Low Cost Building Construction made by Disaster Resistant Affordable Shelter (DRAS) Country: India Organization: Shelter Promotion Engineering & Research Council (SPERC) 2) Focus of activity: Technology 3) Start Year: 2006 Assemblage of three side walls 4) Positioning in the mosaic of solutions: • Main barrier addressed: Low individual purchasing power • Main principle addressed: Radically lower the cost of the entire housing delivery process 5) Description of housing product/service offering: This proposal addresses a solution of technical design, which offers 'DISASTER RESISTANT HOUSING WITH IN THE AFFORDABILITY OF A COMMON MAN OF A TYPICAL DEVELOPING COUNTRY'. As DRAS makes housing affordable, highly durable and quite safe, it would be an ideal system of 'providing housing for all'. (1) DRAS is an innovative technology of a safe shelter system of precast ferrocrete (ferrocement) components, which can be easily assembled as a disaster resistant house, using simple bolts and nuts. (2) Our organisation would offer it not only as a technology package of affordable safe housing, but also suggests viable financing and housing delivery system. (3) Obviously the final beneficiaries of DRAS technology are low-income and marginalised groups of the societies of any developing country. Further, as it provides effective technical solution for urgent post- disaster rehabilitation shelter systems, even for any developed countries, the victims of other natural and manmade disasters would be another section of beneficiaries. (4) So far as 'housing delivery' is concerned, DRAS adds an innovative concept, which enables the people to order the 'purchase of house', that can be assembled and delivered with in a day or two, as a ready-to-use product. For example - with DRAS technology a house would be a product like a 'Bicycle', which can be ordered and the supplier brings all the components to assemble and deliver it as a ready to use product. 6) Description of innovation: DRAS is innovative, because: (I) It can be built without masonry & concrete: Ofcourse it needs cement, sand, steel mesh, etc., but in lesser quantities, when compared to conventional construction. But, it dose not require conventional clay bricks / conc. blocks, aggregate, steel rods, etc. (II) DRAS can be built with in a day or two : As it involves precasting, the construction by assembling these components with the help of bolts and nuts, will be quite fast. (III) It can be ordered & purchased as a ready-to-use product: Unlike conventional housing, the DRAS need not be constructed at site over a period of few months. If DRAS is ordered today, it can be made ready at the user's site, with in a couple of days. (IV) This house can be dismantled and re-installed: It can be dismantled, because it is assembled of bolts & nuts. As it can be dismantled, it can also be re-erected, elsewhere at different location or it can be re-installed at the same location, whenever it is needed and that too, wherever it is required. (V) It is fire-proof & earthquake / cyclone resistant : It is fire-proof compared to conventional huts, because it is made with cement & steel. It is earthquake resistant, because it is built with ductile ferrocrete (ferrocement) construction, and also because it attracts lesser earthquake forces as it is relatively thin and light weight. It is cyclone resistant because it offers flat roof and it is heavy enough not to get blown away by the mighty cyclonic winds. (VI) It is economical, as it needs less cement & steel and it involves pre-casting. A PERMANENT HOME OF -DRAS- COSTS LESSTHAN US $1,000/- ONLY. IT IS A BELOW-ONE-THOUSAND- DOLLAR HOUSE. (VII) DRAS consumes lesser construction materials, leading to conservation of natural resources and environment. (VIII) It does not require highly skilled labour. It can also be mechanized for fast & bulk production. 7) Benefits to clients: (a)DRAS offers high potential technology of affordable and safe housing for the whole globe. An efficient production and delivery system makes it most popular in the world, with in few years. (b)With this technology localised production units are to be established for manufacturing the precast components at village levels. Demonstration houses are to be erected. Manufacturing / delivery / erection tasks of this housing is to be organised by these local units. As DRAS offers 'ready to use end product of house', the delivery model can be as simple as supplying ready-made products at the doorstep of the beneficiary. Where as the financing and collection of repayments is to be parallelly organised by the experienced financing or banking systems / entrepreneurs. (c)Finance packages are to be worked-out and wide publicity is to be given about such packages among all the anticipated beneficiaries (d)Hence, it needs either a dedicated network of NGOs or efficient commercial corporations with their franchise network or public - private partnership ventures / co- operative corporate companies to utilise this technology on sustainable basis. (e)If the commercial banks can offer long-term housing loans, the DRAS can be quite affordably owned by the poor families around the world with less than US $0.5 as repayment per day per family, as per the financial figures worked out in the Indian context. Similar financial figures may be reflected in respect of other developing countries also. HENCE THE DELIVERY MODEL OF D.R.A.S., PARTICULARLY IN FINANCIAL TERMS IS QUITE VAIBLE AND GOING TO BE MOST POPULAR, SIMPLY BECAUSE IT IS VERY MUCH AFFORDABLE. 