EWB-UK Research Conference 2009 Hosted by The Royal Academy of Engineering February 20

Local Gumpole Timbers and Mud Bricks An Example of the UKs Building Industrys International Contribution
Introduction The UK building design industry relies heavily on sophisticated analytical tools in order to evaluate the performance of its design and expedite the design process. Without these tools, the highly complex geometries and systems present in many modern buildings would not be possible. However, this does not mean that these tools should be used exclusively for heavily engineered buildings. This paper outlines a design project recently undertaken in rural South Africa and outlines the benefits of using the technical tools available. This report will touch on the structural solutions but the primary focus will be the building services solutions and modelling software used to evaluate the internal comfort conditions of the options available. The Project Ingwavuma Orphan Care (IOC) is a South-African based charity that has been working in the rural northern Kwa-Zulu Natal area since its formation in 2000. Its principal aim is to provide additional and supplementary support for the Aids victims of the area. The work of the charity has expanded since 2000 and now includes a home-based care team (to minimise the long and often painful journeys to the hospital), a paralegal team (to aid the patients in acquiring birth certificates, death certificates and any grants available), social workers and a team of medical nurses to administer the drugs. A number of the IOC patients live miles from the nearest road, meaning that during the latter stages of Aids, the patients cannot make the journey to the local clinic of hospital. With homebased carers and the more accessible antiretroviral drugs that they issue to the patients, lives are transformed.

Figure 1: Location of Ingwavuma IOC have reached a point where they have outgrown their current facilities and need more space to keep up with demand and available funding. The brief for the project was to provide new charity offices and a hospice on a new site. IOC have stated that they desire something special which expresses the ethos of the charity. The buildings needing to be an environmentally sensitive intervention utilising design; The harnessing of natural elements such as solar orientation and the placement of glazing without sacrificing functionality or the buildings aesthetics. The Architects Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (FCBS) is a UK-based architecture practice which focuses on environmental and social aspects of creating architecture. FCBS has a well established charity initiative with a percentage of profits being donated to both local causes and more projectbased international projects. Completed projects include; a health clinic in Malawi, a secondary school in Uganda and a bamboo stage for an orphanage in India. They have also previously

Community of Practice: habitat Author: Laura Smith Institution: Buro Happold

EWB-UK Research Conference 2009 Hosted by The Royal Academy of Engineering February 20
inputted into the design of a typical orphan bungalow (for 6 children and a house-mother) for the local Umndeni Project (an umbrella project beneath IOC) in conjunction with the local Durban-based architect Rodney Harber. FCBS have donated their time to design this project. It has been agreed that Rodney Harber Associates will be appointed by IOC into the more detailed design stage and into construction. This will give the needed support and guidance that a project of this scale requires. The Engineers FCBS received advice and guidance on a number of key aspects of this project. This included Grants Associates on the Landscape Strategy, Moss Trejo Cope on the kitchen layout and Buro Happold on the structural, mechanical and electrical engineering. Buro Happold focuses on an environmental responsive and responsible design. Their approach is holistic, viewing engineering as one important consideration of the projects overall design solution.

Figure 2: Overall site plan showing office block (left) and hospice unit (right).

Community of Practice: habitat Author: Laura Smith Institution: Buro Happold

EWB-UK Research Conference 2009 Hosted by The Royal Academy of Engineering February 20
Materials Aspirations The normal construction approach in this area is a concrete slab, single-leaf concrete block walls, timber rafters and single sheet uninsulated corrugated iron roof. The project set out to evaluate whether the norm was the most appropriate solution. It was agreed early on in this project that earth would be used as a construction material. The key criteria for this decision include; the ever-rising cost of cement; the scarcity of water in the area; the reduction in embodied energy through sourcing materials close to site and the aesthetic of a mud building. Time was spent with the client to explore the four dominant and appropriate methods Sandbag Construction Using maize bags and filling them with any kind of sand from the site, with barbed wire in between for stability Rammed Earth Ramming stabilized earth within shuttering, which untrained people could assist with the construction. Cob Construction Soil is mixed with dried grass or hay to strengthen it. Construction is mostly done manually Sun-dried Compressed Earth Blocks A mould is used to compress the earth into bricks and left to dry naturally in the sun. The earth is normally stabilised for durability. Through analysis of the soil conditions and experimenting with the different techniques at a client meeting in the UK, sun-dried compressed earth blocks were selected as the preferred construction technique. The soil available has a very high concentration of clay (approx 40%). With such a high percentage, any soil used as a building material will be subject to unacceptable shrinkage. This can easily be resolved by adding approx. 50% of the volume of sand. The client has confirmed that sand can be easily retrieved from the nearby river (approx 200m away). It is recommended that 4-6% of lime is added to this mix to stabilise to ensure durability. The Structural Solution Whilst the mud bricks can be load-bearing, it adds a further layer of complication to the construction which was deemed inappropriate. Therefore a frame system with infill mud bricks will be used. Different options of frame were considered and the preferred option was to use locally sourced timber. Gumpoles are used often in the local area for various kinds of construction. They are from the trees of Genus Eucalyptus grown in South Africa and treated with a preservative solution of copper-chromium-arsenate (CCA) compounds. Detailed research was undertaken by Buro Happold into the loading capacity of the gumpoles to ensure that the design accounted for the use of this specific timber. Guidance was sought from local structural engineers and data on the properties of gumpoles was obtained to develop the structural frame. In the main spaces of the building, an intermediate support was introduced to reduce the span and therefore the resultant diameter required of the pole. Transportation was also a key issue in considering the spans of gumpoles. Whilst gumpoles can be obtained up to 10m lengths; transportation options restrict this to 4.3m lengths.

