2017 QUESTION PAPER

PART A

1) Contributions of design aspect to cost effective construction.

Simplicity in design:

Complexity in design can significantly increase the cost of a building project. As

such, the most straightforward and affordable thing to build is “the box.” It is
because a floor plan that twists and turns with multiple corners only increases
the cost and ease of building.

Simplicity in detailing:

The detailing of a house often depends on one’s style. However, it can

significantly affect the overall price of a building project. It should, therefore,
be keenly 1tilized in a quest to achieve an affordable and cost-effective house.

Clever Material Choices and Sourcing:

Selecting the materials for a building project can be painstaking especially

when one tries to compare him/herself with the 1tilized1 as a benchmark.
However, there many construction materials out there that produce a
desirable, unique, and cost-effective result. If one is looking to save money,
prefabricated materials may be the first option.

Technology Utilization:
Nowadays, many affordable building technologies can help keep the buildings
cost at a low. Among the latest cost-effective building technology
developments are solar panels, smart shutters, and small wind turbines and
advanced framing techniques, which offer cheaper and faster construction as
well as saves energy.

Cutting down the Labor Cost:

Labor can represent a high proportion of the overall building cost. Therefore,
one may consider undertaking some of the building work by him/herself. This
decision can undoubtedly affect the entire construction project and developers
should be realistic about their capabilities and skills.
2) Renewable building materials in kerala.

A) Sustainable building materials include rapidly renewable plant materials like

bamboo (because bamboo grows quickly) and straw, lumber from forests
certified to be sustainably managed, ecology blocks, recycled stone, recycled
metal, and other products that are non-toxic. In Kerala, we are blessed with
lush green paddy fields, coconut palms, plantains, tapioca, pineapple and
cotton from which we can extract rice husk, straw, coconut husk, banana fibre,
tapioca stalks, pineapple leaf fibre and cotton fibre respectively.

-> coir fibre:

The coconut husk is abundantly available as cheap residue from coconut

production in many areas, which is known to yield the coarse coir fibre. A
simple and efficient technology has been developed to produce high strength-
high density board materials from whole coconut husks, without the addition
of chemical binders. The board exhibits excellent properties, which are
comparable with or even superior to commercial wood based panels. The
pressed coconut husk boards can be handled with common wood working
equipment for drilling and sawing, planning and polishing.

-> pineapple leaf fibre.

Pineapple leaf fibre, which is rich in cellulose, relative inexpensive and

abundantly available has the potential for polymer-reinforced composite. The
tensile modulus and tensile strength of the composites were found to be
increasing with fibre content in accordance with the rule of mixtures.

-> Cotton fibre

The cotton stalks may be plagued with parasites, and stored stalks can be a
dwelling place for the parasites. If the parasite issue can be addressed, cotton
stalks can be an excellent source of fiber. Cotton stalk fiber is found to possess
the structure and dimensions similar to common species of hardwood fiber.

-> banana fibre

The fiberboards obtained were good quality and satisfied the requirements of
the relevant standard specifications.

-> rice straw and husk

Rice husks, an agricultural residue are available in fairly large quantities in

Kerala. Rice husks are quite fibrous by nature and require little energy input to
prepare the husks for board manufacture.

Rice husk ash, one of the promising pozzolanic materials that can be blended
with Portland cement for the production of durable concrete and at the same
time it is a value added product. Addition of rice husk ash to Portland cement
not only improves the early strength of concrete, but also forms a calcium
silicate hydrate (CSH) gel around the cement particles which is highly dense
and less porous. This may increase the strength of concrete against cracking

3) Filler slab

The filler slab is a slab construction technology, in which by filler material part
of concrete in the bottom of the slab is replaced, and as compared to
reinforced cement concrete slabs it consumes less concrete and steel.

Filler slab is based on the concrete portions and instead of placing filler
material there and is one cost-effective roofing system. Due to the use of low-
cost, less-heavy filler material such as clay pots, rejected Cali-cut tiles, and
broken pieces of cement blocks, the filler slab consumes less concrete and
steel as compared to conventional RCC slab.

