Technical Report

Low Cost Housing Models for urban and rural areas using Rammed Earth Technique

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Abstract

Affordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing cost are deemed “Affordable” to a group of people within a specified income range. In a building the foundation, walls, doors and windows, floors and roofs are the most important components, which can be analyzed individually based on the needs thus, improving the speed of construction and reducing the construction cost. Based on the criteria of design competition jointly organized by Department of Technical Education, Government of U.P. and Department of Civil Engineering, Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur. We have attempted to design a low cost housing building using an innovative construction technique called RAMMED EARTH. This documents the construction of a rural house, using rammed earth construction technique. It details our participatory approach and provides technical information about our techniques and the associated costs. We aim to do this through promoting improved and appropriate house building techniques – using cheap, locally available materials, and environmental initiatives such as tree planting. With stronger houses that last longer, households in the end save time and money and are less vulnerable to environmental hazards. The house included some new techniques, we made sure that the household, and builders understood these fully. Proper housing is one of the basic needs for the millions of people living below poverty line across the world today. Thus, affordable housing and the climate should be compatible with one another so that the inhabitants of a house in a hot climate should have cool living conditions whilst the inhabitants of houses in cold areas have a warm environment in which to live. Mechanical pressed soil products such as blocks and tiles can compete favorably with conventional fired clay bricks and concrete blocks in both quality and durability. Reinforced cement concrete structures are very popular and widely used all over the world today, but its economic value is higher than any other building materials. Thus, there exists a need for more economical and readily available substitute reinforcements for concrete or rammed earth buildings. In some parts of the world, many buildings are constructed only with concrete or mud bricks. This is dangerous in case of seismic activity. Steel reinforcement would be an ideal solution, but cost is a considerable problem. Scientists and engineers are constantly seeking for new materials for structural systems; the idea of using bamboo as possible reinforcement has gained popularity with due course of time. Since time immemorial, bamboo has been used traditionally as a building material throughout the world’s tropical and sub-tropical regions. Bamboo is a renewable and versatile resource, characterized by high strength and low weight, and is easily worked using simple tools. As such, bamboo constructions are easy to build, resilient to wind and even earthquake forces and readily repairable in the event of damage. Thus, locally available bamboo and soil can substantially mitigate the housing problem in rural areas in constructing an efficient, low cost and light weight structures.

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