DECLARATION

“I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that to

the rest of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously
published or written by another person nor the material which has been
accepted for the award of any other degree of the university or other
institute of higher learning, except where due acknowledgement has been
made in the text”.
 ABSTRACT

There is a huge growing requirement of building materials in India due to

the existing housing shortage of 24.7 million units ( 2007) mainly for the
low income groups in urban India. Estimated urban housing shortage in
2012 is 26.53 million, while the housing shortage of rural India in 2012 is
42 million units. Thus total estimated housing shortage for Urban & rural
India in 2012 is 68.53 million units. To meet this challenge, India requires
innovative, energy efficient building materials for strong and durable
housing in fast track method of construction at affordable cost. It is also
important that housing and buildings are disaster resistant to protect the
lives and properties of people. All these concerns are involved in
sustainable and inclusive development. Rapidwall Panel provides rapid or
faster construction and contributes to environmental protection, providing a
solution to many of the above issues and concerns. The paper describes the
method of construction using Rapidwall panels based on construction
manual prepared by IIT Madras to suit Indian situation. FACT & RCF, two
fertiliser giants under public sector are together setting up Rapidwall and
plaster products manufacturing plant at Ambalamugal using Rapidwall
technologies of Australia called FACT RCF Building products Ltd.
(FRBL). FACT has about 7 million tons of industrial by product gypsum.
By setting up Rapidwall & Plaster products plant, they intend to produce
1.4 million sqm or 15 million sq ft panel per year and about 50000 tons of
superior quality wall plaster and wall putty.
 CONTENT

Items Page No.

Certificate i
DECLARATION ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii
ABSTRACT iv
Chapter 1
Introduction 1
Chapter 2
MANUFACTURING OF GFRG PANEL 2
2.1 Inspections & Testing 2
Chapter 3
PHYSICAL AND MATERIAL PROPERTIES 3

Chapter 4
JOINTS 4
Chapter 5
TRANSPORTATION AND LIFTING 6
Chapter 6
CONSTRUCTION & WORKMANSHIP 7
6.1 FOUNDATION 7
6.2 RAPID WALL 7
6.3 OPENINGS 7
6.4 LINTEL 8
6.5 CONCRETE INFILL 8
6.6 TIE BEAM 8
6.7 ROOF SLAB 8
6.8 Erection of wall panel and floor slab for upper floor 9
6.9 Water proofing 9
6.10 STAIR CASE 9
6.11 FINISHING WORK 9
Chapter 7
COMPERISON 10

Chapter 8
VARIOUS TEST 11
 8.1 Measurement of Water Content 11
8.2 Measurement of Density 11
8.3 Measurement of Water Absorption Rate 12
8.4 Flexural Bending Test 12
8.5 Durability Test 14
 Chapter 9
RAPAIDWALL FOR AFFORDABLE QUALITY HOUSING 15
9.1 USES of RAPIDWALL 16
9.2 RCC Columns, beams with Rapidwall floor and walls in high rise building 16
9.3 Scattered small and row houses 16
9.4 FACT & RCF tie up 17

Conclusion 18

Bibliography 19
 CHAPTER 1

1.1 INTRODUCTION

The threat of climate change caused by the increasing concentration of

greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is pushing the whole world into a catastrophic
crisis situation with universal concern. The need of the 21st century is for energy
efficient and eco-friendly products. The building industry accounts for 40% of CO2
emissions. Building construction causes CO2 emissions as a result of embodied energy
consumed in the production of energy intensive building materials and also the
recurring energy consumption for cooling and heating of indoor environment.
Rapidwall, also called gypcrete panel is an energy efficient green building material
with huge potential for use as load bearing and non load bearing wall panels.
Rapidwall is a large load bearing panel with modular cavities suitable for both external
and internal walls. It can also be used as intermediary floor slab/roof slab in
combination with RCC as a composite material. Since the advent of innovative
Rapidwall panel in 1990 in Australia, it has been used for buildings ranging from
single storey to medium - high rise buildings. Light weighted Rapidwall has high
compressive strength, shearing strength, flexural strength and ductility. It has very high
level of resistance to fire, heat, water, termites, rot and corrosion. Concrete infill with
vertical reinforcement rods enhances its vertical and lateral load capabilities.
Rapidwall buildings are resistant to earthquakes, cyclones and fire.

