The Core of any construction project is its design and at basic level is the materials used. During the first phase of civilization we used the raw material such as leaves, branches and animal hides for the construction but with increase in our intellect we started improvising other materials such as stone, clay and timber. With growing time we developed other materials such as brick and concrete, these materials went under great change and stayed till date from the starting of Egyptian civilisation to the present one. The sudden change in the palate for construction was marked by the INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION giving birth to various materials such as metals, glass and steel. It gave rise to many new technologies. After the industrial revolution many materials had come up over these years. Such as PVC and plastics , many types of concrete like ferrocrete & precast, GRF etc. even now lot of researches are going on new materials and about increasing the efficiency of earlier one.

1. Building Materials & Alternate
Construction Technology and
Rain Water Harvesting
Kolli Rajesh M.City Planning, B.Arch
kollirajesh888@gmail.com

2. Current Challenges
(Materials & Technology) Considerations
(Materials & Technology)
Evolution
(Materials)
Future
(Materials)
Overview -
Alternative Materials
(Site & Building Level)
Alternative Technologies
(Construction)
Rain Water Harvesting
Case Study

3. Challenges in Construction of Large Scale
Projects -
• Construction Time
• Construction Cost
• Skill of labor
• Impact on Environment
• Material availability
• Energy efficiency
• Flexibility of spaces
• Multi hazard resistance
• Indoor and outdoor quality of spaces

4. Considerations for material selection and
alternate construction technology -
• Availability of material
• Climate
• Cost
• Aesthetics
• Durability
• Strength & Weight
• Efficiency
• Context
• Ease of Construction
• Maintenance

5. Evolution of building materials -
• The Core of any construction project is its design and at basic level is the materials used.
• During the first phase of civilization we used the raw material such as leaves, branches
and animal hides for the construction but with increase in our intellect we started
improvising other materials such as stone, clay and timber.
• With growing time we developed other materials such as brick and concrete, these
materials went under great change and stayed till date from the starting of Egyptian
civilisation to the present one.
• The sudden change in the palate for construction was marked by the INDUSTRIAL
REVOLUTION giving birth to various materials such as metals, glass and steel. It gave rise
to many new technologies.
• After the industrial revolution many materials had come up over these years. Such as PVC
and plastics , many types of concrete like ferrocrete & precast, GRF etc. even now lot of
researches are going on new materials and about increasing the efficiency of earlier one.

6. Evolution of building materials -

7. 3D Printed BlocksKinetic Glass
Permeable concreteNovacem
(Carbon eating cement)
Self healing concrete Hempcrete
Lightweight concrete
(developed by MIT)
Litracon
(Translucent concrete)
Materials in Experimental stage -

8. Conventional and Alternate materials -
 Site level-
Conventional materials Alternative Materials
Pavements (pedestrian paths) Clay paver blocks , cast in situ concrete
paving, Concrete paver blocks
Precast concrete , Dimension stone, fly ash
pavers , Permeable concrete and asphalt
surfaces.
Street furniture
( Permanent fixtures)
Cast in situ concrete, brickwork,
precast modules
Steelwork, Natural stone walls(RR
Masonry), Metals
Signage Metallic frames , wood Precast modules, PVC Panels
Facade Plastered, Cladded with stone,
Exposed Brick,
Flint glass, Alco panels, Exposed
concrete
Dimension stone , Double glazed glass ,
Solar control glass , Litracon (translucent
concrete), exposed concrete, Hempcrete
(100% recyclable)
Compound wall Cast in situ concrete, composite metal
and concrete work, brickwork
Precast units, Robust stonework( Ashlar),