The filler slab is based on the principle that for roofs which are simply
supported as the lower part of the slab experience tensile forces while the
upper part of the slab is subjected to compressive forces and material used as
a replacement includes bricks, cellular concrete blocks, and tiles.
There are many advantages of filler slab like the introduction of a less heavy,
low-cost filler material it consumes less concrete and steel and reduced weight
of the slab.
Due to heat-resistant qualities of filler materials and the gap between
two burnt clay tiles it enhances thermal comfort inside the building. It reduces
the use of concrete and about 40% saves cement and steel.

4. Alternate building materials

 Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC)
Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) is a certified green building material,
which can be used for commercial, industrial and residential
construction. It is porous, non-toxic, reusable, renewable and recyclable.
Advantages are : Environment protection, Energy saving, Excellent
acoustic performance, Fire resistant, Ventilation, Non toxic, Lightweight,
Accuracy, Long life etc.
 Wood Polymer Composite (WPC)
WPC, a product with a class of its own, it can help meeting the global
demand of natural wood products and wood profiles. It is a new kind of
synthetic thermoplastic material made from plastic and wood
discharged from mills, farming and factories, as well as, from agricultural
residues. It is a natural fit with primary and secondary forest product
industries. By construction this product is formulated from plant fibres
as a component and reinforcement with wetting it with thermoplastic
polymers. This is one of the fastest growing type of polymer industry
nowadays in the developed countries. Even prime grade reprocessed
thermoplastic could be used with waste natural fibres.
 uPVC
uPVC or un-plasticised Polyvinyl Chloride is a chemical compound of
chlorine, carbon and hydrogen. The 'u' in uPVC stands for unplasticised
and means that the material used has not been softened by additional
chemicals known as plasticisers. PVC was first produced in 1935 and has
 continued to be manufactured in large quantities for over 60 years. The
basic properties of uPVC make it ideal for the production of windows.
uPVC windows have grown in popularity over recent years and now
come in a variety of styles, colours and designs to suit any property.

5. Adobe as a buiiding material

Mudbrick, also refered to as 'Adobe‘
 Construction technique originated in the Middle East
 technique of building with sun-dried mud blocks
 earth mixed with water and finely chopped straw is manually rammed into
wooden bricks-moulds
 load bearing or non load bearing construction advantages over conventional
fired clay or concrete masonry:
 Good sound absorption characteristics
 High thermal mass
 Can "breath"
 Suited to a wide range of soils
 Easily manufactured
 Flexibility in design/colour/surface finishes
 Utilisation of natural resources
 Mudbricks are typically 25 cm wide x 12.5 cm high x 37.5 cm long
 normally made from earth with a clay content of 50 to 80% .
 Straw or other fibres used as stabiliser where the soil mix displays excessive
shrinkage behaviour.Cement and bitumen (particularly effective in
waterproofing) stabilisers also used
 Mortar - either a traditional sand/cement mortar or a fine aggregate soil
mortar preferably made from the same parent material as the mudbrick units.
Uses • construction of vertical constructions like walls, sometimes also for wall
footing. • used for both external and the interior walls, bearing and non
bearing walls included solid partitions

6.LAURIE BAKER
Lawrence Wilfred "Laurie" Baker (2 March 1917 – 1 April 2007) was a British-
born Indian architect, renowned for his initiatives in cost-effective energy-
efficient architecture and designs that maximized space, ventilation and light
and maintained an uncluttered yet striking aesthetic sensibility.
Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and his own experiences in the remote
Himalayas, he promoted the revival of regional building practices and use of
local materials; and combined this with a design philosophy that emphasized a
responsible and prudent use of resources and energy.
He was a pioneer of sustainable architecture as well as organic
architecture, incorporating in his designs even in the late 1960s,
concepts such as rain-water harvesting, minimizing usage of energy-
inefficient building materials, minimizing damage to the building site
and seamlessly merging with the surroundings.
Baker made many simple suggestions for cost reduction including the
use of Rat trap bond for brick walls, having bends in walls that increased
the strength and provided readymade shelves, thin concrete roofs and
even simple precautions like shifting dug up soil into the built area
rather that out of it.
He advocated the use of low energy consuming mud walls, using holes
in the wall to get light, using overlaid brick over doorways, incorporating
places to sit into the structure, simpler windows and a variety of roof
construction approaches.

7)Cost effective construction technique propagated by COSTFORD.

