Gypsum houses and portable bamboo dwellings
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New ways of building houses using unconventional materials have come into focus recently in the Ernakulam region. K.A. MARTIN takes a close look at two of these — one uses fibreglass-reinforced gypsum load-bearing wall panels, and the other mainly relies on bamboo mat board to build portable housing units.
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— Photos: By Special Arrangement and Vipinchandran
New sights: From left; the Nilambur building, a bamboo-based portable house being set up, and a demonstration housing unit made of gypsum panels.
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.
Joint venture
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. Official sources say the plant will have the capacity to produce 14-lakh sq.m of panels and products such as wall plaster and putty a year.
The project has twin advantages since FACT will be able to use the huge quantity of gypsum accumulated on its Ambalamedu premises.
The Australian company has appreciated the superior quality of FACT gypsum. The panels, once widely accepted, will revolutionise the way houses are built now. They can almost replace steel, cement, concrete, bricks, river sand and even timber that go into the making of a conventional house.
They are eco-friendly and come at a competitive cost. The walls, called Rapidwalls, are manufactured in a moulding process using glass-fibre reinforced, water-resistant gypsum plaster and adhesives and so on. These panels are currently used in Australia, China and Malaysia, say company sources.
The versatility of the gypsum board is what makes it revolutionary. It can be used for building residential units and multi-storeyed buildings. Besides, it can be used as form work for suspended concrete floor structures.
The technology for its manufacture was developed in Australia in the 1990s. A 12x2.85-metre wall can replace a lorry-load of conventional bricks, say the manufacturers. No plastering is needed. Rapidwalls provide a smooth and superior finish ready for primer or paint coating.
One 12x3-metre panel weighs only 1.5 tonnes compared to the 19 tonnes of a conventional 23-cm-thick brick wall. The weight of an equally thick reinforced cement concrete wall will be nine tonnes.
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.
Add to this the considerable cost savings in situations such as the tsunami when large number of houses will have to be built in quick time for short- and long-term rehabilitation. Buildings using the gypsum panels can better withstand earthquakes.
To popularise the panels, FACT has set up a demonstration housing unit at Eloor. The site, close to the Eloor police station, can be visited for a firsthand impression of the material and methods.
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.
Major attraction
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.
Supports and joineries were in steel and the entire structure was hinged.
Though portability is affected by the weight of the structure, work is on to improve the situation.
It is proposed to alter the design for structural improvement for reduction of weight to improve portability. The current proto type requires a crane to load it on a lorry.
The unit that was displayed unfolded into a 240-sq.ft. living space with sufficient light and was airy and roomy enough to accommodate furniture.
Three or four units can be loaded on a lorry for transport to a location of requirement. If a sufficient number of orders are there, it will be possible to make it cost-effective, says Director of KFRI K. V. Sankaran. A unit can now be built for around Rs. 1.25 lakh.
Also on display at the portable house demonstration was information on bamboo houses. A particularly interesting one was the building housing the KFRI station at Nilambur. G. Jaigopal, director and principal designer of Inspiration, says that his consultancy has been using bamboo for over a decade in buildings. The Inspiration office has a significant bamboo component.
He says that bamboo is a raw material with which building can grow tall. It is renewable and grows easily.
The use of bamboo in the Nilambur building reduced usage of steel and cement by 40 per cent.
It saved the use of 12,000 bricks that would have been needed otherwise. The roof is made of bamboo truss held together by steel members over which paint-coated galvalum sheet is laid.
The weight of the building is 50 per cent less than usual. The plinth area is 126 sq.m. The use of natural materials has helped to reduce heat by four to five degrees Celsius. The building, a prime example of the use of bamboo and its huge potential, cost Rs. 12 lakh.
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