Housing in Southern Africa June 2016

Housing

Village of Hope

T he Village of Hope 20 850 m² building and construction method incorporates recycled polystyrene and is based on the suc- cessful LIV Village, founded by Tich and Joan Smith in KwaZulu-Natal in 2001. The project is a partnership be- tween the Polystyrene Packaging Council (PSPC) and the Mobile Edu- cation and Training Trust (METT), a non-profit organisation, Like the LIV Village, the Village of Hope will provide a home for orphaned and vulnerable children who will be placed in a family envi- ronment, with trained foster mothers, school education – a place where all their physical needs are met,” says Hennie Snyman of METT. Adri Spangenberg of the Polystyrene Packaging Council explains: “The pilot programme in- cludes the use of polystyrene, which has been treated with a patented chemical cocktail that neutralises bacteria. Building with recycled polystyrene offers government a much needed solution for the low cost housing market, as well as the polystyrene recycling industry. It suc- cessfully uses and includes coloured and black contaminated polystyrene, which is found in foodpackaging such as fast food trays, take-away cups, meat and fresh fruit. Snyman and his

The new R285 million Village of Hope is situated on 285 ha of land overlooking the beautiful Hartebeespoort Dam in Kosmos, North West Province.

team developed a new globally pat- ented mixture containing all grades and colours of recycled polystyrene, combined with nine different chemi- cals and cement. The PSPC plays a vital role be- tween end-users of recycled polysty- rene and waste management com-

cement and concrete, but also cuts the overall building cost by up to 40%,” says Snyman. The various elements are mixed, poured into slabs and left for seven days to dry before the lightweight, strong and solidwall structure is rock hard and ready for use. METT is proud to deliver documented proof of the tests ranging fromstructural and load impact tests, to rain penetration resistance and the so-called ‘knock test’ to hear if the walls have a hollow sound. In each test, the product far exceeded the building standard requirements. “Fire rating is obviously a very important consideration for low cost housing in South Africa. During a recent four and a half hour burn test in a furnace of 1 800 degrees Celsius, the fire only penetrated 1 cm into the walls, giving it one of the best fire rat- ings in the world. The South African Bureau of Standards, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and various international agencies have also tested the product, and it came through with flying colours

‘Building with recycled polystyrene offers government a much needed affordable solution for the low cost housing market. ’

panies to ensure a continued supply of material will keep up with the de- mand. Each week large quantities of polystyrene are delivered to the site for recycling, primarily by growers, nurseries and plant centres located in Brits and surrounding areas as far afield as Pretoria, who use expanded polystyrene for their seedling trays. “It takes 720 kg of recycled poly- styrene to build a build a 68 m² house. Last year, we recycled more than 613 tons of polystyrene. Our solid wall system reduces the use of

June 2016