Mud as a building material for self-help rural housing : a case study of Kallamadi Village, Andhra Pradesh, India | |
| Author | Reddy, Polimera Ranganatha |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no. HS-90-17 |
| Subject(s) | Mud Housing, Rural--India--Andhra Pradesh |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Master of Science, School of Engineering and Technology |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. HS-90-17 |
| Abstract | Housing for the poor is one of the important issues for a developing country like India with t he majority of it' s population living in substandard housing in rural areas. Conventional building materials used in forma l housing construction are scarce , expensive and often beyond the means of peasants . Alternatively people in the rural areas depend more on locally available building materials . Mud is one such locally available building material which is commonly used in India. Despite the fact that mud houses need heavy maintenance, people construct and live in mud houses because they are within their means, thermally comfortable and easy to construct. Improvement in some o f the properties of mud can make it as an appropriate building mat e ria l for self-help housing in India . A segment of Kallamadi villagei n Andhra Pradesh state, where people have used mud extensively for house construction has been studied . The major objective of t he study is to determine the scope for reintroducing mud as a durable building material for self-help rural housing . The methods of improving water resistant properties and compressive strength of mud are taken from a de t ailed review of available literature on mud construction technology . A survey was conducted cover i ng the socio- economic conditions of the peasants and the technical aspects of their mud houses. SPSS computer program was run to determine the relations hip between the variables of primary data and simple Chi-square tests were applied for hypotheses testing . Analysis of databased to the proposal of a new construction system which is based on t he scientific principles of traditional mud construction using stabilized and compacted mud as the basic building material . CASAMO -CLIM computer package was used to analyze t he indoor thermal comfort conditions of three types of houses namely traditional mud house, conventional house and proposed house. A comparative cost and comfort analyses was conducted among these three types of houses . In cost and comfort analyses, the proposed house is proved to be thermally comfortable without artificial cooling or ventilation throughout the day and cost wise within the means of the peasants . Recommendations include steps in planning for a self-help housing project using proposed construction system and it' s implementation procedure. |
| Year | 1990 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. HS-90-17 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Engineering and Technology (SET) |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Human Settlement (HS) |
| Chairperson(s) | Lefebvre, Bernard G.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Weber, Karl E. ;Pichai Nimityongskul ;Etherington, A. Bruce |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Canadian International Development agency (CIDA); |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1990 |