Reinforced Gypsum panels used in low-cost, green constructions

Building technology developed by IIT Madras over the last decade is now being considered by the Kerala government for the housing needs of those whose homes were ravaged by the floods in August this year.

The technology recycles gypsum — a major waste product of the fertilizer industry and coal fired power plants — to produce low-cost, environment-friendly housing which is also resistant to earthquake damage.

The first house using these prefabricated panels was built in 2013. It stands within the campus and is now occupied by IIT Madras faculty. Currently, more than a thousand houses across the country have been constructed using this Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum building technology.

One reward for the researchers is to have the Kerala government adopt the technology as a key option to help rebuild houses ravaged by the recent cyclone.

“The Kerala government has identified the affected people who really need houses... [and] has actually planned an amount of ₹4 lakh per house. The prospective house owner has the choice of taking this money and building the house on his or her own, or asking the government to do it. And the majority seems to be asking the government to do it,” says Professor Devdas Menon, from the Structural Engineering Division of the Civil Engineering Department of IIT Madras.

A breakthrough

Originally developed in Australia by Rapidwall Building Systems, the concept was enriched and enhanced by the IIT team of researchers who made a breakthrough in developing floors out of this material.

“We arrived at a good design basis that would make it earthquake resistant, as you need to do in regular buildings. Secondly, we innovated and said the same panel can be used not only as a wall but as a floor or a staircase. In fact the entire house can be built with this panel if the cavities are appropriately filled. That’s a breakthrough and the Australians have also adopted it,” explains Professor Menon.

He adds smilingly that the company has now changed its name to Rapid Building Systems.

With six PhDs emerging from this work, the technology has been added to greatly since the initial stages more than a decade ago. S.R. Gouri, a research scholar is now working on how to add car-parking facility to the houses.