Community of Practice: habitat Author: Laura Smith Institution: Buro Happold

EWB-UK Research Conference 2009 Hosted by The Royal Academy of Engineering February 20
Building Services Solution Ingwavuma is a rural area and the new site for IOC has no connection to grid electricity. Eskom (the state-owned electricity supplier) has stated that no new developments will be connected to the grid due to the shortage of electricity the country is experiencing at present. On site electricity generation will be provided by 150 solar panels that FCBS have acquired from a redundant petrol station in the UK. They will be shipped out to South Africa to generate electricity for both the offices and the hospice buildings. The current office of IOC is very cramped and North West facing. This orientation means that the office receives hostile afternoon and evening sun. There is no overhang to provide shade and a large single glass window which introduces a large amount of solar gain into this space. As a result of this design the office overheats badly in summer, resulting in the retro-fitting of an air conditioning unit for the office to habitable. Passive environmental control can offer improved comfort for the occupants of these buildings and minimise, if not remove the need for active environmental control such as air conditioning. Given the limited amount of energy available on site and the nature of the hospice patients, it is key that this building is design to provide maximise comfort in temperature and other internal design conditions through passive techniques. The Climate Weather data was sought from the closest weather station (Richards Bay). However this information is approximately 200km south and on the coast therefore some adjustments must be required. The temperatures in Ingwavuma are likely to be higher due to the lack of coastal breeze and being closer to the equator.

Overall the climate is varied with lows of 12C in the winter and highs of 29C during the summer months. This data indicates that the building must be able to deal with a fairly large variation of conditions. In the summer months (January and February) there is high rainfall, temperature, and solar radiation, whilst the temperature can fluctuate greatly between night and day throughout the year. Therefore, the design must be a careful balance and not bias to provide excellent conditions in winter, only to dramatically overheat in the summer months. These criteria all place great demands upon the performance of the building.

Community of Practice: habitat Author: Laura Smith Institution: Buro Happold

EWB-UK Research Conference 2009 Hosted by The Royal Academy of Engineering February 20
The Modelling Software IES Virtual Environment software was used to model the thermal conditions in order to evaluate the proposed design. This software has been used to carry out a simulation which considers the effect of a wide variety of external parameters including; external temperature, solar angles and wind direction and strength. These all affect the internal temperature and occupant comfort. As IES requires very detailed weather information, this analysis could not be done with the Richards Bay data available. The closest available data within IES was for Johannesburg, which is similar in terms of solar data but the temperatures are slightly cooler. The model was used primarily as a comparative tool and not to provide quantative data as such, this information is an acceptable approximation to the real data. The Modelling Process It is important that the different options are evaluated in a way that enables direct comparisons to be made. The strategy for this modelling was to select a parameter, consider different options and then the best option was taken forward in the design. The next parameter then considered. As well as the thermal performance, the impact on the complexity of the build will also be considered. The results of the optimised model will be compared with the current construction techniques to evaluate the effect of implementing these changes. Due to the greater simplicity of the office block, this area was modelled first to evaluate the optimised solution for IOC. The hospice area was then modelled to ensure that this solution also provided a suitable solution for this case. The process went as follows: 1. Base case Firstly the base case was considered to provide a comparison to the standard construction techniques that would be employed in this area. As stated previously this consists of concrete block walls and corrugated iron roofs. This provides very little insulation to the external environment and low thermal mass. 2. Wall construction and shading roof The next step was to investigate the effect of the mud brick wall construction and investigate the merits of including a cavity and using a double layer of mud bricks. Also investigated in this step was the effect of a second shading roof to prevent direct sunlight from reaching the roof of the internal spaces. 3. Roof construction materials A thin sheet of corrugated iron, whilst hard wearing and a waterproofing layer, it is a very good conductor of heat. Using local materials such as sand from the river and thatching local grass were investigated to see if the increase in insulation provided better overall conditions. 4. Height of shading roof above main roof If air cannot circulate in the space between the building roof and the shading roof, hot air will build up and increase the temperature within the office space. In order to ensure that there is a good air path, the height of the second roof was varied to determine the best height to prevent heat build up. 5. Effect of overhangs and external blinds There is a walkway on the northern side of the building which has no shading from the structural frame and so have no protection from the strong summer sun. External blinds were considered in this area rather than fixed shades as during the winter months, the sunlight will provide a heating effect in the daytime which would be highly desirable considering the absence of any heating equipment within the building. Horizontal blinds and vertical blinds have been modelled independently to investigate the effect and the distances required.

