IITs at Chennai, Tirupati conduct training on GFRG

Hyderabad: Indian Institutes of Technology Madras and Tirupati conducted a training programme on Design and Construction of Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum (GFRG) Buildings, hosted at IIT Tirupati, from June 18 to 20. More than 50 professionals from all over the country attended. GFRG technology is most suitable for rapid construction of repetitive mass housing projects. This building system also suits luxurious apartments in addition to making housing accessible to the low and middle income groups - both urban and rural. 

Use of prefabricated wall and slab panels for the construction of GFRG buildings speeds-up construction, and reduces the reliance on conventional beam column systems. Phospho-gypsum, widely produced as a by-product waste in the India fertilizer industries is the primary ingredient in GFRG panels, thus solving the problem of waste-disposal as well as producing a sustainable alternative building material with a low-carbon footprint and embodied energy. Use of reinforced concrete infill’s in the cavities of the panel’s increases significantly the load-bearing capacity of this building system, enabling construction of buildings up to ten storeys in India. 

 Prof Satyanarayana, Director, IIT Tirupati, said, “The use of GFRG building technology enabled IIT Tirupati to get our hostels constructed speedily and with better quality as well as meeting our objective of building a sustainable campus”. The GFRG building system and the method of construction have been adapted to suit the Indian conditions. 

Currently, five hostel buildings, each of them four Storeys and a residential apartment (1.4 lakh sq. ft. built area, in total) in IIT Tirupati Transit Campus are being constructed using this technology. The training programme was concluded with M V Sathish, Whole-time Director, Larsen and Toubro presiding over the valedictory ceremony. C P Dinesh, Managing Director, FRBL (FACT-RCF Building Products Ltd.), Kochi, and Sthaladipti Saha, Vice-President, Larsen and Toubro, were also in attendance.