Fixing For A Green Future In Building And Construction
fischer is the global market leader in fixing technology with a wide range of fixing, installation and FireStop solutions. This means that the brand carries a global responsibility to ensure that fischer fixings are not only the best on the market, but are manufactured in an environmentally responsible way to ensure a sustainable future. As an advocate for ‘Innovative Solutions’, the fischer brand believes the building and construction industry should lead the way forward in the adoption of green solutions to reduce the effects of global warming. This is where fischer’s Green Line range of sustainably produced products comes in, to help make SA’s construction industry more sustainable and to ensure the longevity of not only our fixings but the longevity of the planet.
Why Go Green?
The building and construction sector plays a large part in the development goals for South Africa’s future and will continue to do so as our country’s population grows. We need to keep up with the necessary building growth to ensure that people have the housing and infrastructure they need. All the while ensuring that our building and construction practices do minimal damage towards damaging the environment.
Unfortunately, this is not yet the case and the construction industry is struggling to keep up with the demand of housing and infrastructure, and the environment is frequently a distant thought pushed aside in the name of completing crucial projects in time and within the budget.
That’s why it’s no surprise that the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction’s latest report shows that 11% of the overall CO2 emissions produced in the built environment is caused by the materials used during the building process. As the global South continues to strive for development, the building and allied trade industries are more concerned with meeting deadlines and lowering budgets than it is with building responsibly and with renewable materials. fischer has recognised this global problem and has created a line of products that aim to reduce this percentage of Global CO2 emissions. The new Greenline range has been manufactured with their environmental impact in mind. This range of sustainably produced and environmentally friendly Nylon Wall Plugs and Chemical mortar has been produced to the highest safety and load-bearing capability standards as traditional fischer fixings but with environmental responsibility in mind.
Green Building Materials Should Become An Industry Standard:
Just because a product is environmentally friendly, does not mean it won’t stand up to the rigours of SA’s harsh Jobsite conditions. fischer’s bio-based fixing systems have undergone rigorous testing to ensure they perform at the same incredibly high standard as traditional fixings.
This strength and quality is maintained, while all of our Green Line products are produced with a minimum of 50% renewable raw materials, classified as a bio-based class of between 50-85, and have certificates of DIN CERTCO, an Independent German testing certification. This ensures that not only are the products helping to reduce global CO2 emissions but that they can stand up to the rigours of a tough SA Jobsite and stand the test of time. At fischer we believe in Innovative Solutions and it is our belief that by adapting to the demands of our users in the building industry we can also have a positive impact in contributing towards preventing further environmental impact. We stand by the promise that fischer values sustainability and provides green solutions to improve a project’s overall green rating.
Aerated Concrete as a greener solution:
Luckily for the eco-conscious builder, fixings aren’t the only way to improve a project’s green rating. There are many new developments with concrete and masonry substrates that have happened in the last 30 years to help keep CO2 emissions low in the manufacturing process of such building materials.
Aerated concrete is a new type of building material that is becoming extremely popular when it comes to renovation and rehabilitation projects in South Africa. We see this material being used more regularly as old office buildings are converted to apartment buildings. By using aerated concrete blocks as internal partitioning, the overall weight added on to an existing building is much lighter as compared to using solid concrete walls or even solid or hollow brick walls.
Along with this advancement in building materials come new challenges. Fixing into lightweight concrete requires different fixing technology and installation methodology as compared to fixing into solid concrete. Due to the soft nature of lightweight concrete, it is a low-density substrate, the drilling action used should be appropriate, i.e., rotary drilling. If a harsh drill action, such as hammer drilling is used, the drill hole size’s diameter and depth would be inaccurate. This new lightweight material brings with it many new challenges, seen in the drilling action, anchor type, anchor size and anchor depth start to play an important role in the performance of the anchor. Challenges that fischer’s range of fixing solutions overcomes thanks to innovative fixing designs that perform optimally in different types of building materials.
fischer’s solution – the aircrete Anchor GB Green:
To overcome some of these challenges, fischer has put some of the industry’s leading minds toward fixing the problem. So when it comes to fixing into aerated concrete today, fischer has developed a special fixing that is most suitable for aerated concrete.
The Aircrete Anchor GB Green is a spiral-shaped fixing that is suitable for soft building materials, ensuring even pressure distribution and optimal load-bearing capacity. Using fischer means you’ll have an installation that will stand the test of time and meet the fixing demands of the building substrates of the future.
Anchoring Into Aircrete:
If your Jobsite’s made the shift to aerated concrete and you need a fixing you know will perform well – then look no further thank fischer. Our In-House Engineer and Technical Manager have done some fixing pull-out tests into lightweight concrete and here are the results.
TEST DETAILS
- Aerated concrete block – Dimensions: 340x700x120 mm
- Material composition: Mixture of cement, recycled polystyrene, fly-ash, fibers and perlite
- Mass: 14kg (dry)
- Compressive strength: 2.5 MPa
- Duopower wall plugs 10×50; 10×80
- SXR frame fixing 10×80
TEST RESULT
| fischer Plug | Mean failure load (kN) | Recommended design load (kN) |
| DuoPower 10 x 50 | 0.2 | 0.06 |
| DuoPower 10 x 80 | 1.5 | 0.4 |
| SXRL 10 x 80 | 1.2 | 0.3 |
The tests showed that the DuoPower 10×80 plug and coach screw performs the best in lightweight concrete. The importance of anchorage depth can be seen in the table above. Failure at 50mm equals 0.2kN whereas failure at 80mm equals 1.5kN.
It is important to remember that fixing into lightweight concrete can be unsafe if connections aren’t designed accurately. The low compressive strength of lightweight concrete (between 2 and 6MPa) makes it suitable for non-structural installations.
Ushering In A ‘Greener’ Sustainable Future
South Africa’s construction and building industry is a long way from lowering its contribution to greenhouse gases but new ‘Green’ technologies are being developed and fischer is leading the way in going green. By using building materials that are produced with the least amount of carbon emissions, while also recycling old materials is one such way of reducing the amount of carbon our industry produces.
fischer is here to help with this transition, and as a leader, in the supply of innovative solutions, we are here to help SA’s industry get #fischerFixed on the idea of a green transition in the building and construction materials sector.