1. THE RAT TRAP BOND

Introduced in Kerala during the 1970s by renowned architect Laurie Baker, the
Rat-Trap bond, is a double-wall technique, that significantly reduces the cost of
construction, minimizes material and mortar usage, and helps achieve greater
thermal efficiency without compromising on the strength of the wall. In Rat-
Trap masonry, bricks (considering brick of standard size 230 X 110 X 75 mm)
are positioned vertically so that the 110mm face is seen from the front
elevation instead of the traditional horizontal alignment. However, the width
of the wall remains the same (230mm), thus forming an internal cavity in place
of the 75mm face. This is how nearly 30% of the material (brick and mortar) is
conserved, thus shrinking the overall construction cost. Moreover, the
presence of the internal cavity yields thermal and sound insulation. This makes
Baker’s Rat-Trap method both an energy-efficient and an economic alternative
to conventional brick masonry.

2. FILLER SLABS

We know that concrete can resist compression but is weak in tension. In an

RCC slab, concrete is required in its top half (which is in compression).
However, it is structurally not required in the bottom portion (which is in
tension). So the concrete in this portion (bottom) of the slab can be replaced
by low cost, lightweight filler material like Mangalore tiles or clay, etc. Filler
slabs are employed by replacing this purposeless concrete by a filler material
thus reducing the weight of the slab and hence the cost of construction. Since
the weight of the slab is decreased, the requirement of reinforcement steel is
also decreased, further diminishing the expenses in construction.

3. ARCHES AND DOMES

Several of the available building materials including stone, cast iron, and
concrete can strongly withstand compressive forces but easily fail when tensile
forces, shear, or torsional forces are applied to them. However, to overcome
this limitation, a long-lost strategy for resolving all forces into compressive
forces has been brought to the forefront again by Laurie Baker. Arch and dome
structures inherently possess the ability to eliminate tensile stresses in
encompassing an open space, owing to their shape. Just like arches, domes too
have a tremendous amount of structural strength and can span a large open
space without supporting structures.

4. TERRACOTTA ROOFING AND FLOORING

Flooring and roofing that employ red tiles made from hard laterite clay were
introduced by Architect Laurie Baker in Kerala, mainly for kitchen and
bathroom roofing and flooring. For flooring, the bed is prepared from broken
brickbats (thus reducing the brick usage and hence the overall cost). The
mortar layer is placed over the bed, and the Terracotta tiles are laid over it.
These tiles require little maintenance, they are cheap and are formed in
visually pleasing shapes and sizes. Moreover, this type of flooring does not
hinder the movement of electric wires, they allow the wiring to pass through
the flooring. Its aesthetic excellence coupled with its ability to provide effective
natural ventilation and rainwater drainage makes Terracotta roofing and
flooring an eco-friendly, affordable, and durable alternative to cement
especially in areas that experience heavy rainfall.

5. FRAMELESS DOORS AND WINDOWS

Doors and windows with no frames are a unique feature of Laurie Baker
constructions. Door planks are either screwed together with strap iron hinges
or held together with horizontal or diagonal battens to form cost-efficient
doors and simple pivotal windows. Door and window frames are responsible
for nearly half the timber usage.
6. BRICK JALI WALLS OR PERFORATED BRICK ARCHITECTURE

This technique adopted by Laurie Baker, allows the free flow of natural air into
the interiors thus efficiently regulating the temperature. During the day, the
perforations create intricate patterns of light and shadows.

7. CURVED WALLS

Baker replaced straight wall constructions with curved walls-an innovative way
to enclose a larger volume at the lower material cost. It is said that he drew
curved jail walls by hand on the site without any equipment.

8. LATTICED BRICK WALLS

Baker created cooling systems that utilize air pressure differences to draw cool
air into the building by placing a latticed brick wall adjacent to a pond.

9. LETTING TREES LIVE AND BUILDING WITH MUD

Instead of cutting down trees, Baker always adapted it in his designs. Mud
walls being energy efficient is a common sight in Laurie Baker constructions.

A Gandhian in words and action, Baker revolutionized the concept of

architecture through his affordable and green constructions. His immense
contribution to eco-friendly architecture and cost-effectiveness rather than
simply low-cost will remain unparalleled. As M.S. Swaminathan rightly
remarked, he was an “architect’s architect”.

