India Focus: Cut your building costs and help the environment

Ask any man what his three greatest wishes in life are and the answer will be - more often than not - a house, a car and a comfortable bank balance.

In some cases, the bank balance might be replaced by lots of money or even travel abroad or maybe a visit to the moon but the first, a dream house never changes.

But the problem is that today buying a car may be easy and travel abroad cheap but the cost of construction is going up by the day and the dream of owning a house is becoming more and more distant each day.

But this does not have to be the case. Why are we so obsessed with the present methods of construction that we have forgotten all about our own traditional methods of building?

These alternate cost-effective technologies are as, if not more, sturdy and durable while being environment-friendly, ecologically appropriate and offering energy-saving capabilities. Except for a few architects who still think that using these technologies is worth their while, we the people in general have forgotten all about the inherent strength of the traditional technologies that have been used so effectively in the past.

So if you want to build a house which will be more cost-effective and sturdy, look around for there are so many things which might have escaped your attention but which are good housing material. We all know that thermal power stations produce millions of tons of flyash each year.

Flyash is nothing but finely divided particles of unburnt carbon which poses a great ecological and health problem. Have you ever seen a flyash storm. Well I have. Every summer in Delhi as we pass through the Nizammudin bridge to touch the ring road which takes us towards ITO, Pragati Maidan and Bhairon, we can see a great grey cloud blowing over the banks of the river and heading towards the traffic. Once you are in it you can't see anything, except a grey film all around and you are forced to cover your mouth and nose with a cloth so that you can breathe. This flyash is not just a health hazard it can also cause accidents the way visibility is reduced to near zero during flyash storms. But why is this happening?

Everyone knows that flyash can be converted into bricks which are thinner, stronger and cheaper than the usual red ones made out of clay. Why then are we still so hesitant to use them? Even the latest constructions use the conventional bricks which are produced by burning up the precious layers of our earth which can be used to grow food.

Apart from the use of flyash bricks, we can also use the Rat Trap Bond method of masonry which uses 25 per cent less bricks and 50 per cent less mortar and is strong as compared to the conventional brick laying system. It also offers more thermal insulation and less water absorption.

Another good option is Fal-G bricks, developed by scientist couple Kalidas and Bhanuma-tidas in Vishakapatnam. These bricks are made by using three industrial wastes, flyash, lime and gypsum which do not need burning or autoclaving and are much stronger than the conventional burnt brick.

Another good option is using different roofing technologies like filler slabs, joist and planks, funicular shells, L-panels, Ferro-cement shells, etc which are cheap, environment-friendly and strong.

Use your mind and the interior decorator hidden inside you and you can come up with innovative options for foundations, walls, roofing partitions, ceilings, doors/windows, paving etc.

If you can't think of something, then hire an interior decorator who will do the same for you. You will end up with big savings even after paying the decorator's fee.

So go ahead, think big and try to make this world a better place for your children to live in by going back to our traditional methods and combining them with today's new technologies. You will be proud to know that you did your bit in trying to save the planet.