9. Conventional and Alternate materials -
 Building level-
Conventional materials Alternative Materials
Floors RCC slab RCC filler slab, Hollow blocks roofs, Ferro cement shellfloor
Walls (fillers) Brickwork, CC block, fly ash
blocks, hollow blocks, Sand
lime bricks
Rat-trap bond brick masonry, Solid and hollow cement concrete
blocks, Fly ash blocks, Sand lime bricks, Light weight aerated blocks,
Insulated concrete form, engineered wood, Double glazed glass, Solar
control glass, stabilized clay interlocking blocks with
cement/Lime/bitumen, Litracon (translucent concrete) , Hempcrete
(100% recyclable)
Framed structures RCC frame with brick infill
walls
RCC frame with hollow blocks,flyash blocks etc. as infills
Sloping Roofing Mangalore pattern clay
roofing tiles, CGI,Cement
sheets,
MCR (Micro Concrete Roofing tiles) roofing, Green roof and Reflective
roofs, Rubber Roofing, Precast RCC joist with prefab brick panels /RC
plank / funicular shell / Precast Jack arch panel and concretepanels
Doors and windows
frames
MS, timber, Plastic/PVC RCC door frames

10. Conventional and Alternative construction
techniques and technologies
 Whether a particular construction technology is Conventional or not depends on the
abundance of its usage not that it is new or old. Even the place of use also can determine
whether it is conventional or not.
 The alternate technology, considering India as the base, some of these technologies might
be already conventional in other countries now.
 The Conventional technology are such as Concrete works(Cast in Situ and pretension),
Rubble masonry, ALCO facade treatments etc.
Limitations
 Technology
 Availability
 Cost

11.  RMD (Rapid-Monolithic- Disaster proof)
• All building elements are cast at a time with
RCC using aluminium formwork.
• Parameters are – Design & Reinforcement
Selection of shuttering
Skilled Labour
Cycle time/ no. of Repetitions
• Focus Areas – Time : ¼ of conventional time
Cost : less than or equal to the
conventional construction
Quality: no joints leading to high
disaster resistance
Labour: Less number but skilled
labour
• Limitations – Huge intial planning and
investment required, less flexibility in design,
not suitable for individual small scale
structures.

12. Example -
• Project : Cluster of EWS Houses – 350 units
• Client : Karnataka Housing Board
• Implementing agency : Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation
Karnataka Habitat Centre
• Specifications: 285 sft plinth area, single storey, 1bhk with bath/toilet.
Cost 2 Lakh/unit, M20 dynamic grade for wall & M20
for roof & Foundation.
Aluminim Shuttering.
• Carpet area increased 7.8% .
• Minimal/No Wastage of materials, Early occupation cost, Aluminium
Scrap cost etc. saving 15 – 20 % of overall cost be saved.

13.  Structural insulated panels
• They are rigid foam insulation sandwiched
between two OSB (Oriented strand board)
panels.
• They can be used structurally and create a wall
or roof system with no thermal bridging.
• There are structural limitations to the panels as
well as fire rated assemblies that need to be
addressed for larger commercial use.
 Insulated Concrete Panels
• They are continuous rigid foam panels that are
used as concrete forms and left in place after
the pour to create a wall that has both thermal
mass as well as high R-value.
• They are basically used only for foundations.
They are relatively costlier and not easy to
modify with conventional tools once built.

14.  Radiant wall Systems
• The rigid insulation is an interior layer,
sandwiched by the concrete layers.
• The exterior concrete makes it more
durable and makes it more efficient.
• It has very high R-value.
• The interior layer of concrete also has
hydronic tubing in it, so they can serve
as the heating distribution for the
building.
• This walls have to be formed by very
trained crew so as result it is quite
expensive.
• Radiant wall systems are even more
difficult to modify once built due to the
embedded hydronic tubing.

15.  Steel framing with Closed Structurals
• These are closed structural steel
members with high strength
configurations.
• They are quite adaptable for the use in
closed and open space with no further
treatment required after erection.
Economy of Steel Consumption through use of closed-structural.

16.  Pre-engineered Buildings
• They are obtained by both pre-casting and
formwork of structural steel.
• Some of the framing systems are clear span rigid
frames, beam and column frames, space saver
frames & lean-to frames etc.
• They are multi-disaster resistance and reliable in
sustaining hazards.
 Machine Automated Slip-form Pavers
• It is a solution to problem of paving which we
conventional perform by means of manpower.
• The machine guides the pavers along the desired
alignment of the pavement, they are also equipped
with tilt blades to enhance working in slopes.
• The work progress is elevated a lot with proper
workmanship and of course less manpower.