8) SERC
Structural engineering research center, Chennai, India
CSIR-SERC is involved in research and development in the field of designing,
construction and rehabilitation of structures. The institute provides services
including design consultancy and proof checking to various public and private
sector organizations.
Specialized courses for practicing engineers are also provided by the institute.
Application
1. housing and affordable building
2. for quality and speedy construction
3. construction in earthquake prone areas
4. lightweight buildings in poor soil condition
5. sustainable and green construction through savings in energy costs for
cooling or heating
6. Structures can be thin and light
7. They can be easily precast
8. They are amenable to repairs in case of local damage
9. Considerable saving in formwork particularly for complex shapes ,
10. Saving in cost.
Major raw materials to be 9tilized
 EPS panels
 coarse aggregate,
 viscosity,
 fly ash,
 Sand
 cement,
 Rebar,
 Modifying agent and water.

PART B(10 MARKS)

9)What do you mean by appropriate technology? Give examples.

What is Appropriate technology?

Appropriate technology can be described as the simplest level of technology
that can achieve the intended purpose.

Economist Dr. Ernst Friedrick “Fritz” Schumacher coined the concept of

appropriate technology in 1962, yet called it Intermediate Technology.

He was principally concerned with development in low-income countries, and

recommended a technology that was aimed at helping the poor in these
countries to do what they were already doing in a better way.

Schumacher's intermediate technology had the following characteristics:

 methods and machines cheap enough to be accessible to anyone.

  small-scale application.
 room for human creativity.

Appropriate Technology is a movement (and its manifestations) encompassing

technological choice and application that is small-scale, decentralized, labor-
intensive, energy-efficient, environmentally sound, and locally autonomous.

Appropriate Technology
The Importance of Appropriate Technology:

 Appropriate technology is important due to its holistic nature.

 Permits local needs to be met more effectively through community
involvement, and for this reason it tends to be aligned with local values
and traditions.
 Utilizes human labour by developing tools rather than machines. This
enables people to self-organize without complicated management
training and specialized knowledge.
 Minimizes transport of goods in an era of expensive and environmentally
harmful energy, allowing greater local industry participation and
implementation of local resources, both human and material.
 Reinforces local control which provides a cushion against the effects of
outside economic changes.
 Establishes a self-sustaining skill base and reduces economic, social and
political dependency between individuals, regions and nations.
 Recognizes the will of local people to act on their own behalves, and is a
technology made by and for the people. The benefits of Appropriate
 Technology can be realized globally, and plays an undoubtedly critical
role in building sustainable communities.

An Alternative Form of Economic Development

Empowering people to be brought back from outside the economy, into the
economy by producing product for the most essential need - A job, an income,
a skill, a home.

Technologically sophisticated, though simplicity in design.

It is important to realize that use of appropriate technology does not mean
turning the clock back to the 18th or 19th century. Although the technology
involves simple, easy-to use designs, it is based on sophisticated, 21st -century
technologies. One example is the invention of moladi, a modular injection
moulded formwork system that is assembled on site in any configuration,
allowing the local community to participate in constructing their own homes,
schools, clinics, etc.

Appropriate Technology - Low cost housing

10) explain how cost effective architecture make use of low cost materials.

A) 1. Bamboo

Bamboo can be utilized as a building material for scaffolding, bridges, houses

and buildings. Bamboo, like wood, is a natural composite material with a high
strength-to-weight ratio useful for structures.[1] Bamboo's strength-to-weight
ratio is similar to timber, and its strength is generally similar to a strong
softwood or hardwood timber.

One of the first building materials known to man along with stone and wood,
bamboo is used even today in rural areas of countries in Asia, Africa and Latin
America for building homes. It is a green building material, which is very
popular in India due to its low cost, low weight and durability but should be
treated with appropriate chemicals to make it termite resistant.

2. Concrete Blocks

Concrete blocks are fabricated at factories according to specifications of home

builders. Made by mixing Portland cement, water, stone or quartz these blocks
can either be solid or hollow and are generally lightweight, durable and fire-
resistant. These are used for the foundation, basement walls and partition
walls as their cores can be filled with steel rods for enhancing strength. As they
are made of cement, they are termite resistant, soundproof and provide
natural insulation against heat and cold.

