A Pune-based company has developed products for the construction industry that are environment-friendly and help to cut down on the maintenance cost of any structure. Excerpts from an interview of the company's technical director by Huned Contractor:

Green Build Products (I) P Ltd is a Pune-based company en gaged in manufacturing speciality products for the building and construction industry. The company has recently developed unique products that are self-curing and offer 100 per cent water saving and hassle-free construction. Developed for the first time in the world, these products have acquired international patents and are claimed to improve the quality of construction and the life of the building/substrate along with saving costs related to labour, machinery, time and the use of natural resources. In this interview, Mrs Shilpa Joshi, Technical Director, Green Build Products, elaborates about what makes their products different and environment-friendly. Excerpts:

Could you give us the background of the company as to when and how was it formed?

The company was formed in April 2005 by me and Pradeep Joshi for the purpose of offering products useful in the construction activity.

What are the products that you offer for the construction industry?

We have a range of products broadly categorised into three types, viz., 1) Construction products that include pre-polymerised wet mix jointing adhesive for bricks and blocks, pre-polymerised wet mix plaster material for bricks and blocks and pre-polymerised wet mix grouting material; 2) Repair products that include wet mix crack sealers, and 3) Coating products that include various grades of acrylic coatings from 160 to 2,000 micron thickness offering different grades of protection.

What are the ecological USPs of these products?

These products utilise environmental pollutants and wastes, do not cause global warming, and help to save water and energy consumption.

What prompted the development of such products?

The promotion of high-rise buildings to meet the growing demand of space has necessitated a one-time quality concept to extend the life of the structure and minimise its maintenance. Further, the shortage of educated/trained labour is now a major constraint in achieving high quality construction benchmarks. Environmental deterioration in terms of air, land, water pollution has become a serious concern for us today and the heavy consumption of natural resources such as water has added to its rationing all across the world. Also, the release of carbon into air has significantly contributed to green house effects. Therefore, all these concerns led us to develop products that would prevent environmental degradation during the construction process. 

Have any specific tests been done to prove that these are environment-friendly products?

No, but the raw material sourcing itself shows that the products are eco-friendly. The process of manufacturing that cuts down on the use of water is in itself enough to justify the fact that these are environment-friendly products. Moreover, these products use the environmental pollutants and do not use river bed silica.

Are you conducting any further research to introduce new variants of such products?

There are new variants, which will be introduced shortly.

What is the estimated potential of the market for such products?

It can be put to use wherever cement and sand are used as raw materials in non-structural areas of construction.

Do these products cost more than the already available conventional products?

Not exactly. We need to see the hidden costs involved in conventional construction to be able to do a comparative study such as the water cost for curing, labour from the initial to the last stage, energy requirement in associated activities, etc. Red bricks usually are very uneven in size and shape and consume excess material than required, thus increasing the cost of construction with our products. However, on blocks and fly ash bricks the products are superior in all aspects when compared to the conventional products.

How will the end user benefit from the use of such products?

The end user will get value-added construction as our products add to the strength of construction and offer water resistance and crack resistance, thus minimising the fungal growth. This helps in significant reduction of the maintenance cost. Besides, the end user also supports in keeping the environment green, saving water, etc.

What has been the reaction of the builders? Are they willing to switch over to environment-friendly products?

The response has been very good. We have found willing support from most of the builders as there is growing awareness amongst them and the use of any product that is environment-friendly also adds to the discharge of their corporate social responsibility.

As of now, most of the builders are keen on going beyond the installation of rain water harvesting systems and solar panels and they want to use construction materials that will truly make the buildings green. 

Can you name some of your clients?

We have a growing client list that includes Shapoorji Pallonji Ltd, Magarpatta Township, Hotel Bawa International, Unity Infraprojects, B G Shirke Construction Technology, Kolte Patil Developers, etc.