Fig.1 Worlds’ largest load bearing lightweight panel

 CHAPTER 2
2.1 MANUFACTURING OF GFRG PANEL

Phosphogypsum which is a byproduct of phosphoric acid plant is calcined in

calciner at 140-1500 C at the rate of 15MT/hr of calcined plaster. This calcined plaster
is stored in product silo having capacity of 250MT. The plaster is then transferred to
batch hopper by screw conveyors and through Entoleter in wall panel manufacturing
area. This area consists of 6 casting tables having dimensions of 3m x12m, one crab
having mixer and glass roving delivery system is for delivering slurry and glass roving
for three tables. The chemicals are added in water & mixed and then plaster is added &
mixed to form slurry. One layer of slurry is laid on the table by the crab followed by a
layer of glass roving. This glass roving is embedded in to the slurry with the help of
screen roller. Another layer of slurry is poured followed by a layer of glass roving this
layer is pushed inside the ribs with the help of temping bar. Finally a layer of glass
roving is laid for the top face of the wall panel. After getting final Gilmore wall panel
is lifted from the casting table to ACROBA frame and shifted to dryer for drying. The
wall panel is dried at a temperature of 275˚C for 60 minutes. After drying, the wall
panel is either shifted to storage area or on the cutting table. The wall panel is cut as
per dimensions supplied by the consumer and the cut pieces are transferred to stillages
which are specially made for transporting wall panel. The liquid effluent generated
during manufacturing process is recycled back in the system for manufacturing of new
wall panels. The solid waste which is generated while manufacturing wall panels is
recycled back to the calciner after crushing and separating plaster & glass roving in
recycle plant. The above system is a batch process. Six wall panels can be
manufactured in eight hour shift per table. Similarly, 36 wall panels can be
manufactured in eight hour shift with 6 tables. Flow diagram of the system showing
the manufacturing process is attached herewith.

2.1 INSPECTIONS & TESTING:

It shall be done at appropriate stages of manufacturing process. The inspected

panels shall be stored & packed to ensure that no damage occurs during transportation.
As part of quality assurance regular in process inspections shall be carried out by the
trained personnel of the PAC holder.
 CHAPTER 3

PHYSICAL AND MATERIAL PROPERTIES

Rapidwall panel is world‟s largest load-bearing lightweight panels. The panels

are manufactured with size 12 m length, 3m height and 124 mm thickness. Each panel
has 48 modular cavities of 230 mm x 94 mm x 3m dimension. The weight of one
panel is 1440 kg or 40 kg/sqm. The density of the panel is 1.14g/cm3, being only 10-
12 % of the weight of comparable concrete /brick masonry. The physical and material
properties of panels are as follows:

Weight 44 Kg/ sqm

Axial load capacity 160 kN/m{ 16 tons/ m}

Compressive strength 73.2 Kg/cm2

Flexural strength 21.25 kg/cm2

Tensile Strength 35 KN/ m

Fire resistance 4 hr rating withstood 700-10000 C

Elastic Modulus 3000-6000Mpa

Water absorption < 5%

The vertical and lateral load capability of Rapidwall Panel can be increased many
fold by infill of concrete after placing reinforcement rods vertically. As per
structural requirement, cavities of wall panel can be filled in various combinations
(See Fig.2.)
 CHAPTER 4

4.1 JOINTS

Wall to wall „L‟, „T‟, „+‟ angle joints and horizontal wall joints are made by cutting
of inner or outer flanges or web appropriately and infill of concrete with vertical
reinforcement with stirrups for anchorage. Various construction joints are illustrated in
Fig.3.