3. Prefabricated houses

These are increasingly being used for meeting requirements of permanent

housing as the cost of regular brick and mortar homes continues to rise
exponentially. These houses are made of components that are factory
manufactured and then assembled at the house site. The components include
steel frames, wooden panels, cement and gypsum for floors along with factory
fabricated doors, windows, ceilings and walls. Depending on the requirements,
the components like wall and ceiling panels, as well as structural steel frames,
can be custom made and then assembled. Though these materials are nearly
15 per cent more expensive than traditional materials, their high level of
efficiency and low labour costs bring down the overall construction expenses.

4. Compressed Earth Bricks

These bricks are developed out of mud and reinforced with a mixture of lime
and cement. Also known as adobe bricks, they are lightweight, non-toxic and
fire-resistant. Compressed earth bricks are dense and generally used for
exterior stucco work and are considered one of the cheapest among low-cost
building materials.
5. Interlocking bricks

These bricks are designed with a projection on one side and a depression on
the other so that they align with bricks of a similar type, like a jigsaw puzzle, to
make walls. Interlocking bricks are made out of laterite stone powder, cement
and gravel. They are considered green building materials when compared to
baked bricks as they dry naturally and are just as sturdy.

6. Mud bricks reinforced by natural fibres from straw and coconut

This sustainable building material is commonly used in rural areas to make

weatherproof homes as they provide both strength and durability. Natural
fibres like coconut and straw increase the strength and durability of pure mud
while a coating of sulphur improves the water-resistance of the walls. Other
types of fibre bricks are made with cereal straw, bagasse, corn straw and rice
husk, which are combined with cement to make them corrosion resistant and
strong.

7. Magnesium oxide cement

Also called as ‘eco cement’, this material is made out of several waste
materials but has high durability and requires only 20-40 per cent of the
energy needed for the production of Portland cement. It does not cause any
harm to residents of homes where it is applied as a sustainable building
material.

8. Fly ash Hollow bricks

These bricks are used for constructing load-bearing walls of low rise buildings
and are made of fly ash, stone powder or sand, slag and cement or gypsum for
bonding. Some categories of fly ash bricks are also made out of mineral
residue, glass, water, and fly ash and are energy efficient, water-resistant and
provide natural thermal insulation for a low-cost house.

9. Shipping container homes

Homes made out of steel shipping containers are fast becoming popular
among people exploring recyclable building materials. While the smallest one
can make a 100 sq ft house, one would need around 8-9 large containers to set
up a 1500 sq ft home with two floors. It is as cost-effective as a prefabricated
home as the container only needs to be arranged on a prepared foundation.

10. Autoclaved aerated Concrete or AAC

AAC blocks and panels are manufactured using fly ash mixed with cement,
lime, water and an aerating agent. The resultant building material, comprising
millions of tiny air pores, is set and cut into blocks and panels of varying sizes.

AAC is a lightweight, precast, foam concrete building material suitable for

producing concrete masonry units like blocks. It has improved thermal
efficiency superior fire resistance. It also helps to reduce the solid waste during
the use, it’s lightweight and larger. Excellent material for soundproofing and
acoustic insulation.

11. Describe the basic principles governing affordable construction.

1.SITE SELECTION
Reduction of cost begins with the selection of the site. For housing to be
affordable, careful site selection is essential. The following criteria may be
considered for selecting a proper site. The site should:
 Be under the category of ‘residential’ as per the local master plan
(otherwise a lot of energy, money and time is lost in initiating the
development and construction process, leading to unnecessary cost
overruns)
 Not be within an eco-sensitive zone
 Not be a low lying area, which is likely to be affected by floods
 Not have a regular geometric shape (It is always better to have a larger
frontage, which faces the approach road. This frontage should be free of
encroachment.
 Be well connected with transportation hubs, such as railway station, bus
terminus, airport, as well as educational institutions and hospitals.
 Be close to basic physical infrastructure including potable water,
electricity, sewage and drainage disposal points.
 Have soil with good bearing capacity
 Have soil free of organic waste, saltpeter and other harmful chemicals
 Be located away from restrictive archaeological areas and the airport
funnel zone
  Not be in the vicinity of any polluting and hazardous industry (Even air
polluting industries located at a distance, which fall in the windward
direction, may make a housing scheme non-liveable and unpopular)
 Be bereft of obstructions, such as HT lines, water channels, underground
gas pipe lines and
abadies or slums

