IIT-Hyd to host workshop on Affordable Housing for All

​HYDERABAD: Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad is hosting a workshop on ‘Affordable Housing for all using sustainable constructional materials’ on October 27. It is a joint initiative of the Structural Steel Research Group from the Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Hyderabad with the Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC) under the aegis of Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Government of India.

Sustainable Housing is currently the need of the nation. The innovative use of structural steel and other alternate materials in a sustainable manner to solve the residential infrastructure need. The workshop intends to bridge the gap between the researchers from academia and the professionals involved in sustainable growth of the nation.

Speaking about the importance of this workshop, Dr. Mahendrakumar Madhavan, Associate Professor, Structural Steel Research Group, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Hyderabad, said, “The workshop is aimed to fulfill the Government’s vision of Housing for all Indians by 2022 through the use of sustainable constructional materials such as steel.  

A number of eminent speakers from the construction sector will share their expertise with the participants.”
The workshop intends to update the current curriculum at both undergraduate and postgraduate level to disseminate the knowledge of using sustainable materials in the constructional industry. Professors, Industrial Engineers, Research Scholars and students are expected to participate besides various industry representatives.

The cost of the constituents of conventional masonry and concrete structures are sky rocketing due to the non‑availability of basic raw material such as sand. Moreover, mining of river sand has been severely restricted to protect the nation’s ecosystem. Furthermore, scarcity of drinking water makes the construction of masonry and concrete structures more demanding since they require potable water for increased durability of the structure. This challenging situation necessitates a shift in paradigm to look for alternate materials that are green (eco-friendly) economical and has high ductility to prevent a catastrophic collapse in extreme events.

One such solution to tackle this pressing problem is the use of prefabricated structures using sustainable material such as Cold-Formed Steel or Structural steel.  Cold-Formed Steel (CFS) is light-weight, easy to handle, cost effective, dimensionally constant and can be fabricated with ease to a wide range of profiles and sizes with nearly no material wastage.  An excellent alternative to traditional materials, the manufacture of CFS sections are subjected to rigorous quality control at the mill thereby reducing the risk associated with the quality of the structural material used in construction. 

The majority of the work is being done in a controlled environment (shop), it takes less than half the time to build compared to conventional materials thereby making it an ideal choice for rapid deployment during emergency situations.  Moreover, steel is 100 per cent reusable material and is environment-friendly resulting in Green construction.

Unlike India, the use of CFS in a residential building across the globe has significantly increased in the recent past due to its advantage over other construction materials.  Although there are major advantages to the use of CFS for the construction practices, there are no technical design guidelines that are readily available for Indian construction engineers. The lack of robust design procedure prevents the growth of CFS as a material of choice in rural and urban residential housing application. 

Hence, the objective of this workshop is to create awareness and provide steel based alternate solutions to provide housing for all which is perhaps one of the most formidable challenges before the nation.

Registration will close on 23rd October 2018 and can be done on the following link: 

https://sites.google.com/view/housingforall-iithyderabad/registration .Further information about the workshop can be obtained from: http://www.iith.ac.in/ahfa