EBS Projects

PROJECTS

EBS has been involved in a large number of construction projects throughout South and central Africa since 2002. The following projects show examples of where the range of EBS’s products have been used either on their own or combined to provide a more integrated approach to thermally insulating buildings.

HOUSE NORTJE – SERENGETI ‘ECO’ GOLF ESTATE, GAUTENG, SOUTH AFRICA.

This up market house is amongst the most thermally efficient, “greenest” residences built in South Africa.

The house includes the following elements:

Thermoboard under concrete ground floor thermal insulation.
EBS Polyblock walls.
Double glazed windows.
TASS suspended floor slabs.
Thermoboard above ceiling insulation.
Rain water harvesting to underground storage tanks.
Grey water system.
Heat pump hot water system.

House Nortje under construction.

HOUSE AMBASSADOR – PWETO DRC

This palatial, multi level, house of over 2,000m² floor area was built on a hilltop overlooking Lake Mweru in the NE of DRC.

EBS building systems were used for; under concrete ground floor slab, retaining walls, rim flow swimming pool, house walls, suspended floor slabs and plastering of all the EPS materials.

House Ambassador under construction and completed.

LIMPOPO EDUCATIONAL CENTRES

EBS Polyblock and TASS were specified for the construction of 5 double storey 2,000m² educational centres in remote locations in the Limpopo province in 2006.

The requirements of these projects was to; thermally insulate against the extremely high summer temperatures in this region without the need for the high cost of air conditioning, the need to use local unskilled labour to build the units and to overcome the difficulty of getting materials to these remote sites.

Both TASS and Polyblock are lightweight systems which made transport to site and material handling easy, the systems are relatively simple to use and labour can be quickly trained to build with these materials and as one of the key benefits of both systems is thermal insulation the products met this brief as well.

Limpopo Educational Centres under construction and completed.

CSIR 40M² ‘RDP’ HOUSE

The “Built Environment” of the CSIR has undertaken a project to assess various construction material options to help improve the quality of ‘RDP’ housing in South Africa.

One unit was constructed using expanded polystyrene building systems for under the concrete ground floor slab, walls and roof.

Criteria for this evaluation were: cost, time to build with 4 operators, structural soundness, protection against the elements and thermal insulation performance.

The following pictures show the construction process using the EPS building systems available from Eco Building Systems, who managed this process on behalf of EPSASA – Expanded Polystyrene Association of South Africa.

GENERAL EBS POLYBLOCK AND THERMOBOARD PROJECTS


*EBS Polyblock and TASS house – Modderfontein*	*50m² Defence force house – Botswana*

*Perimeter walling – Lumbumbashi DRC*	*Seaside lodge - Mozambique*

*House Moore – Thermoboard under floor*	*Eco House – Memel Orange Free State*

*Mozambique guest lodge*	*Water Valley Estates – under floor insulation*

*Ebeneezer Mission EBS Polyblock housing*	*Lumbumbashi EBS Polyblock housing estate*

TASS PROJECTS

NORTECH PROJECT – PIETERMARITZBURG KZN.

This project was a 1200m² residence built by Nyati Construction.

The 425mm thick TASS block was used throughout for the suspended floor slabs.

The reasons for the choice of TASS were manifold: Thermal insulation to improve home comfort during high summer temperatures, incorporation of beams in the slab depth eliminating the need for downstand beams and the requirement for ‘free’, unsupported spans of +10 metres.

SANDHURST, JOHANNESBURG LUXURY HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

This project involved the construction of 3 x 700m² separate housing unit with TASS being used both for the suspended first floor and roof slabs.

TASS was used for; thermal insulation, the ease with which skylights could be incorporated into the roof slab, the simplicity of fitting the slab into the complex plan configuration and the requirement for unsupported spans of close to 12 metres.

HOUSE VALLI – JOHANNESBURG

This project included a 1500m² main house with 3 satellite units of 650m² all using TASS.

The reasons for the use of TASS included the requirement for; long cantilevers, the reduction in the use of reinforcing due to the lower deadweight of the slab itself and with it a reduction in cost and the speed and ease of constructing the slab.

HOUSE KHAN – HOUGHTON JOHANNESBURG.

One of the key requirements of this up market residence was to fully thermally insulate the building.
Two products form Eco Building Systems were used – Thermopour to insulate the brick wall cavities and TASS for suspended slabs.