2. LAYOUT PLAN
The layout plan of any residential area plays a decisive role in checking
the overall cost of the housing plot or the built unit. As a matter of fact,
an efficient layout plan can reduce the cost of the housing unit by as
much as 10–15 per cent. Therefore, it becomes a challenge for the
architect as well as the town planner, who are required to improvise,
strategize and focus more on creativity while preparing the layout plan
of the residential area. It is pertinent to mention here that the
infrastructural pattern of the project is greatly dependent on the layout
plan and determines its cost and efficiency.

3. HOUSING UNIT DESIGN.

The housing unit is the end product of a housing project, and is the
actual place where people live. This ‘dwelling’ ought to be not just safe
and comfortable but also healthy and capable of meeting or fulfilling the
basic needs of human inhabitation. At the same time, the EMIs should
be affordable so that the owner of the house does not have to shoulder
much burden. Therefore, it is extremely important for an architect to
follow all the basic principles of design.
4. BUILDING MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION
In addition to the design and planning aspects as discussed earlier,
building materials and technology also play a primary role in arriving at
an affordable cost for the house. It is a known fact that building
materials are largely responsible for the menace of global warming.
Therefore, the building materials and technology should beselected on
the basis of their present cost, as well as from the point of view of
environmental sustainability and life cycle costs

5. FINANCE
 Housing projects require a lot of finance. Finance is not easy to arrange
and can be rather expensive. Therefore, a proper financing mechanism is
the backbone of any affordable housing. Without developing adequate
financing mechanisms or making Rat Trap Bond available special
financial packages to both the developers as well as to the house
purchasers, housing projects cannot aim to succeed.To curb the cost of
finances, the period of construction should be reduced to the bare
minimum, with the help of modern technology. The latest scientific
monitoring tools should be introduced in all housing projects. There
should be more flexible EMIs with lower initial instalments and longer
repayment periods.

Part C

12) What is the similarity and difference between vernacular and cost effective
style Or methodologies?

13.Bring out the difference between conventional and cost effective

technology .Analayse in terms of cost effectiveness and climate.

THE TRADITIONAL CONSTRUCTION METHODS

The traditional construction methods are used in the case study.

The detail procedures of each step used for the case study are as follow:

Foundation: Foundation is the lowest part of the structure which is provided to

distribute loads to the soil thus providing base for the super-structure.
Excavation work is first carried out, then earth-work is filled with available
earth and ends with watering and compaction in a 6” thick layer.

Cement concrete: Plain cement concrete is used to form a leveled surface on

the excavated soil. The volumetric concrete mix proportion of 1:4:8 (cement:
sand: aggregate), with a 6” thick layer for masonry foundation and column
footings is used. Plain cement concrete is finished on the excavated soil strata
and mixed by manual process.
Wall construction: Size stone masonry for foundation is constructed for outer
walls and burnt brick masonry of a 9” thick layer for main walls and a 4 ½” thick
layer for all internal walls. Good quality table-moulded bricks are used for the
construction.

Reinforced cement concrete slab and beam: The normal procedure to cast
reinforced cement concrete slab is to make shuttering and provide
reinforcement and concreting. Good steel or plywood formwork is used, with
proper cover blocks between bars. Both aggregate and sand used are clean,
with aggregate being ¾” graded. After the concrete is poured, it is properly
consolidated.

Plastering: Plastering is used for the ceiling, inside and outside walls. Joints are
raked before plastering and proper curing is ensured.

Flooring: For the flooring purpose, the earth is properly filled and consolidated
in the ratio of 1:4:8 (cement: sand: aggregate) concrete.

Plumbing: Good quality plumbing materials are used and passed hydraulic test
before using it.

Painting and finishing: Before the painting process, surface is prepared with
putty and primer and a ready-made paint is used.

