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Commercial success of Sustainable
Building Materials
V. Sriraman tara_gram@yahoo.com Continuing the use of ‘Conventional building materials’ such as Bricks, Clay tiles, Reinforced Cement Concrete etc., is not sustainable given the current status of the environment, rate of growth in population and the demand for building materials in India. Conventional building materials often, are expensive which rural poor at large cannot afford, have highly embodied energy and they contribute significantly to CO2 emissions. And they are inappropriate in many areas, as they do not enable decentralized production and delivery, which are essential for providing livelihood opportunities in rural areas. With a view to move towards sustainable development in buildings construction sector, Government research institutions, NGOs and development agencies involved in housing and building material programmes have been promoting the so-called CEEF (Cost-Effective Energy efficient and Eco-friendly) technologies, which offer viable alternatives to conventional technologies. These alternatives are characterized by optimized resource consumption thereby reducing embodied energy and cost, higher usage of locally available material resources and skills and reduced contribution to emissions. Hence, they are more appropriate and sustainable. Some of the proven alternative technologies are:
We have been hearing that several building centres/ Nirmithi Kendras have been promoting use of such alternative building construction products and systems by applying them in their housing and other projects. All of us know that alternative building materials are more sustainable than the conventional ones. But, often the questions, which we ask ourselves, are “ Who will buy these alternative building materials?”, “Is there a demand for these products in the market?”. Quite often the answer would be an ‘unsure yes’ or just a ‘may be’ or even ‘ people are slowly …accepting these products’ and so on. In order to throw some light on this subject, a picture of the market for alternative and sustainable building materials in Bundelkhand, is presented in this article from the works of TARA Nirman Kendra, Orchha.
TARA Nirman Kendra TARA Nirman Kendra (TNK), a building centre promoted by HUDCO, BMTPC and Development Alternatives has been functioning in Delhi and Orchha. TNK, Orchha has been undertaking supply and installation of alternative building materials in Bundelkhand, mainly the area covered within 100 km radius from Jhansi. With more than 70 lacs turnover, TNK is servicing a diverse range of clients, which are summarised in the subsequent paragraphs:
TNK Products and Services TNK offers the following products and services to its customers:
1. Sale of alternative
building materials without any additional service for installation
of products.
TNK, Orchha’s product portfolio comprises the following:
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Micro Concrete Roofing Tiles
About the market MCR tiles have a big market and it is well established in and around Jhansi city. The market potential is about 1,00,000 tiles per year within a range of 25 kms from Orchha. More than a million MCR tiles have been installed on the roof. People are looking for high quality roofs with MCR on steel structures, rather than low cost roofs. Experience has shown that the sale of tiles peaks during the March to July period. Most of the customers look for additional service in terms of designing and installation of roofs. The coloured tile market has also picked up in and around Jhansi especially in the market provided by key institutional clients like ITM, Gwalior and Rawatpura Dham. Institutional clients constitute the prime clientele of TNK for Ferrocement Channels (FC). The bulk of ferrocement channels’ sale is through TNK’s construction projects. The USP is speedy construction and elegant profile. Institute of technology and Management (ITM), Gwalior has elegantly finished roofs with FC channels. So far, more than 6000 sq.m of roof has been installed with ferrocement roofing channels. The market for paving blocks has been established. There are some players in the market and therefore, there is tough competition in the Jhansi area. Paving blocks have entered into the standard schedule of rates in Government engineering departments. Marketing is not difficult as paving block is almost a commercialised/liberated product in the market. There is very little demand for concrete walling blocks in the region. ‘Brick’ being a known product, its market is huge. Brick sales have been going strong in the belt of Gwalior, Datia and Dabra areas. TNK sells both Hand moulded and Extruded bricks. Hand moulded bricks along have shown good sales, though the extruded bricks' sales is also increasing.
Diversity of product applications and client groups of TNKTNK’ s products are used by diverse customers in a wide range of applications. Table-1 (on page 12) depitcts a matrix of applications, clients and products. (The costs are indicative and vary from case to case):
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