CORRUGATED IRON - THE ULTIMATE SUSTAINABLE BUILDING MATERIAL?

摘要

Corrugated iron (profiled and galvanised steel sheeting) was first produced around 1830. Being a lightweight, robust and inexpensive material that could easily be transported over long distances and erected by people with limited skills, it played a major role in the settlement of South Africa and many other countries in the 1800's The temporary constructions required in rapidly erupting mining towns, as well as the roofs of houses, commercial and industrial buildings across the country were built in corrugated iron. Many other applications, other products and imitations were triggered by the existence of corrugated iron sheets. The material proved to be particularly handy with the urbanisation of poor African people in South Africa, allowing them to construct accommodation from second-hand sheets which were inexpensive and widely available. The product also compares favourably with other building materials in terms of embodied energy especially when re-use and recycling are taken into account. Corrugated iron was bequeathed to us, both as a concept and as actually usable material, by previous generations, and remains an in vestment for the future.