LOW COST CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGIES

It is found that cost-effective and alternative construction technologies, which

apart from reducing construction cost by the reduction of quantity of building
materials through improved and innovative techniques, can play a great role in
providing better housing methods and protecting the environment. It should
be noted that cost-effective construction technologies do not compromise
with safety and security of the buildings and mostly follow the prevailing
building codes. The detail procedures of each step used for the case study are
as follow:

Foundation: Arch foundation is used in which walls are supported on the brick
or stone masonry. For the construction of the foundation, the use of available
materials such as brick or concrete blocks can be made to resist lateral forces
buttresses at the corner.
Walling: Rat trap bond technology is used in the case study. It is an alternative
brick bonding system for English and Flemish Bond. The reduced number of
joints can reduce mortar consumption. No plastering of the outside face is
required and the wall usually is quite aesthetically pleasing and air gaps
created within the wall help making the house thermally comfortable. In
summer, the temperature inside the house is usually at least 5 degrees lower
that the outside ambient temperature and vice versa in winter.
Roofing: A filler slab roofing system is used which based on the principle that
for roofs which are simply supported, the upper part of the slab is subjected to
compressive forces and the lower part of the slab experience tensile forces.
Concrete is very good in withstanding compressive forces and steel bears the
load due to tensile forces. Thus the low tensile region of the slab does not
need any concrete except for holding steel reinforcements together.

Flooring: Flooring is generally made of terracotta tiles or color oxides. Bedding

is made out of broken brick bats. Various patterns and designs are used,
depending on shape, size of tiles, span of flooring, and client’s personal
preference.

Plastering: Plastering can be avoided on the walls, frequent expenditure on

finishes and its maintenance is avoided. Properly protected brick wall will
never loose its color or finish.

Doors and windows: As door and window frames are responsible for almost
half the cost of timber used, avoiding frames can considerably reduce timber
cost. Door planks are screwed together with strap iron hinges to form doors,
and this can be carried by ‘holdfast’ carried into the wall. The simplest and cost
effective door can be made of vertical planks held together with horizontal or
diagonal battens. A simplest frameless window consists of a vertical plank of
about 9” wide set into two holes, one at the top and one at the bottom. This
forms a simple pivotal window. Wide span windows can be partially framed
and fixed to walls or can have rows of pivotal planks

14. Evaluate the performance of cost effective materials and methods with
respect to the life cycle cost of buildings.
Life-cycle cost analysis is a process for evaluating the total economic worth of a
usable project segment by analysing initial costs and discounted future costs.
Key Parameters used in calculating Life Cycle Cost
• Time Value of Money
1. Rate of Return 2. Inflation
 • Opportunity Cost
• Discount Rate
• Analysis
Steps to determine life cycle costs:
• Establish alternative design strategies.
• Determine activity timing.
• Estimate agency costs.
• Estimate user costs.
• Determine life-cycle cost.

Calculation of Life Cycle Cost Deterministic

•An Exact Cost is Determined Probabilistic
•A range of Values is determined with a specific probability distribution.

Steps Involved
• Step 1-Identify what has to be analysed and the time period for the project
life study along with the appropriate financial criteria.
• Step 2-Focus on the technical features by way of the economic consequences
to look for alternative solutions.
• Step 3-Develop the cost details by year
• Step 4-Select the appropriate cost model, simple discrete, simple with some
variability for repairs and replacements, complex with random variations, etc.
required by project complexity.
• Step 5-Cost details are acquired.
• Step 6-Yearly cost profiles are found.

Deterministic Approach
• Fixed discrete values are assigned to various parameters and any type of
uncertainties are ignored
• LCC calculated is fixed value
Probabilistic Approach
• Cost parameters are assigned with some appropriate probability distribution.
• Random numbers are generated
• These random numbers are used to calculate the LCC11

Sensitivity Analysis
• A sensitivity analysis is performed to understand what variables make the
largest difference in the final result.
 • We can identify the model variables that have a significant influence on
model results and/or determine breakeven points that alter the ranking of
considered options.
Risk Analysis
• Risk analysis helps to estimate the levels of risk and uncertainty within final
economic decision measures such as BCR and NPV, from uncertainty in the key
input variables feeding into the project evaluation process. By estimating the
'riskiness' aspect of these summary measures, a more realistic comparison of
project returns can be obtained