Fig.2 : RCC infill to increase load capability

Fig.3 Various construction joints

 Rapidwall Panel can also be used for intermediary floor slab / roof slab in
combination with embedded RCC micro-beams and RCC screed concrete (Fig.4).

Fig.4 GFRG embedded with RCC micro beams and RCC screed concrete
 CHAPTER 5
TRANSPORTATION AND LIFTING

Panels are vertically loaded at the factory on stillages for transport to the
construction sites on trucks. Each stillage holds 5 or 8 pre-cut panels. The stillages
are placed at the construction site close to the foundation for erection using vehicle
mounted crane or other type of crane with required boom length for construction of
low, medium and high rise buildings. Special lifting jaws suitable to lift the pane l
are used by inserting into the cavities and pierced into webs, so that
lifting/handling of panels will be safe.

Fig.5 Transportation and lifting of the GFRG panel

 CHAPTER 6
CONSTRUCTION & WORKMANSHIP

6.1 FOUNDATION:

For Rapidwall Housing a conventional foundation like spread footing, RCC

column footing, raft or pile foundation is used as per the soil condition and load
factors. All around the building RCC plinth beam is provided. Conventional water
proofing materials are used in the foundation.

Fig.6 Foundation part of the construction

6.2 RAPID WALL:

Rapidwall enables fast track method of construction. Conventional building

construction involves various time consuming processes, like i) masonry wall
construction ii) cement plastering requiring curing, iii) casting of RCC slabs requiring
centering and scaffolding and curing iv) removal of centering and scaffolding and v)
plastering of ceilings and so on. Construction time is minimized to 15-20% by the
rapid wall method. Instead of brick by brick construction, Rapidwall enables wall by
wall construction. Rapidwall also does not require cement plastering as both surfaces
are smooth and even and ready for application of special primer and finishing coat of
paint.

6.3 OPENINGS:Door/window, openings will be cut and reinforced

concrete is provided there.

Fig.7 Window opening

 6.4 LINTEL:

Embedded RCC lintels are to be provided wherever required by cutting open

external flange. Reinforcement for lintels and RCC sunshades can be provided with
required shuttering and support.

6.5 CONCRETE INFILL:

After inserting vertical reinforcement rods as per the structural design and
clamps for wall corners are in place to keep the wall panels in perfect position,
concrete of 12mm size aggregate will be poured from top into the cavities. There is no
need to use vibrator because gravitational pressure acts to self compact the concrete
inside the water tight cavities. Generally every third cavity should be concreted.

6.6 TIE BEAM:

An embedded RCC tie beam to floor/roof slab is to be provided at each

floor/roof slab level, as an essential requirement of national building code against earth
quakes. For this, web portion to required beam depth at top is to be cut and removed
for placing horizontal reinforcement with stirrups and concreted.

6.7 ROOF SLAB:

`Instead of a solid concrete floor slab, which is typically 100 to 150mm thick,
the GFRG panels are used. They are placed horizontally over the walls in different
roofs. The roofs typically spanning along the shorter direction. Concrete tie beams
connect the panels to the walls at all junctions.

Fig.8 Roof slab construction

 Every third cavity in the horizontal GFRG panel is cut open from the top and
reinforced cage is inserted to serve as a concealed beam. Further a steel welded mesh is
placed on top of the entire floor slab and subsequently embedded in screed of concrete
50mm thick. The advantage with the system over conventional concrete slabs is the
there is no need of shuttering and the finish at bottom is excellent. It also not required
any plastering. Conduits for electrical work are kept in place before concreting the
slab.

6.8 ERECTION OF WALL PANEL AND FLOOR SLAB FOR UPPER

FLOOR:

Vertical reinforcement of floor below shall be provided with extra length so as

to protrude to 0.45m to serve as start up rods and lap length for upper floor. Once the
wall panels are erected on the upper floor, vertical reinforcement rods, door/window
frames fixed and RCC lintels shall be casted. Then concrete where required and joints
shall be filled. Thereafter, RCC tie beams all around shall be concreted.

