LOW COST BUILDING

MATERIALS AND
TECHNIQUES

Presented By:-
Ar.Harshika Sahay Kemkar
Ar.Parikshit Sahasrabudhe

M.Arch Sem I
MEANING OF LOW COST
• A provision of construction, which caters to
the minimum requirements of the masses
within their income capabilities ,without
sacrificing the quality of construction.
• Technologies denote the adoption of
available resources to create techniques
and tools which are in consonance to the
particular circumstances ,a technology
which is adapted to local needs and which
maximizes the use of local resources.

Corporation (HUDCO) estimates that the annual

shortfall of housing is one million dwelling units . Against
this only 2.5 lakh dwelling units per year are produced.
The government has always faced enormous gaps in
the investment and requirement in this sector. Against
the required Rs 10,00,000 million the investment does
not exceed Rs 2,000 million per year.
METHODS OF ACHIEVING LOW COST
STANDARDISATION
• Leads to prefabrication.
• Application of modular co-ordination may
eliminate or reduce many processes like shaping,
forming, scaffolding and mixing of materials at the
site.
• The increase in productivity
• Saving of material and uniform quality work
achieved
• Reduces the cost of labor sometimes.

MASS HOUSING
There can be a lot of items which cost a
lot and can be shared in mass housing
such as
•Cost of foundation
•Common shared walls
•Purchasing materials in bulk
LOW COST BUILDING MATERIALS
1. NATURAL:-
• Random Straw or Coconut Fibres Stabilised Soil
• Bamboo
• Compressed Earth Block
• Straw
• Fiber Cement Composites

2.MAN-MADE:-
• Fly Ash
• Coal Washery Rejects
• Aerocon Panels
• Ferro Cement
NATURAL:- Random Straw / Coconut
Fibre
• Ancient construction material used in many countries
• Have both strength and durability
• Compacted material
• 1% of straw increases the strength by three time as compared to no straw
• Coconut fibers increases the durability
• Sulphur coating enhances the water resistance
• Coir Fibre being an innovation using the same.
• Application in building material is in the manufacture of building boards, roofing
sheets, insulation boards, building panels, as a lightweight aggregate, coir fibre
reinforced composite, cement board, geo-textile, rubberized coir
NATURAL:- Compressed Earth Block
• Raw earth stabilized by cement or lime
• Also known as Adobe bricks ,light in weight
Non toxic
• Fire resistant ,Sound resistant
• Low transportation cost
• Insect resistant as they are very dense
• Available in customizable sizes
• Used in stucco work for exteriors
NATURAL:- Bamboo

• India is the largest producer,50% of world production

• Easily affordable •
• Easy assembly and long durability
• High tensile strength, than steel
• Fire resistant unto 4000 degC
• High elasticity hence used in earthquake prone areas
• Low weight –easy for transportation and assembling.
NATURAL:-Straw

• Fire resistant
• Thermal insulation
• Soil and Moisture insulation
• Non toxic Life Extended Thatch Roofing
• Treating with copper sulphate solution decreases the biodegradability
• Treatment of roof surface with phosphorylated spray or CNSL oil imparts
Water proofing, Termite resistance, Fire resistance, Weathering resistance
• CBRI advises to add mud platers in between to increase fire and water
resistance
Natural:- Fibre Cement Composites
• Natural fibre used with cement as an alternative building material
• Fibres used like bagasse , cereal straw, corn and cotton stalk ,kenalf/rice
husk
• Imparts:- Light weight, High strength to weight ratio, Corrosion resistance
High fracture toughness, High flexibility, Resistance to cracking, Add
workability.
Table for availability of natural fibres in India and applications:-
MAN MADE:- Fly Ash Bricks

• Mineral residue after burning burning coal and fine glass

• Constitutes of silica, alumina and iron
• Fly Ash Bricks comprises of Class C or F fly ash and water
• Due to high calcium oxide its self cementing
• Energy efficient
• Lower water penetration, light weight, thermal insulation and costs lesser as
compared to red brick.
MAN MADE:- Coal Washery Reject
Bricks
• Left over after fluidized bed combustion
• Uses water and reduces air and land pollution
• Energy efficient
• Red mud, coal ash, etc from large scale industries can be used
• These are mixed with lime pozollona and cement to form brick
MAN MADE:- Aerocon Panels

• Inorganic bonded sandwich panels

• 2 fiber cement sheets engulfing a Portland cement mix with fibers of silica
and micaceous aggregates
• Light weight, thermal insulation, fire and sound resistant
• Termite and weather resistant
• Suitable for seismic or cyclone prone zone
 CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY - LAURIE
BAKER
• Laurie Baker did not use new construction
technology in his architecture to create new
forms. Instead baker used new technology
for necessity, for reduction in the costs of
building and for innovations in structure to
bring out the regional identity of the place.
The methodology adopted are:-

• Exposed bricks of merely half brick thickness

are used in innovative bonds. The walls are
cured or stepped in plan for added stiffness
and rigidity.

• Conventional doors and windows are used

only if absolutely necessary. Instead Bakers
prefers to use vernacular latticed jalis walls
that filter in light and air.
• Openings are also corbelled in brickwork and the
shutters fixed directly to the masonry. Foundations
are designed as necessary for the loads of
building, instead of following conventional
methods.

