<p> Amid rising construction cost and dwindling resources, a city-based startup has been successfully building eco-friendly houses by consuming half the amount of material needed to build a conventional house.<br /><br /></p>.<p>More importantly, the cost of the disaster-proof ‘green’ house, which can be built in a day, is not more than Rs 1,250 per square foot (sqft)against Rs 2,000 per sqft needed to build a conventional house. <br /><br />The Society for Development of Composites (SDC), the brainchild of former president late A P J Abdul Kalam, has successfully applied the technology involved in building aeroplane fuselage to build houses.<br /><br />The startup has built a light concrete house and a coir board house on its campus. Light gauge steel is used to build a frame of the house following which concrete is sprayed from inside and outside to make the six-inch wall. “A 30-member team can build 10 houses of 1,200 sqft per day,” said Gopalan, executive director of SDC, who was part of the team that worked on India’s Light Combat Aircraft.<br /><br />Gopalan claimed the two-storey light concrete house on the campus withstood a 10-hour fire test without a crack. He said even the coir-board houses can resist a blaze for three hours. <br /><br />During a demonstration of the part of the construction activity to reporters on Thursday, SDC president Panduranga Shetty said the technology not only produces low-cost houses but promises safe and affordable housing in future. <br /><br />“If nothing else, there will be shortage of sand as governments will be forced to ban sand mining to protect rivers. Only by using less today we can save for tomorrow,” he said.<br /><br />The startup has already built houses for Karnataka State Police Housing Corporation Ltd. “We are going to put up a structure on the premises of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi’s house and a coir-house will be built on the premises of Kerala chief minister’s official residence,” said Ranganath of RL Engineering, who was incubated at SDC and became a partner.<br /><br />In addition, the startup has successfully produced composite doors and door frames made of coir and polymer composite, which provide an alternative to wood, fibre and plastic. The startup claims that the doors are stronger than teakwood and termite-proof and cost a fraction of the wooden doors.<br /></p>
<p> Amid rising construction cost and dwindling resources, a city-based startup has been successfully building eco-friendly houses by consuming half the amount of material needed to build a conventional house.<br /><br /></p>.<p>More importantly, the cost of the disaster-proof ‘green’ house, which can be built in a day, is not more than Rs 1,250 per square foot (sqft)against Rs 2,000 per sqft needed to build a conventional house. <br /><br />The Society for Development of Composites (SDC), the brainchild of former president late A P J Abdul Kalam, has successfully applied the technology involved in building aeroplane fuselage to build houses.<br /><br />The startup has built a light concrete house and a coir board house on its campus. Light gauge steel is used to build a frame of the house following which concrete is sprayed from inside and outside to make the six-inch wall. “A 30-member team can build 10 houses of 1,200 sqft per day,” said Gopalan, executive director of SDC, who was part of the team that worked on India’s Light Combat Aircraft.<br /><br />Gopalan claimed the two-storey light concrete house on the campus withstood a 10-hour fire test without a crack. He said even the coir-board houses can resist a blaze for three hours. <br /><br />During a demonstration of the part of the construction activity to reporters on Thursday, SDC president Panduranga Shetty said the technology not only produces low-cost houses but promises safe and affordable housing in future. <br /><br />“If nothing else, there will be shortage of sand as governments will be forced to ban sand mining to protect rivers. Only by using less today we can save for tomorrow,” he said.<br /><br />The startup has already built houses for Karnataka State Police Housing Corporation Ltd. “We are going to put up a structure on the premises of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi’s house and a coir-house will be built on the premises of Kerala chief minister’s official residence,” said Ranganath of RL Engineering, who was incubated at SDC and became a partner.<br /><br />In addition, the startup has successfully produced composite doors and door frames made of coir and polymer composite, which provide an alternative to wood, fibre and plastic. The startup claims that the doors are stronger than teakwood and termite-proof and cost a fraction of the wooden doors.<br /></p>