Community of Practice: habitat Author: Laura Smith Institution: Buro Happold

EWB-UK Research Conference 2009 Hosted by The Royal Academy of Engineering February 20

6. Effect of a ventilation chimney Hot air rises to the highest point in the room, by providing an opening at the highest point this prevents a cushion of hot air forming at the top and increasing the temperature of the room. The hot air exiting the room will also pull air through the windows creating a cooling effect in the room. Three 0.75m2 chimneys were modelled in the each room

7. Effect of white paint on roof The model was run with a layer of white paint on the shading roof. This had a minimal effect due to the main office roof already being shaded by the secondary roof.

Figure 3: The Modelling Process

Community of Practice: habitat Author: Laura Smith Institution: Buro Happold

EWB-UK Research Conference 2009 Hosted by The Royal Academy of Engineering February 20
Assumptions As this is not a typical office building, a set of assumptions have been made as follows The office is in use 7 days a week from 8am to 5pm One computer per person Electric lighting will be provided Occupancy has been modelled as 7 people per office (working on 10m2 /person) The windows will be open during occupied hours, if the temperature exceeds 20C. Note: The windows have been assumed to have an opening so that the area for air to enter the office space is equivalent to 35% of the total window area. No heating or cooling will be provided The Optimised Design The proposed design of the office building is to use double leaf mud bricks and a roof composed of two corrugated iron sheets with a layer of sand between them. The glazing is recommended to be at a sill height of 800mm. The modelling was carried out with 7No regularly spaced window panes on the north and south facades. These windows have a width of 1.3m and a height of 1.9m. The optimised construction is summarized below: Floor Internal Ceiling Roof External Walls Internal Partitions Shading methods used Exposed Concrete Floor None 2 No. 10mm corrugated iron with 200mm sand insulation Double leaf 440mm mud layer bricks Double leaf 440mm mud bricks Additional shading roof, vertical and horizontal blinds
Figure 4: Comparison between optimized design and base construction

The seasonal performance of the optimised design is as follows: Summer Second shading roof reduces solar gain and creates an air path which removes heat build up due to the direct sunlight on the corrugated iron surface. Fans will provide air circulation internally to prevent a heat build up at high level. This addition will offer a lower energy solution compared with a full air conditioning unit. The internal environment has lower peak temperatures than in the base construction case. Winter Removable shades allow solar gains to the office space when required, second shading roof will slightly reduce the peak temperature in winter but a better insulated roof limits the heat loss at the beginning and end of the day when the suns heat is less powerful. Optimised Design vs. Base Construction Case The overall result is that when compared to a standard construction, our proposals achieve a higher percentage of hours per year where the temperatures within the building are seen to be comfortable and significantly reducing the high temperature bands as seen in the graphs below:

Community of Practice: habitat Author: Laura Smith Institution: Buro Happold

EWB-UK Research Conference 2009 Hosted by The Royal Academy of Engineering February 20
Summary Through the use of well established modeling techniques, the thermal properties of different options for construction have been evaluated and optimized. This has provided a simple quantative method to assess the most appropriate construction to provide comfort to the end users. The optimized design represents a significant decrease in the number of hours the internal space is above 25C (14.4% above 25C compared with 21.9% for the base case). This will result in increase occupancy comfort throughout the year. FCBS have been out to South Africa and participated in design and client meetings on site in September 2008. During this time sign-off from the client was achieved and the local architect briefed. Construction is due to start shortly.

Figure 5: An Impression of the end design

Community of Practice: habitat Author: Laura Smith Institution: Buro Happold