• Baker's designs invariably have traditional Indian

sloping roofs and terracota manglore tile
shingling with gables and vents allowing rising hot
air to escape.

• Curved walls enter Baker's architectural

vocabulary as a means to enclose more volume
at lower material cost than straight walls.

• Furniture is built into the home as much as

possible using natural materials like stone, rubble
and brick thus cutting down the furniture cost.
 HOW TO REDUCE BUILDING COST

On a sloping site it is less expensive to place the

house in the middle of the terrace than placing it
near the edges which results in extra and more
costly foundation and basement wall has to be
built.

Extending the random rubble foundation

above ground to make a part of the wall, is
stronger and cheaper .It permits the use of
thinner wall to flush with the outside edge of
the 18”wide foundation, thus increasing size of
the inside and not allowing the rain water to
weaken the foundation by seeping in.
.

Bricks are often irregular in shape and

size. Instead of expensive plaster,
mortar can fill over the sunken end of
the brick and produce a fair fuel.
Besides it has no painting and
maintenance cost

Doors and windows under 4 feet in width

don’t necessarily require expensive steel
and cement lintels ordinary brick on edge or
a hollow arrangement of bricks on edge
with the concrete and a few steel rods as in
fill to carry heavier weight of the wall and
the roof work as well, at half the cost of
reinforced concrete lintel.

Corbelled and arched

openings cost less.
Planks can be screwed together by
strap iron hinges to form a door,
and this is carried out by hold fast
built in to the wall ,thus saving in
cost and eliminating the outdoor
frame together where as door
frame costs a lot of money and
often are not actually necessary.

On a sloping site if the building is placed

parallel to the contours than less excavation
and filling is required than placing it across
the contours.
The cost of walls in the total cost of housing construction is about 20%
excluding cost of foundation .Following are some techniques which
could help cutting down these costs

HOLLOW CONCRETE BLOCKS

The use of hollow concrete blocks for wall
reduces the self wt. of wall and hence the
load on foundation and soil. These blocks
provide good thermal insulation .They are of
bigger size as compared to bricks and
hence required less time and labour for the
construction, because of there uniform size,
plastering on the exterior side can be
eliminated.
RAT TRAP BOND WALL
• The rat trap bond has been popularized
in the southern state by of Ar. Laurie Baker

• Bricks are laid with a 75mm cavity.Bricks

are laid on edge i.e. the height of each
course in case of brick size
230x110x75mm, will be 110mm plus mortar
thickness.
• Use of such bonds prevents transmission
of dampness.
• It has better insulation properties than the
conventional masonry wall.
• A saving up to 25% in the consumption of
bricks is claimed through the application
of rat trap bond. STONE BLOCK MASONRY
•The precast blocks can be easily produced in
the factory.
• The ht of the block varies from 30cm-15cmwit
three widths 20cm,15cm,10cm.
•The stone masonry wall are made of large size
stone pieces bonded together with lean
cement concrete mix.
•This construction system provides an economy
of the order 15-20%in the walling cost.
•Stone block masonry provides finishing of
bricks masonry on both side of the masonry
wall.
 ROOFING
Normally 5″(125 mm) thick R.C.C. slabs are
casted for roofing of residential
buildings. By adopting rationally
designed insitu construction practices
like filler slab and precast elements, the
construction cost of roofing can be
reduced by about 20 to 25%.

WAFFLE SHELL SYSTEM FOR ROOFS

•Precast concrete funicular shells are
arranged side by side with space in
between for in-situ of precast rcc ribs.
•The funicular shells are doubly curved shells
deriving strength from their shape.
•The sides of the shell are .75 to 1.2m
•The shells can be rectangular, square of
triangle and 2.5cm thick.
FILLER SLAB- LAURIE
BAKER TECHNIQUE
Made by replacing unnecessary concrete in rcc
slab unit with light weight, cheap material in order
to reduce the overall cost of the slab.
For fillers we can use light weight bricks, or
mangalore tiles, or hourdies etc.
ADVANTAGES
•reduces cost of concrete to 35 percent
•reduces the dead load of the structure
•reduces the load to be carried by the
foundation PRECAST REINFORCED CONCRETE
CHANNEL UNITS
Precast concrete channel units are one way
spanning flooring system.
Precast channel/ribbed slab units generally
have thin flange stiffened by longitudinal
transverse ribs.
Normally width of units are 300-1200mm
Depth of longitudinal ribs shall not be less than
1/25 of span.
Used for span upto 5m
The width of ribs should be less than 50mm
CONCLUSION

With the study we came to know the various factors which make the
construction of low cost structures important for the common man .We can
draw following conclusions:

1. Activity of building industry in such a massive scale is a focal point of

national interest.

2. The control over the increasing expenditure is really important and

complicated. Client’s requirements, larger client organizations, increasing
pace of development in building and new techniques and material in
modern practice.

3. The purpose of cost control system are:

- To give client good value for money
- To provide the facilities to the under privileged section.
- To achieve the required balance of expenditure between the various parts
of the building.

4. Not only does the low cost material and the technology are responsible for
the construction of low cost structures ,but also the various controls in
development and planning with the management of the on the site
developments.