8) Key operational partnerships: No doubt, that the final beneficiaries of DRAS technology are low-income and marginalised groups of the society. But, as a TECHNOLOGY RESOURCE ORGANISATION we cannot reach them effectively in a big way, around the globe. Hence, WE WOULD LIKE TO SHARE THIS TECHNOLOGY PACKAGE (on mutually agreable terms and conditions) WITH A GOOD INTERNATIONAL N.G.O. OR A NETWORK OF N.G.Os or a proven public-private partnership systems or even with any popular commercial corporations with high social responsibilities. Partners are to establish precast componants' production units of their own or their franchaise network, at village levels. Delivery of precast components & erection of DRAS housing is also to be organised by these units. Whereas, the financing & collection of repayments is to be parallelly organised by an efficient financing / banking system. As DRAS offers 'Ready to use end product of house', the delivery model can be as simple as supplying ready-made products at the door-step of users. With in a fraction of million U.S. dollars investment, our SPERC will (technically) prove that, this innovative housing system would be effective and efficient disaster resistant affordable shelter technology. If any of the said partners from any part of the globe are willing to come forward for producing DRAS units, and are ready to fund this financial support, we offer it as a technology package on mutually agreeable terms. 9) Financial model: The beneficiary of poor family can afford to own a permanent disaster resistant house(DRAS), if they can afford to repay the long-term loan of only Rs.20/- (less than US $0.5) per day per family. (Please refer the below item 9-b for details.) • Costs as percentage of income: 20% • Financing: SIMPLE HOME-LOAN FROM BANKS, ENABLES AFFORDABILITY OF DRAS FOR POOR FAMILIES. To illustrate it, cost details are presented in the Indian context: (1)A DRAS unit costs about Rs. 40,000/-(lessthan US$900 only)for a 250 sq.ft. size, which offers safe shelter for a family of 3 to 5 members. If this amount is offered on a long-term loan by commercial banks at the current interest rates, IT MAY COST ONLY Rs.20/-(LESSTHAN US$0.5) PER DAY REPAYMENT PER FAMILY, WHICH WOULD BE QUITE AFFORDABLE FOR ANY POOR FAMILY. (2)DRAS can be built for Rs.150/-(about US$3.5)per sq.ft., where as the conventional housing costs about Rs.300/- (about US$7.0)per sq.ft. Even a thached hut of mud walls, costs about Rs.100/-(say US$2.25)per sq.ft., which is highly vulnerable to fire / cyclones / earthquakes 10) Effectiveness • Project outcomes: This whole innovative technology, DRAS is at the demonstration stage and have demonstrable success. We are to reach out to big NGOs / co-operative / commercial corporate companies, who have to produce it in mass for delivering them to the marginalised groups of the society. We just believe that, this competition on affordable housing would be a right opportunity to identify dedicated partners for DRAS. • Number of clients in past year: Not applicable at this juncture. • Percentage of clients that are poor or marginalized: 80% • Potential demand: The magnitude of DRAS potential would be simply in millions per year, since DRAS is the basic need of more than six billion human beings of the globe. Say for example, if a developing country like India has to meet the shortfall of rural housing over next ten years, it needs more than one million rural shelter units to be built per year. Similarly for the other developing countries of the world. Using the conventional technologies and available resources, it would be almost an impossible task for India or for any other country. In this context, this innovation offers technical solution, even without the intervention of their Government. It offers disaster resistant shelters with in the affordability of rural poor, and safe rehabilitation housing, during emergencies. If it is popularised, its potential would be in millions per year. 11) Scaling up strategy • Stage of the initiative: Start Up stage. • Expansion plan: Our SPERC would like to tie-up with an efficient partnering organisation / corporation, to start producing DRAS units and marketing the same from the scale of few hundreds of units per year to few hundred thousands of units per year, by the end of three years. 12) Origin of the initiative: DRAS is the initiative of SPERC, an NGO founded with a great social objective of finding technical solutions to provide permanent affordable housing to all the poor people across the globe. -SPERC- IS A 'TECHNOLOGY RESOURCE ORGANISATION' OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING. SPERC has already released few innovative housing technologies (please visit our web-site www.geocities.com/spercindia for details). DRAS is the latest invention of SPERC, which is the encouragement / motivation / inspiration of the Great Spiritual Masters of Shri Ram Chandra Mission.