6.9 WATER PROOFING:

The PAC holder shall provide to the client details of water proofing treatment
required at different levels of construction such as foundation, sunshade and flooring
etc.

6.8 STAIR CASE:

The stair case work is taken up using GFRG panels as the landing slab with
reinforced concrete bars in all the cavities.

Fig.9 Stair case construction

 6.9 FINISHING WORK:

Once concreting of ground floor roof slab is completed, on the 4 th day, wooden
planks with support props in ground floor can be removed. Finishing of internal wall
corners and ceiling corners etc can be done using wall putty or special plaster by
experienced plasterers. Simultaneously, electrical work, water supply and sanitary
work, floor tiling, mosaic or marble works, staircase work etc can also be carried out.
Every upper floor can be finished in the same way.

Fig.10Finishing Work
 CHAPTER 7

COMPERISON

Comparative study of Rapidwall building and conventional 2storey 1500 sft

Building:

Materials/ items Rapidwall Building Conventional Building Saving in %

Cement 16 tons 32.55 tons 50.8

Steel 1800 kg 2779 kg 35.2

Sand 20cum 83.37cum 76

Granite 38cum 52.46cum 27.56

Bricks - 57200

GFRG panel 500sqm -

Water 50000ltr 200000ltr 75

Labour 389 mandays 1200 mandays 67.59

Construction time 21 days 120 days 82

Wt. of superstructure 170 tons 490 tons 65

Construction cost Rs 13.25 lakhs Rs 18.27 lakhs 61.5

 CHAPTER 8
VARIOUS TEST

8.1 Measurement of Water Content:

The water content shall be tested for the selected panels against Clause 7.3.
Sampling of the test specimen shall be made in accordance with Clause 10.2.1. Do not
treat the edges and surfaces of the specimens nor damage the specimens. This test
measures the loss of water of the specimen after drying in a standard oven. It is
combined with the measurement of density and water absorption tests. Should the
samples after conditioning take up moisture then the panel was over cooked (calcined)
in the dryer and fails the test.

8.1.1 Apparatus:

Air circulating oven: The net space available inside the drying oven shall not
be less than 200×300×360. The oven shall have a temperature control at 40±2°C and
a humidity control at 50±2%. Balance or scale: with a capacity of 5kg and an
accuracy of 0.5g.

8.1.2 Test Procedure:

1). Weigh each original specimen and record their weights;

2). Condition the specimen (or specimens) to constant weights, within 0.1% of the
dried weight, at a temperature of 40±2°C, in an atmosphere having a relative
humidity of 50±2%. This can be done by drying the specimen for 24 hours
initially and weighing the specimen; then drying for another 4 hours each time and
weighing the specimen until the difference of the two consecutive weights of the
specimen is with 0.1% of the dried weight;

3). Weigh the dried weight w of each specimen to within 0.5g.

8.1.3 Calculation of Results:

The weight loss of the individual specimen in percent with respect to its dried
weight w is the water content of the specimen.
8.2 Measurement of Density:

Density of the panel shall be measured from the specimens immediately after
the water content tests and before water absorption tests. Care shall be taken to
prevent damaging the specimens in the measurement so that it does not affect the
water absorption test.
8.2.1 Apparatus:

Right-angle ruler: with an accuracy of within 1 mm.

8.2.2 Test procedure:

Take the following measurements from each specimen:-

The four dimensions as shown in Fig.7 measured to within 1mm, where H1 and H2 are
the lengths of the two vertical sides, respectively, and B1 and B2 are the horizontal
dimensions that are perpendicular to the vertical side measured with a right-angle
ruler.

8.3 Measurement of Density:

Density of the panel shall be measured from the specimens immediately after the
water content tests and before water absorption tests. Care shall be taken to prevent
damaging the specimens in the measurement so that it does not affect the water
absorption test.

8.3.1 Apparatus:

Right-angle ruler: with an accuracy of within 1 mm.

