23 / 36
August 2015
Energy Efficiency, Green Building & IBTs
T
he Department of Rural De-
velopment and Land Reform
initiative at Radway Green
Farm, outside Grahamstown, pro-
vided housing for the local commu-
nity using Hydraform’s block-making
machinery.
The turnkey project enabled the
local community to participate in the
rural build and learn new skills.
Nazlie Dickson, Sales and Mar-
keting Director of Hydraform says,
“Hydraformblock-makingmachinery
provides smart solutions to the logis-
tical challenges presented by a rural
or peri-urban build, and due to its
innovative dry-stacking method, the
final product has a lower embodied
energy than traditional bricks and
blocks.”
Dickson comments: “Hydraform
blocks are not baked or fired, which
saves a remarkable amount of en-
ergy. The dry-stack interlocking tech-
nology also saves construction time
and cement costs as well as providing
materials with less embodied energy,
contributing to a structure that is
greener overall.”
The Radway Green Farmproject is
a self-sustainable, independent de-
velopment that includes solar power,
a waste management system as well
as water delivery.”
She continues, “A key objective of
the project was to ensure that the
community members were not only
beneficiaries of homes, but that they
were trained in block-making and
construction as part of their skills de-
velopment. The communityproduced
150 000 blocks that went into build-
ing their houses. Our products are
able to work around infrastructural
constraints and still deliver housing,
community centres, health facili-
ties and schools – even in the most
remote areas. The Radway Green
project began in March 2015 and will
be completed by August 2015 – on
time and within budget.”
While the project houses a number
of families, it also showcases Hydra-
form’s projectmanagement skills and
unique technologies that are well
suited to local housing delivery.
“Projects like this prove that we
are able to adapt to market needs,
and in this case, the affordable hous-
ing market, by providing specialised
and dynamic turnkey housing deliv-
ery options. This extended offering
meanswemakemeaningful contribu-
tions to South Africa’s job creation,
skills development and community
upliftment objectives,” says Dickson.
Hydraform’s block-making ma-
chinery was transported to site,
ensuring a good quality product that
didn’t have to travel far to get to its
destination, which cut down tremen-
dously on transportation costs and
rendered the product more inher-
ently energy efficient.
The Radway Green Farm project
also offered a unique set-up to test
out the versatility and robust nature
of the machinery. Notes Dickson,
“The project itself is in a rural set-
ting where there is no formal water
and power facilities or supply. But
this made no difference to the per-
formance of our machinery, which is
highlymobile and canproduce blocks
on site,” concluded Dickson.
Hydraform has 25 years of ex-
perience in alternative building
technologies. Through continuous
research and development with lead-
ing institutions, the company has
developed a dry-stack interlocking
building block, eliminating the use of
mortar in 70% of the building struc-
ture. There is no need for concrete or
steel columns and this offers a cost
effective housing solution and qual-
ity product. For further information
contact Hydraform on 011 913 1449
or email:
sales@hydraform.com■
Eastern Cape housing
South African brick-and-block making machinery leader,
Hydraform, has contributed to the construction of low income
housing in the Eastern Cape.