IIT-Madras Civil Engineers Promise 800 Sq.Ft, 2 BHK House For Only 10 Lakh
Engineers at the Indian Institute Of Technology, Madras were super busy for about a decade to bring your 2 BHK dreams to reality. The new construction method developed by IIT-M engineers will bring down the costs drastically down - so down that a 2 BHK, 800 Sq.ft house will cost you only Rs. 10 lakh. We can already see smile on your face; unless you're into construction business. The engineers at IIT-M's Civil Engineering department have demonstrated their technology by constructing a two-story building using GFRG (glass fibre reinforced gypsum) panels.
The demo house constructed entirely within the IIT Madras campus comprises of four flats, with two on each floor. The research team says that their way of constructing is not only budget-free but also is quite less time consuming over traditional methods. The two storey building too kess than a month's time to construct - amazing, isn't it?
The team's been working on the project since 2003. The research began by conducting extensive studies on the use of GFRG panels as structural components of the building, keeping in mind the earthquake resistent design. The panels have been developed by RBS Australia and were intended as RapidWall panels ideal for rapid erection of walls in buildings to carry gravity loads.
The panels are made of calcined gypsum plaster combined with glass fibers and special additives to produce the final GFRG panels. Each panel is about 12 meter long, 3m tall and about 124mm thick. The IIT Madras team extended the use of these panels to constructing the entire building - right from floors, roofs and staircases. The method also allowed for drastically reducing the overall consumption of reinforced cement concrete (RCC). The team's also developed a water-proofing material which prolongs the durability of the GFRG panels to be used as roofs and toilets.
The building constructed in the IIT-M campus has a total built-up area of about 1981 sq.ft, two flats with carpet area of 269 sq.ft each and others have carpet rea of 497 sq.ft each - intended for the lower income group. The team says that the plans can be replicated to build bigger houses and also used in mass housing projects anywhere in India. Another team at IIT Madras, which is working on decentralised solar photovoltaic systems with DC appliances, will use the newly constructed building to demonstrate the overall savings in electricity consumption and thus reducing the electricity bills.
Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras said, “The GFRG building, which is fit for occupation, showcases the efficacy of the rapid affordable construction technology developed at IIT Madras, and is replicable for mass housing, vertically and horizontally. The use of prefabricated light-weight GFRG panels not only implies faster overall construction time but also a safer working environment. The cost of the construction, with all amenities, has been reduced to about Rs.1, 250 per square foot.â€
Explaining the building concept, Prof. Devdas Menon and Prof. A. Meher Prasad of Civil Engineering Department, IIT, Madras said, “Filling the cavities with concrete increases the vertical load-carrying capacity almost tenfold, and inserting vertical steel bars in these cavities, contributes to their earthquake resistance. In a multi-storeyed building, the number of concrete-filled cavities and steel bars can be reduced at the higher floor levels. When used as floor slabs, reinforced concrete beams can be embedded and hidden in some of the cavities, as per the design. The overall weight of the structure and consumption of concrete comes down significantly. Conventional plastering is eliminated.â€
Check out following video that shows the demo building -
The demo house constructed entirely within the IIT Madras campus comprises of four flats, with two on each floor. The research team says that their way of constructing is not only budget-free but also is quite less time consuming over traditional methods. The two storey building too kess than a month's time to construct - amazing, isn't it?
The team's been working on the project since 2003. The research began by conducting extensive studies on the use of GFRG panels as structural components of the building, keeping in mind the earthquake resistent design. The panels have been developed by RBS Australia and were intended as RapidWall panels ideal for rapid erection of walls in buildings to carry gravity loads.
The panels are made of calcined gypsum plaster combined with glass fibers and special additives to produce the final GFRG panels. Each panel is about 12 meter long, 3m tall and about 124mm thick. The IIT Madras team extended the use of these panels to constructing the entire building - right from floors, roofs and staircases. The method also allowed for drastically reducing the overall consumption of reinforced cement concrete (RCC). The team's also developed a water-proofing material which prolongs the durability of the GFRG panels to be used as roofs and toilets.
The building constructed in the IIT-M campus has a total built-up area of about 1981 sq.ft, two flats with carpet area of 269 sq.ft each and others have carpet rea of 497 sq.ft each - intended for the lower income group. The team says that the plans can be replicated to build bigger houses and also used in mass housing projects anywhere in India. Another team at IIT Madras, which is working on decentralised solar photovoltaic systems with DC appliances, will use the newly constructed building to demonstrate the overall savings in electricity consumption and thus reducing the electricity bills.
Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras said, “The GFRG building, which is fit for occupation, showcases the efficacy of the rapid affordable construction technology developed at IIT Madras, and is replicable for mass housing, vertically and horizontally. The use of prefabricated light-weight GFRG panels not only implies faster overall construction time but also a safer working environment. The cost of the construction, with all amenities, has been reduced to about Rs.1, 250 per square foot.â€
Explaining the building concept, Prof. Devdas Menon and Prof. A. Meher Prasad of Civil Engineering Department, IIT, Madras said, “Filling the cavities with concrete increases the vertical load-carrying capacity almost tenfold, and inserting vertical steel bars in these cavities, contributes to their earthquake resistance. In a multi-storeyed building, the number of concrete-filled cavities and steel bars can be reduced at the higher floor levels. When used as floor slabs, reinforced concrete beams can be embedded and hidden in some of the cavities, as per the design. The overall weight of the structure and consumption of concrete comes down significantly. Conventional plastering is eliminated.â€
Check out following video that shows the demo building -
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