The first Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer rebar and mesh has come off the production line at GFRP’s new manufacturing facility in Linbro Park, Gauteng, heralding a new environmentally friendly era for the local construction industry.
EnviraBar and EnviraMesh on-site. Image Credit: GFRP Tech
The multi-million rand investment into this new, first of a kind glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) manufacturing facility in South Africa is set to disrupt the local construction industry with a sustainable alternative to steel rebar and mesh that is not only 75% lighter but also stronger complying to stringent international standards.
Consulting Engineer, Allen Fiford, GFRP Tech’s Founder and CEO says, “Although GFRP has been available from international suppliers for quite some time, the logistics of importing the product and the long lead times from order to arrival on site resulting in a risk to project deliverables and the possibility of penalties, has resulted in a very slow uptake locally.”
Fiford goes on to say, “The initial reaction to our Envirabar and Enviramesh from the marketplace has been incredible with the first order already delivered to a site and in the process of being laid down.” He went on the state, “The slab area covered is 300 m2, and the product was delivered to site in a single trip using a light motor vehicle. This was made possible due to EnviraBar and EnviraMesh being 75% lighter, enabling easier and more efficient transportation.”
Working in conjunction with Stellenbosch University, the FRP Institute in the United States and the GFRP institute South Africa, Fiford believes that GFRP Tech’s environmentally friendly and sustainable products will go a long way in addressing the construction industry’s focus on reducing CO2 emissions.
“The buildings and construction sector is by far the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, accounting for a staggering 37% of global emissions.” Building Materials and the Climate: Constructing a New Future, a report developed by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), Yale Center for Ecosystems + Architecture in the framework of the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC), highlights the pressing need to establish innovative cooperation models to decarbonise building materials.
Fiford highlights, “This 2023 report shows that these models are critical if we are to achieve the world's ambitious target of net zero emissions from the built environment sector by mid-century and GFRP Tech is proud to be a contributor in achieving this ambitious goal.”
GFRP Tech’s manufacturing facility will produce Envirabar with nominal diameters from 6 mm right up to 30 mm with guaranteed tensile strength up to 1500 MPa and Enviramesh 4 mm to 8 mm, 200x 200 and 150 x 150 grid. All corrosion resistant with zero thermal and electrical conductivity and offering specialised bending specific to requirements.
Not one to rest on his laurels, Fiford has other exciting sustainable and environmentally friendly products in the pipeline that are planned for release in the first quarter of 2025.