KOCHI: The two-day national seminar on ‘Construction Methodology Using GypWAL’, a lightweight wall separating system, has begun at Ambalamedu House at the FACT Cochin Division. The seminar is being organised by FACT-RCF Building Products Ltd (FRBL), in association with IIT Chennai.
GypWALL is glass fibre reinforced gypsum wall panels, manufactured by FRBL, which is a joint venture of FACT and RCF Ltd, Mumbai.
“GypWALL is a revolutionary product in green building technology. It is a load-bearing pre-fabricated wall system, which is considered to be an alternative building concept as it facilitates affordable construction while being environmentally responsible. It has multi-fold construction applications such as making partition walls, roof panels, compound walls, and can be utilised economically in mass housing projects and multi-storey buildings, as well as in residential, commercial and industrial complexes. This will soon become the most sought- after building technology,” said experts who spoke at the seminar.To help building designers, FRBL has come up with a detailed construction manual. GypWALL has been approved by the Building Material and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC), under the Central Government, as an alternative building material.
Meanwhile, IIT Chennai has come up with a design manual for Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum (GFRG) panels, published by the Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC). Manufactured in 12M X 3M size, it is claimed to be the world’s largest load-bearing building panels. One such wall panel can replace one truckload of conventional bricks.
The cellular structure of GpyWALL enables it to be used as a frame, and side-filled concrete to provide sufficient axial strength and lateral rigidity. The strong panels provide crack-free surfaces with less joints.
The finish of the panels is smoother than the equivalent precast concrete or masonry walls, therefore no plaster/putty application is required. The lightweight characteristic of the panel helps reduce the structural element cost. The durability of the buildings using GFRG panels is time-tested, and their water absorption rate is less than 5 per cent. Their resistance to moisture and abrasion can be increased by providing a thin membrane coating. The wall panels can be accommodated in any type of architectural design.This method helps in reducing the use of building components such as river sand, steel and water, which are becoming scarce, and thereby supports the concept of green building.
These panels use 50 percent less energy than the traditional building products, and have very low CO2 emission that adds to the carbon credit.
Nearly 2.5 lakh square feet of pre-fabricated GypWALL have been dispatched from the factory so far to various construction sites in Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Kerala.
FACT chairman and managing director Jaiveer Srivastava inaugurated the seminar. Experts from IIT Madras and senior officers of FACT spoke.