreation / tearoom not a priority as they are on duty for 4 hours at a time, they do not need to rest there. Students however need a computer laboratory or workstation to work on reports and assignments.

Space for separate private practices:

1. Physiotherapist who does strapping for rugby teams or sport massage.
2. Dietetics or Sport science dietitian
3. Sport psychologist

Second floor for Human movement science department, lecture room etc.

Future Hydrotherapy area must be planned for but will not be built with this phase. This should include; Pool close to change rooms and biokenetic gym, have ramps, hydrotherapy baths, hoists.