Building science and technology

The Building Science and Technology Competence Area concentrates its R&D expertise on the following:

• Developing innovative construction materials, technologies, methods and processes
• Supporting the public and private sectors for sustainable facilities planning, design and management through the whole life cycle of facilities
• Providing decision support and developing capacity to lead to the enhanced performance of buildings and facilities, and of the construction and property industries.

Research areas include:

• Architectural engineering

Social infrastructure and systems including public health facilities and educational facilities; sustainable infrastructure using cost-effective strategies; building assessment tools, performance modelling, benchmarking, support systems and guidelines; energy-efficiency in buildings, cost-effective measures to reduce energy consumption; assessment tools and benchmarking; the efficient use of non-renewable resources; and the sustainable use of renewable resources.

• Construction materials and methods

Marginal and waste materials for building construction; cement composites; natural fibre composites; structural engineering; product prototyping, smart construction materials; an advanced construction technology platform for a wide range of users – the technology platform can be used with existing technologies and products.

• Construction industry improvement

Support to the construction industry in promoting sustainable economic growth and skills development; promote skills development for SMMEs in the construction sector; create sustainable enterprises and stable employment; construction industry development; pursue opportunities of the green economy; alternative energy provision for the built environment; research on reducing the impact of HIV/Aids in the construction industry.

Research facilities and platforms

• Building performance laboratory
• Advanced construction technology platform
• Boundary layer wind tunnel

Enquiries - Competence Area Manager:
Theuns Knoetze, tel 012-841-4985; email tknoetze@csir.co.za

Published research highlights

	Side-stepping poor infrastructure Access is one of many functions that should be supported in urban environments in developing countries. This paper argues that the symptoms of the additional demands being made on urban environments should define how environments can be pro-actively adapted to meet a wider range of needs.

	Supporting the design and evaluation of complex built environments This paper describes the development of a Computational Building Simulation (CBS) tool, termed KRONOS, that addresses advanced architectural research questions, such as user behaviour in buildings.