Houses too can be built in factories

Keeping the cost of land and infrastructure aside,if one were to only look at the built housing units,technology comes out as a key focus area to achieve these monumental numbers in a speedy manner. Housing on a large scale can only be developed by way of industrialised mass production.

Unfortunately,in India we still continue to build houses,be they standalone units,walk-up apartments or multi-storey apartments,in the conventional ‘a la carte’ manner. This will do no good for us. What we need are systems and procedures which can speed up the whole process of housing production so that we can achieve scale economies in production and the consequent savings.

Efforts in India

The technology scenario for housing production in India has been extremely orthodox for several decades now. We continue to dabble with conventional materials and systems of construction. Even though some small advances in terms of alternative materials have been made,their adoption and application has been severely limited to experimental projects which also have been few and far between.

Colleges of engineering and architecture continue to propagate usage of age old materials and methods which are completely obsolete in the global scenario.

Transfer of technology from lab to land has also been very dismal. Most efforts remain on the drawing board or in experimental stages. Promotion of whatever little is there has also not been happening. The Government of India initiated the Building Centres,which were supposed to promote various technologies. Unfortunately,many such centres have become non-functional and more are on the road to closure. Most civil engineers and architects are not even made aware of the existence of a Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council created by the government for promotion of technology.

Unfortunately,the whole approach to addressing housing technology in India has been very inappropriate and completely out of sync with what is happening the world over.

A Case for mass production

Globally,mass housing has always been a factory-produced product,unlike in India. The advantages of mass production are several. Firstly,there is standardisation on account of which,the benefits are obvious; there is ease of adaptability and no wastage. Secondly,factory production leads us to enhanced speed of construction. Time saved is money saved. Thirdly,quality of building products can be easily monitored and ensured in controlled environments. Fourthly,scale of economy can be achieved and thereby,affordability is possible. Lastly,in prefab housing,there is no construction wastage and this again contributes to economy. In most advanced countries where labour is a problem and weather conditions do not permit a large number of construction days,housing has to be necessarily put up in the least possible time. This has necessitated the development of technologies and systems of production and assembly in a quick manner where houses can be put up in a matter of days.

International Practices

Mass produced housing technology was first developed over a 100 years ago after the First World War and perfected over the decades. There are various ways in which these have taken shape:

Modular Homes: This system comprises various housing components manufactured in a controlled factory environment and simply assembled on site. Almost 90 per cent of the house including walls,flooring,ceiling,stairs and finishes are made in the factory. The assembly takes a mere one day for one house!

Besides savings in cost and time,excellent quality and finish can be obtained.

Panelised Homes: This system involves advanced construction techniques to develop energy efficient durable houses built in a factory environment. The scope for customisation of design is more here. With the help of computer assisted design programmes,houses can be designed to suit individual pockets and produced accordingly in the factory. Wall and roof panels are engineered and fabricated in a manufacturing plant and shipped to the home site for assembly in a few days. State of the art technology ensures that panels are manufactured with quality and precision with dimensional accuracy and meeting code provisions. They are also disaster resistant. Factory assembly means reduced construction material waste,less job site disturbance and easier clean-up. Panelised building is an inherently green way to build and is recognised in several green building certifications. All this saves time,effort and money at the end of the day.

Log Homes: Contrary to the popular belief that timber construction is not environment-friendly,commercial timber production is done without seriously damaging the environment. Trees are a renewable resource and log home construction earns points as a green building material. Pre-cut home kits are designed and delivered at site for assembly. This is an organic and simple way to build. Such buildings are also energy efficient and thermally comfortable.

Concrewall: One of the most popular European systems,Concrewall has recently made inroads into India. This construction system is based on modular elements made of shaped polystyrene panels that are contained between two sheets of galvanised welded meshes. The vertical mesh wires are set along the polystyrene ‘waves’ thus creating reinforced concrete micropillars once the panel is coated with concrete. The coated wires are bound by horizontal mesh’s wires and joined by the links keeping them together. As all joints are welded,the panel is indeformable,or rock solid.

Way Forward

One would be quick to argue that we did try industrialised housing in India and failed and therefore,there is no place for the same here. This line of argument does not hold water since the Hindustan Housing Factory experiment in the early decades of India’s independence was like any typical loss making PSU,toying with outdated panel technology,which has already been discarded for much better technologies.

Today,modern technology to suit Indian weather conditions and social acceptability is available and at a cost that is lower than conventional construction systems. If one takes into account other factors such as time saved,quality,etc.,the benefits are much more. All we need to do now is to create the facilitative environment: the appropriate legal,fiscal and techno-regulatory regimes for international companies to plant these technologies in India.

This is essential for the much-need paradigm shift in housing construction from the age old a la carte to a factory-based production system. It is imperative that the government initiates steps if they are serious in solving the housing crisis in the country.

— The author is Professor,SPA,New Delhi