Kozhikode: In the backdrop of floods and landslides destroying large number of houses, architecture students of the National Institute of Technology, Calicut (NIT-C) have come forward with free home design solutions to flood-hit families.
The design involves the use of glass fibre reinforced gypsum (GFRG) panels, which is an emerging sustainable building material and facilitates rapid construction.
“The need of the hour is rebuilding houses in a cost effective and sustainable manner. We have zeroed in on GFRG as an alternative to traditional masonry structures as apart from being eco- friendly, GFRG panels can save up to 30% of the construction cost. Also, we will design a standard prototype module of a house which can be replicated,” said NIT-C architecture students’ association (ASA) secretary A Aravind.
Aravind said that the material has been approved by BMTPC (building materials and technology promotion council) of the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs.
IIT Madras has done extensive research on the material and had tested it for earthquake resistance under different loading conditions, added Aravind.
It is eco-friendly as it is made using recycled industrial waste gypsum and minimizing the use of cement, steel, sand, water and labour input.
“GFRG buildings can totally avoid cement plastering. It exerts lesser load on the ground and is suited for the current conditions as the load bearing capacity of the soil has seen drastic changes in many areas. Since all of it is precast, the building can be assembled within one week after the foundation work is over,” he added.
The students are planning to adopt a colony in a flood-affected area and help rebuild the public spaces there. They have so far collected around Rs 90,000 towards this.