8.3.2 Test procedure:

Take the following measurements from each specimen:-

The four dimensions as shown in Fig.7 measured to within 1mm, where H1 and H2
are the lengths of the two vertical sssides, respectively, and B1 and B2 are the
horizontal dimensions that is perpendicular to the vertical side measured with a right-
angle ruler.
8.4 Measurement of Water Absorption Rate:

The specimens tested for density is immediately used for water absorption rate.

8.4.1Apparatus:
Balance: same as 10.4.3.1.
Water bath or container: enough room to immerse the three specimens and
keep them separated and elevated from the bottom of the bath with minimum
spaces of 25mm.

8.4.2 Test procedure:

1). Immerse the specimens flat in a bath of water at a constant temperature of

21±0.5°C with a head of 25 mm of water over the top of the sample. The
sample should be positioned in the water bath elevated one inch above its base;

2). Remove the specimens from the bath after 24 hours of immersion, wipe
excess water from the surfaces and edges of the specimens and weigh
immediately to within 0.5g.

8.4.3 Calculation of results:

The percentage of weight gain with respect to the dried weight of each
specimen calculated is the water absorption rate.

8.5 Flexural Bending Test:

(a)Pin Support (b) Roller support

8.5.1 Apparatus:

As the specimen is one meter wide, it is important for the load and reaction force
from the supports to be distributed evenly along the width of the specimen. The point
load from a load jack is applied to a main distribution beam that then distributes the
load equally to two secondary distribution beams. The load is finally transmitted from
the secondary distribution beams to the top face of the test specimen as an evenly
distributed line load. The minimum ultimate flexural strength of the main distribution
beam shall be 10kNm. The secondary distribution beam shall be 1000mm long with a
minimum flexural rigidity EI of 5×1011 N/mm2. To ensure a good contact and even
distribution of load, a thin layer of quick-setting plaster (such as dental paste) shall be
applied between the bottom face of the secondary beams and the contact surface of the
specimen. The specimen shall be supported firmly with one pin support and one roller
support as illustrated in Fig.11. The pin support is composed of two steel plates of
1000mm long×100mm wide × minimum10mm thick and a 1m long steel roller bar
with a minimum diameter of 30mm. The steel bar is fixed to the bottom plate (such as
by welding) and the top plate just sit on top of the bar to ensure free rotation. The roller
support shown in Fig.11(b) is similar to the pin support except that some smaller steel
roller bars of about 10mm diameter and 1000mm long are provided underneath the
bottom steel plate to ensure both free rotation and longitudinal movement.
The loading jack shall have a minimum load capacity of 20kN. The displacement
transducer shall have a minimum travel distance of 100mm.
The measurement or data acquisition involves both the applied load measured from the
load cell and displacement from the displacement transducer at the mid-span. The
accuracy of measurements shall be within 0.1kN for load and 0.5mm for displacement.

8.5.2 Test procedure:

1) Mark the positions of support line (centre line position of the roller bar) on the
bottom of the specimen, and load line (centre line position of the secondary
distribution beam) on the top of the test specimen;

2) Set up the pin and roller supports;

3) Apply a thin layer of quick-setting plaster on top of the supporting steel plates
and then place the test specimen on top of the two supports. Waite a few minutes for
the plaster to set;
4) Apply a layer quick-setting plaster on top of the test specimen at the position of the
secondary distribution beams and place the secondary distribution beams in position.
Allow the plaster to set;

5) Set up the rest of the loading system (main distribution beam and its support,
etc.) and loading jack;

6) Place the displacement transducer under the test specimen at the mid-span. A piece
of small plate (about 20mm×20mm×2mmthick) shall be glued onto the tip of the
transducer to prevent it from going into a crack if the crack happens to occur at the
position of the displacement measurement point;

7) Load the jack under displacement control in a strain rate of not greater than
5mm/minute until the load passes the peak and drops at least 50% off its peak load;

8) In the mean time of applying loading, record the test data at sufficient number
of test points to produce a load vs. displacement curve (as illustrated in Fig.12). An
automatic data acquisition system is recommended that can record the complete
test curve automatically. If manual record is used, one data point (a pair of load and
displacement readings) shall be taken at a displacement increment of not more than
1.5mm.

