Low Cost Construction

By : Nischay .N ,
B.E(Civil)., M.Tech., IGBC-AP.
 INTRODUCTION
• Low cost housing refers to houses that are
inexpensive to build. IT doesn't mean that the
houses will be inexpensive to live in.
• The goal of low-cost housing is to save money while
also maintaining buildings quality.
• Following Properties Reduces Cost of Construction:
• Locally available materials .
• Improved skills and technology.
• Without sacrificing the strength, performance and
life of the structure.
 Factors affecting construction cost
• Building Cost : The building construction cost can be divided
into two parts namely:
Building material cost .
Labor cost .

• Size : The smaller the project in terms of scope or the number

of square feet, the more it will cost per square foot.

• Type : Different types of project have different levels of

complexity and detail.
• Special Construction

• Project accessibility

• Labor Rates

• Material Costs

• General Economic Pressures

• Time of Year
• These were the factors affecting
the budget of making any
structure but we are here to
know more about the
construction techniques and
materials which helps us in
reducing the cost of structure.

• So, lets move towards the

techniques…
Construction technique adopted:

1. Foundation

2. Wall

3. Lintel

4. Roof
 1. Foundation
• The foundation cost comes to about
10 to 15% of the total building

• It is adopted for single or double

storey building.

• It is recommended to adopt a
foundation depth of 2 ft.(0.6m) for
normal soil like gravely soil, red soils
etc.
• Suggested to adopt arch foundation in
ordinary soil for effecting reduction in
construction cost up to 40%.

• In the case black cotton and other soft

soils it is recommend to use under ream
pile foundation which saves about 20 to
25% in cost over the conventional
method of construction.
Arch foundation

• Arch foundations
require less digging,
material, and being a
relatively labor-intensive
process, put more
laborers to work.
• View of completed
building with arch
foundation
 2.Wall
• Wall thickness of 6 to 9″ is
recommended for adoption in
the construction of walls all-
round the building and 41/2 ”
for inside walls.
• It is suggested to use burnt
bricks which are immersed in
water for 24 hours and then
shall be used for the walls.
• Making use of Rat – trap bond
wall & Concrete block wall.
 Rat Trap Bond Wall
• It is a cavity wall construction and
leads to reduction in the quantity
of bricks required for masonry
work.
• By adopting this method of
bonding of brick masonry
compared to traditional English or
Flemish bond masonry, it is
possible to reduce in the material
cost of bricks by 25% and about
10to 15% in the masonry cost.
• By adopting rat-trap bond
method one can create
aesthetically pleasing wall surface
and plastering can be avoided.
 Brick jali
• The common burnt brick is
one of man’s great inventions.
all over the world, with only a
few exceptions, nearly all
bricks are roughly the same
shape and size - that is about
9 x 4.5 x 3 inches.

• In many of these situations

listed above a “jali” is just as
effective.
More uses

Brick jali can be used

instead of parapet
wall or boundary
walls...
lets watch out for
some examples....
 Instead of using
regular walling system
of lintel and window
system ,jali work can
help cost estimation.
 3.Lintel
• The traditional R.C.C. lintels which
are costly can be replaced by
brick arches for small spans and
save construction cost up to 30 to
40% over the traditional method
of construction.

• By adopting arches of different

shapes a good architectural
pleasing appearance can be given
to the external wall surfaces of
the brick masonry.
 4.Roof

• Normally 5" thick R.C.C. slabs is

used for roofing of residential
buildings.
• By adopting rationally designed
construction practices like filler
slab and precast elements the
construction cost of roofing can
be reduced by about 20 to 25%.
 Filler slabs
• They are normal RCC slabs
where bottom half (tension)
concrete portions are replaced
by filler materials such as bricks,
tiles, cellular concrete blocks,
etc
• These filler materials are so
placed as not to compromise
structural strength, result in
replacing unwanted and
nonfunctional tension concrete,
thus resulting in economy.
• These are safe, sound and
provide aesthetically pleasing
pattern ceilings and also need
no plaster.
 A)Precast stone blocks of larger size than
MATERIALS normal bricks are manufactured by using
waste stone pieces of various sizes with
lean cement concrete and enable a
rationalized use of natural locally available
materials.
• B) Precast concrete blocks made to similar
dimension of stone blocks without large
size stone pieces, but using coarse and fine
graded cement. They have excellent
properties comparable to other masonry
blocks, are cheaper and facilitate speedy
construction and especially suitable where
quality clay for bricks making is not
available.
C). Stabilized Mud Blocks (SMB's)

• The excavated soil is mixed in

the adequate proportion with
the appropriate stabilizer. It is
important that the sieved soil
be dry/ protected from the
rain before being used.
• For stabilized soil cement blocks,
the mixture is put into the
machine's mold to get pressed.

• A block-making machine is used

for the creation of stabilized mud
blocks. A measured amount of
sieved soil, quarry dust,
sand/cement or lime is put in the
block-making machine mould.
• The blocks are weighed to certify
their density and compression, and
therefore quality.

• Stabilized earth blocks are

designed to take heavy loads,
replacing the widely used
reinforced concrete columns. It can
be used for roofs and walls alike.
• Waste material used as filler
material between the vault of
one floor and the floor slab of
the next floor.
People who are working on this !!

S Vishwanath

Ar. Lourie baker Chitra Vishwanath

 Ar. Lourie baker
•Born in 2 March 1917.

• Was an award-winning British-born Indian

architect.

• Renowned for his initiatives in cost-effective

energy-efficient architecture.

• Built Houses for lower-middle to lower class

clients.

• Made many concepts related to low cost

housing.

• Died on 1 April 2007 at the age of 90.

 His works HAMLET

• The - Lourie Baker ’s

home

• Baker’s home in
TRIVANDRUM.

• INTERIOR of living
room
Baker also innovated different
bonding techniques for brick,
which allowed him to build of half-
brick thickness.

To add rigidity,
many a times these walls were
designed in a stepped or
curved form.
S Vishwanath
Director,BIOME

Qualification:
B.E, NIE Mysore
Master in Urban Planning, CEPT Ahmadabad
Chitra Vishwanath
Principal Architect & Managing Director
Of BIOME

Qualification:
Bachelor of Architecture, Ahmedabad
Cost-effective building materials and construction
technologies Research and development bodies in
India are
Central Building Research Institute (CBRI),

Structural Engineering Research Centre (SERC),

Centre for Application of Science and Technology to

Rural Areas (CASTRA),

Regional Research Laboratories (RRL),

National Environmental Engineering Research

Institute (NEERI)
 Thank you
"Cost-effective houses are not just for the poor, they are
for everyone.”