Gypsum houses and bamboo dwellings
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New ways of building houses using unconventional materials have come into focus recently.
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— Photo: Vipinchandran
Eco-friendly: The fibreglass-reinforced phospho gypsum panels on display at Eloor in Kochi.
Two new developments on the housing front have raised a lot of interest among those trying to find and promote viable alternatives to conventional house-building practices and raw materials.
The need for these is evident in a State such as Kerala where a house is mostly preferred to a flat.
The cost of conventional building materials, such as sand, cement and steel, is ever on the rise. This forces even the government to consider revising the rates it has been paying to building contractors.So, it is imperative to promote alternative building methods and materials so that the sun does not set on the dream of houses for all.
The first development is the introduction of fibreglass-reinforced load-bearing wall panels from phospho gypsum. These can be used for building houses rapidly at a significantly lower cost. The use of conventional raw materials such as sand, cement and steel is minimal. Equally important is the time saved on building.
The alternative has been introduced through a joint venture between Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) and the Mumbai-based Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF). The public-sector fertilizer companies signed a memorandum of understanding with Rapid Building Systems (RBS), Australia, early this year for supply of technology, licence and critical equipment for manufacturing the panels.
This has paved the way for establishing a plant at a cost of Rs. 80 crore for producing the building material. The plant will be set up on the Ambalamedu premises of FACT.
Officials say the panels help to cut cost of construction by 25 per cent and the time required by 50 per cent. A 1,400-sq.ft house can be built in 14 days, once the basement is ready.
The plant is expected to go on stream in May 2009, offering a boon to those wishing to go in for alternative house-building strategies.
The Australian company says a large number of buildings, including large multi-storeyed apartments with more than 3,000 units and buildings up to 17 storeys, have been built in Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and other Australian cities.
The panels can be cut to any size to the requirements of individual buildings. It has an environment-friendly nature, and can help to reduce sand-mining and quarrying that have immensely degraded the environment.
Bamboo houses
The second development is the use of bamboo as a key raw material in building houses and the unveiling of the concept of portable houses in which bamboo is the key raw material. The Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), Peechi, and the Kochi-based architectural consultants Inspiration have joined hands to develop the portable houses.
Bamboo has the potential to be used for developing affordable portable shelters for disaster-affected areas, ecologically sensitive forest areas for eco-tourism purposes and pilgrim centres, say T K. Dhamodaran and R. Gnanaharan, scientists at KFRI and involved in the portable house project.
Portability is a major attraction in case houses are needed on quick notice in places that are hit by disasters such as tsunami.
The researchers say that bamboo mats and boards can be used as the principal structural components for flooring, walling and roofing. Structures for the supporting components can be developed in other suitable materials such as steel, wood and glass.
Utilisation of bamboo as a structural component in buildings opens up the prospect of providing a sustainable livelihood to thousands of people who depend on its exploitation for a living. The structural materials that need a lot of energy for production can be replaced. Durability of bamboo can be ensured through treatment.
The portable house unit that was displayed in Kochi two weeks ago used bamboo mat board as the principal component.
K.A. MARTIN
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