8.6 Durability Test:

8.6.1 Wetting and drying test:

Put the panels through 20 cycles of wetting and drying at room temperature of
300C. Each cycle consist of 24 hours of wetting followed by 24 hours of drying.
Measure the average compressive strength at the end of 20 cycles.

8.6.2 Salt spray test:

Embed a 12mm dia,250mm reinforcing rod in the concrete filled in cavity.

After 7 days curing, hung the same in a salt spray chamber for 2 weeks. Observe any
apparent damage to the panel and to the reinforcement.
8.6.3 Fire Resistance test:
The fire resistance test on GFRG panel (Rapidwall) shall be conducted using a
blow torch (burning kerosene as fuel). The blue flame temperature shall be measured
and shall be in the range of 7000 C to 10000C. The blower tip of the blow torch shall be
kept at a distance of about 50 mm from one face of the building panel (size 300 x 300 x
124mm) so that the blue flame shall directly hit the panel continuously. The panel shall
be exposed to such a state for continuation duration of 4 hours. The other face of the
panel shall be pasted with a thermocouple to monitor the temperature continuously.
Record the temperatures (0C) at 30 minutes interval during the test period of 4 hours
for the hollow GFRG panel and the GFRG panel filled with M20 concrete the results.
At the end of the test, no damage or cracks should be observed beyond the spot
where the flame was directly hitting the face of the panel.
 CHAPTER 9
RAPAIDWALL FOR AFFORDABLE QUALITY HOUSING

Access to adequate shelter at affordable cost by low income section and common
people is very important for India for inclusive development.. The booming of real
estate and construction industry has indeed shot up the cost of construction due to the
ever increasing cost of cement, steel, bricks, river sand, concrete materials and labour
cost. In this situation, safe and good quality housing will become unaffordable to all
the sections. Commonly used walling in India is brick masonry. Cost of brick wall with
two sides cement plastering has increased by almost 4 times during the last 5 years.
Brick wall construction cost was Rs 460/sqm in 2003. This increased to Rs 1700 /sqm
in 2007. In view of likely increase in cost of energy, bricks, cement, river sand, water,
labour and hire charges for scaffolding etc, the cost of masonry made of bricks or
concrete blocks will continue to rise in future. This will make Rapidwall panel much
cheaper and affordable to the building industry while it will also help to protect the
environment, as one sqm panel will save carbon emission reduction of about 80Kg.
Rapidwall panel has excellent acoustic properties. Testing of panel by IIT Madras
found that the panel belongs to a class of STC 40 with respect to air-borne sound
insulation. Infill of cavities with locally available cheaper materials like quarry dust
mixed with cement (1:20) and water or sand and cement (1:20) up to lintel/ window
height can make the wall solid and address security-related concerns. Other than
Australia and China, India is set to benefit from the technology as Rapidwall panels are
to be manufactured and marketed in Mumbai within few months by RCF, one of the
largest fertilizer company of Govt. of India. FACT, another large public undertaking
fertilizer company in joint venture with RCF is also setting up another rapidwall plant
in Cochin. A Rapidwall plant near Chennai is also commissioning and marketing the
product shortly. In Rapidwall construction, especially in repetitive type mass housing,
time for construction will be reduced by 75-80% thereby reducing overall overhead
establishment costs with reduced lock up investment period and less labour
component. Comparative study of Rapidwall building and conventional building (2
storey 1500 sft) shows significant savings in Rapidwall buildings. Embodied energy of
Rapidwall building is only 82921 kWh, while conventional same size building would
have 215400 kWh, thereby saving 61.5% embodied energy.
9.1 USES of RAPIDWALL:

The most valuable use of Rapidwall is its use as load bearing wall in multi storey
construction in combination with RCC. Rapidwall can also be used as non load
bearing and partition wall in RCC framed structures. IIT Madras has recently
developed method of fixing panel in between RCC columns, beams and floor slab with
clamping system. By this panel can be fixed to floor slab and panel at bottom using
screws, which will be embedded within flooring and skirting. At top clamps will be
fixed to panel and ceiling slab or beam. On sides also clamped at bottom to RCC
column, floor slab and panel. Plastering of walls can also be saved thereby saving time
and cost. If this is taken into account at design stage itself, dead load reduction of more
than 50% can be made. This will save in foundation, RCC columns and beams, in turn
steel and concrete. This will make substantial savings in cost of construction

9.2 RCC Columns, beams with Rapidwall floor and walls in high rise building:

One of the leading architects based in Mumbai proposed an innovative method

of construction of high rise building with RCC columns and beams to take load, while
panel is to be used for walls and floor slab with micro beams. For this specially
designed shuttering for RCC columns and beams will be in position in such a way that
wall panel and floor slab panel of ground floor will be in position. Concreting of
columns, beams, infill of required cavities, micro beams, and screed will be done
simultaneously. This process will be repeated on each upper floor. Walls of each floor
construction will be done along with rising up structure. It is estimated that this method
will reduce 50% dead load which will reduce substantial steel and cement, 8%
increased carpet area and saving of 60-70 % time.

9.3 Scattered small and row houses:

Quality small houses and row houses for low income and common people which
can resist natural disasters at affordable cost is essential for inclusive development.
Housing of the masses as well as other segments along with infrastructure alone will
determine growth and development of the society or the nation. One BHK housing
from 300-500 sft at affordable cost @ Rs 600-700/ sft can be a reality with Rapidwall.
At a time when the real estate market is on the downslide due to the economy in
recession, many builders who have embarked on mega residential schemes may find
affordable housing as a catalyst to tide over the recession period. It need not mean that
they need to build houses for low income or middle class alone, but with structures
built at affordable cost using Rapidwall and carry out superior finish to meet the
requirement of up market and luxury segment may be a good solution and response .
While provide more comfortable living, this will also save energy, contribute to
environmental protection and fight global warming.

9.4 FACT & RCF tie up:

FACT & RCF, two fertilizer giants under public sector are together setting up
Rapidwall and plaster products manufacturing plant at Ambalamugal using Rapidwall
technologies of Australia called FACT RCF Building products Ltd. (FRBL). FACT
has about 7 million tons of industrial by product gypsum. By setting up Rapidwall &
Plaster products plant, they intend to produce 1.4 million sqm or 15 million sq ft panel
per year and about 50000 tons of superior quality wall plaster and wall putty. RCF is
already setting same capacity plant in their Chembur plant to meet the huge demand of
Mumbai market. Gypsum based wall plaster and wall putty will be alternative to
cement plaster for interior walls and ceiling. This will save river sand, cement and
water. It will also provide fine finish. Gypsum based wall putty will be superior
product than currently marketed brands of wall putty. These products will also be very
useful to the real estate and housing industry.

CONCLUSION
Rapidwall Panel provides a new method of building construction in fast track, fully
utilising the benefits of prefabricated, light weight large panels with modular cavities
and time tested, conventional cast-in-situ constructional use of concrete and steel
reinforcement. By this process, man power, cost and time of construction is reduced.
The use of scarce natural resources like river sand, water and agricultural land is
significantly reduced. Rapidwall panels have reduced embodied energy and require
less energy for thermo-regulation of interiors. Rapidwall buildings thereby reduce
burdening of the environment and help to reduce global warming. Rapidwall use also
protect the lives and properties of people as these buildings will be resistant to natural
disasters like earthquakes, cyclone, fire etc. This will also contribute to achieve the
goal of much needed social inclusive development due to its various benefits and
advantages with affordability for low income segments also. Fast delivery of mass
dwelling/ housing is very critical for reducing huge urban housing shortage in India.
Rapidwall panels will help to achieve the above multiple goals.