17.  Precast Constructions( Post tensioning)
• The Pre casting is not very new even in
case of India. We are fully know to the
pre tensioning style but all that new is
the Massive Post tensioned once.
• They are various flyovers and bridges
now coming up with pre casting
because if that.
• It not only only influced infrastructural
sector but also the housing sector with
development of precast beams and
coloumns.
• They are structural more stronger and
workmen ship is also high compared to
the conventional style.

18. Rain Water Harvesting
• Rain water harvesting is the technique of collection and storage of rain water at surface
or in sub-surface aquifers, before it is lost as surface run-off. The augmented resource
can be harvested in the time of need.
Necessity
• Toovercome the inadequacy of water to meet our demands.
• Toarrest decline in ground water levels.
• Toenhance availability of ground water at specific place and time and utilize rain water
for sustainable development.
• Toincrease infiltration of rain water in the subsoil which has decreased drastically in
urban areas due to paving of open area
• Toimprove ground water quality by dilution.
• Toincrease agriculture production.
• Toimprove ecology of the area by increase in vegetation cover, etc.

19. Urban Areas - Roof Top Rain Water /Storm
runoff harvesting through
• Recharge Pit
• Recharge Trench
• Tube well
• Recharge Well

20. Rural Areas - Rain Water Harvesting through
• Gully Plug
• Contour Bund
• Gabion Structure
• Percolation tank
• Check Dam/ Cement Plug/
Naala Bund
• Recharge shaft
• Dug well Recharge
• Ground Water
Dams/Subsurface Dyke

21. Provisions For Rainwater Harvesting By
Building Types

23. Advantages
• Cost of recharge to sub-surface reservoir is lower than surface reservoirs.
• The aquifer serves as distribution system also.
• No land is wasted for storage purpose and no population displacement is involved.
• Ground water is not directly exposed to evaporation and pollution.
• Storing water underground is environment friendly.
• It increases the productivity of aquifer.
• It reduces flood hazards.
• Effects rise in ground water levels.
• Mitigates the effects of drought.
• Reduces soil erosion.

24. Case study
• Project: Mixed use
development
• Location: Bangalore peri-
urban/rural
• Developer: BMTPC

25. Design Objectives
• Scope of the Design was:
• Dwelling Unit 60 No.(minimum of 25 sq.m carpet area each)
• Community centre- 1 No (300 sq.m built up area)
• Primary School 1 No (250 sq.m)
• Shops/Kiosk 4 No (100 sq.m each )
• The project has focused on bringing appropriateness at all levels; Habitability, Stability
and Durability.
• The Project Design takes into account the
• “Current Trends in the Construction Sector”
• “Construction Time” with a focus on efficient construction
• “Prefabrication”
• “Earthquake Resistant Features &Multi Hazard Resistance”
• “Space efficiency by design”
• The “Peri-Urban” location of chosen site
• The “Upward Urban Mobility” of residents

26. Building types and Construction systems
• Building Types
Maximum of Ground + 2 floors, with varying floor levels across the campus. The
structure is framed with infill walls. The G+2 is considered given the urban context,
looking at the scarcity and the cost of land for developing the habitat.
• Construction Systems
RCC Framed Structure - especially considering the G + 2 and the need for special
features for multi-hazard resistance.

27. Site elements

28. Materials and Technology used

29. Materials and Technology used
Details of Filler Slab

30. Rainwater harvesting

31. References
• G.O.119 - 2017, AP Building Rules
• BUILDING MATERIALS & TECHNOLOGY PROMOTION COUNCIL, Ministry of Housing &
Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India.
• Challenges before Construction Industry in India, Arghadeep Laskar and C.V.R. Murty,
Dept. of Civil Eng., IIT Kanpur.
• Tiong, R. L. K. (1990). Effective controls for large scale construction projects. Project
Management Journal, 21(1), 32–42.
• http://www.tuflite.com/blog/evolution-building-materials
• http://evstudio.com/top-10-alternative-construction-methods