RAPID WALL POSSIBILITIES IN INDIA......
“It is just not
possible to continue to build with traditional materials and achieve
sustainable development.”
By 2015,
just six years away, it is estimated that the housing shortage will top 90
million.
In order
to overcome this huge housing
shortage is an urgent need for alternative building materials.
è Are
energy efficient
è Have
little or no CO2 emissions
è Are
strong & durable
è Can be
constructed quickly
è Are
resistant to natural disasters like earthquakes, cyclones and fire
è Can be
produced at a cost to meet needs of masses and
è Have the
ability to be recycled
Sustainable
development also means we need to have an eye on environmental considerations.
Conventional
walling materials such as fired clay bricks, solid and hollow concrete blocks,
tilt-up concrete panels; timber frame, external steel cladding and steel frames
have a detrimental effect on the environment. They are high energy users;
deplete valuable agricultural land, cause environmental pollution, deplete
forests and water and cause high CO2 emissions.
Even
though these conventional materials will be around for a very long time there
are now serious questions being asked by every government about the impact
these products have on the environment and on climate change.
And it’s
not a question of whether we personally believe in climate change or not; most
people do agree that reducing carbon emissions will have a beneficial effect on
the environment.
In India,
clay brick production accounts for 27% of total national energy consumption.
For every
million bricks produced 0.8 of a hectare of agricultural land is destroyed; 5.6
megawatts of energy is used and 310 tonnes of CO2 is emitted. Scarce water
resources and sands and minerals are depleted and the atmosphere is polluted.
Within
just a few years cement production in India has increased from 100 million
tonnes per year to the current level of 160 million tonnes and steel production
from 30 million to 60 million tonnes.
Presently
200 billion bricks are produced annually and demand is growing exponentially.
What are the alternatives?
Annual
investment in housing in India will run at between US$28 and US$38 billion and
the cost of building methods is increasing exponentially each year.
With
traditional building materials degrading the landscape and adding significantly
to CO2 emissions, building from environmentally friendly Rapid wall has
become even more attractive.
India
produces significant amounts of fertilizer for worldwide use but in doing so
creates phospho-gypsum as a by-product in the order of millions of tonnes annually.
Presently there is 31 million tonnes of excess phospho gypsum stockpiled and
this is added to annually by 2.5 million tonnes.
By
utilising Rapid Building Systems Rapid flow calcination plant the phospho
gypsum can be turned into plaster and subsequently into Rapid wall, thereby
cleaning up the environment.
Rashtriya
Chemicals Fertilizer (RCF) in Mumbai and India’s oldest fertilizer company,
Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) in Cochin, are both in the process
of building new plants to turn their waste phospho gypsum into Rapid wall homes
and this shows great foresight and planning.
This
stockpiled Gypsum is enough to build 5 million 30m2 Rapid wall homes.
By
comparison to traditional building materials, Rapid wall is a low energy user,
has little CO2 emission, helps to clean up the environment, is 100%
recyclable and is cheaper to produce.
CONSTRUCTION
PROCESS
The GFRG(Glass Fibre
Reinforced Gypsum) Panel is manufactured in semi-automatic plant using slurry
of calcined gypsum plaster mixed with certain chemicals including water
repellent emulsion and glass fibre roving’s, cut, spread and imbedded uniformly
into the slurry with the help of screen roller. The panels are dried at a
temperature of 275
before shifting to storage area or the cutting
table. The wall panels can be cut as per dimensions & requirements of the
building planned. It is an integrated composite building system using factory
made prefab load bearing cage panels & monolithic cast-in situ RC in filled
for walling & floor/roof slab, suitable for low rise to medium rise (single
to 10 storey’s) building.
· CLASSIFICATION
Class – 1 –Water resistant
grade – GFRG panel for external walls, in wet areas and / or as floor and wall
formwork for concrete filling.
Class
– 2
– General Grade – GFRG panels for structural application or non–structural
application in dry areas. These panels are general unsuitable for use as wall
or floor formwork.
Class – 3 – Partition Grade
– GFRG panel as non–structural internal partition walls in dry areas only.
· APPLICATION
GFRG panels may generally
be used in following ways:
i) As load Bearing Walling – With cavities
filled with reinforced concrete is suitable for multi – storeyed housing. In
single or two storeyed construction, the cavities can remain unfilled or
suitably filled with non – structural core filling such as insulation, sand,
quarry dust, polyurethane or light weight concrete.
ii) As partition walls in multi storeyed frame
buildings. Panels can also be filled suitably. Such walls can also be used as
cladding for industrial buildings or sport facilities etc.
iii) As compound walls / security walls.
iv) As horizontal floor slabs / roof slabs
with reinforced concrete micro beams and screed (T-beam action). This system
can also be used in inclined configuration, such as staircase waist slab and
pitched roofing.
· DIMENSION
· TRANSPORTATION
The GFRG panels are transported from factory
to site, generally through trucks or trailers. The panels are kept in a
vertical position using “stillages” so as to avoid any damage during
transportation. The panels after reaching the site are taken out from trucks
using cranes. Forklifts can be used for easier movement of panels from one area
to another.
· CONSTRUCTION
The foundation used in
the construction is conventional and is designed generally as strip footing
depending upon the soil condition. For superstructure – plinth beams are cast
all around the floor, where walls have to be erected. The superstructure is
entirely based on prefabricated panels. The procedure mainly include fixing of
wall panels and roof panels using mechanical means, preferably a crane and
filling the required joint with reinforced cement concrete as per structural
design. Waterproofing is an essential requirement of the construction at
different stages. Detailed guidelines for waterproofing is require to be
followed while constructing the building.
· LIMITATION OF USE
Ø The
shorter span of slab (floor / roof) should be restricted to 5 m.
Ø Is
ideal if the same floor / roof is replicated for all floors in multi storeyed
structure. For any variations, structural designer needs to be consulted.
Ø Curved
walls or domes should be avoided. In case it is essential, use masonry /
concrete for that particular area.
Ø The
electrical / plumbing drawing should be such that most of the pipes go through
the cavities (in order to facilitate minimum cutting of panel)
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