Green Construction
Glass Fiber Reinforced Gypsum (GFRG) panels are an innovative and eco-friendly construction material used in green building projects
There have been numerous efforts to build low-cost houses across the world. An innovative concept among them was a method created by IIT Madras, who built low-cost, eco-friendly houses by using ‘Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum’ (GFRG) panels. These panels are lightweight, fire-resistant, and thermally insulated.
What we did
We Supported IIT, Chennai on the use of GFRG panels for affordable mass housing construction in India by building the first 3 storey residential building at Calicut and subsequently for constructing a new block in the school managed by our family trust in Chennai.
Adopting Green Technology for Construction - Rapidwall [ Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum (GFRG) Panel Building System ] came to India in 2011.
In 2012, our family friend Salim Uncle [N. M. Salim and Associates] discussed this idea with my dad. A totally new concept at that time, but my dad agreed to take a chance and support this Green Technology. After a lot of hurdles, the first three storey residential building using GFRG was completed in 2013. Later we adopted this concept to construct a new block of classrooms in a family run school in Chennai.
GFRG panels have been approved as a green material by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) under Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). GFRG have also been approved by the World Bank as being eligible for 'carbon credits' under the Kyoto Protocol.
Further, the manufacture of GFRG panels from phospho-gypsum (fertilizer industry waste) is another green material. It eliminates the use of bricks. "Increased thermal resistance of gypsum, reduces the air conditioning load on the buildings, thus reducing the operational energy need in GFRG buildings. Less embodied energy and carbon footprint: significant reduction in use of cement, sand, steel and water; recycling of industrial waste gypsum. Substantial reduction in the structural weight of the building (panels weigh only 44 kg/m2) contributing to savings in foundation and reduction in earthquake design forces, particularly in multi-storeyed construction.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the Government of India, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) had approved standards for the structural design of GFRG buildings.
All of these factors add sustainability with regard to the use of GFRG technology
Watch the YouTube video on the demo building construction:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUQEUcB7cMM.
Unfortunately, factories in India have stopped producing GFRG panels since a few years.
