The women who have been selected for the programme will all be employed by the City for a three-year period and will receive their training at the Carbon Smart Training Academy in Maitland.
Over the last few months, the group has been trained in Health and Safety and has completed the Biomass Insulated Concrete training which will equip them to deliver on the key output of the programme, which is to produce the Biomass Insulated Concrete (BIC) product by incorporating various combinations of recycled fabric, plastics, glass, ceramics and various alien invasive species to produce an eco-friendly building material. This product will be used for various construction projects at City facilities.
This skills development programme provides a unique opportunity for women to enter the construction sector, focusing on green building principles to reduce carbon footprints during construction, while also honing essential soft skills and fostering small and medium-sized enterprise (SMME) development.
On 16 April 2024, the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews, attended the launch of the programme to meet the participants and encourage them.
‘I envision the Carbon Smart Skills Development Programme to be one of our most successful training initiatives, simply because it simultaneously fulfils two important objectives – these are firstly, to empower residents with the expertise to launch their own small businesses or to increase their employability, and secondly, to promote the construction of green infrastructure throughout the City.
‘The collaboration between our Environmental Management and EPWP departments has been instrumental in bringing this programme to fruition, one that could potentially drive positive change within the communities where the women reside,’ said Alderman Andrews.
Thus far this material and method has been used for two gate houses as well as various other pilot construction projects such as ablution facilities at City’s nature reserves.
The BIC construction method taught to the participants leverages the unique properties of alien invasive species to produce an eco-friendly building material:
· this versatile material offers remarkable efficiency and speed when used in various construction methods
· compared to traditional methods, BIC construction significantly accelerates the building process, with walls shuttered, poured, and stripped within a 24-hour timeframe, allowing projects to swiftly progress to completion
The City would like to extend its appreciation to the external partners involved namely Dr Guy Preston and Engineer Dirk Oosthuizen whose expertise and resources have enriched the programme.
There are two trainee levels in the programme:
· the EPWP trainee assistant level 1 positions were targeted at individuals with Grade 10 to Matric, who have no formal training or are studying towards a formal education in administration; and
· the EPWP project trainee level 2 positions were aimed at individuals with a tertiary qualification.
