Browsing by Author "Gunawardana, SGW"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

item: Conference-Abstract
Rapidly constructed two storey thermally comfortable houses for tropical climates with light weight loadbearing concrete panels
(2019) Eric, TB; Gunawardana, SGW; Hasalanka, HHH; Jayasinghe, MTR; Damruwan, HGH
Apartments in tall buildings are often promoted as a solution to rapid urban migration that is happening in the world. However, all the apartment houses that have been undertaken in many parts of the world in large cities have not resulted in desirable results all the time. Therefore, it would be prudent to have high-density developments on small blocks of land with detached or semi-attached housing. Such high-density developments will be a special challenge in tropical climates when the urban heat island effects are considered since a high density of houses can often lead to lack of green cover, and hence to have somewhat higher temperatures than the averages predicted for that locality. The other biggest challenge that is faced in countries with tropical climatic conditions is the extensive use of natural resources based walling materials like fired clay bricks, concrete blocks, etc.; this practice has led to over-exploitation of natural resources and hence it is prudent to explore the possibility of using alternative sources that will use much less amount of natural resources. In this context, converting various types of waste materials to a useful building material will also play a major role. One such material is the lightweight concrete panels produced to have 70% of the volume as air using recycled already used Expanded Poly-Styrene (EPS) panels manufactured in modular form with the dimensions of 0.6 m of length, 2.4 m of height and in thicknesses of 75 mm, 100 mm, 150 mm, etc. The use of panels instead of individual small units will allow rapid construction of a house, and it is shown that it is possible to complete one such house having about 200 m2 with a rooftop terrace in less than 30 working days by employing 6 Nos of semi-skilled workers. In a detailed study carried out on with the tropical climatic conditions prevailing in Sri Lanka as a case study, it is shown that there are so many strategies that can be very effectively used to make such houses extremely thermally comfortable while almost eliminating the heat island effects even if a high density has been achieved with individual blocks as small as 200 m2. The research paper is intended to describe all these aspects by taking an actual two storey house with roof terrace constructed in Sri Lanka in the wet zone.
item: Conference-Abstract
Three-storied apartment buildings constructed using lightweight EPS concrete panels for tropical climatic regions
(2019) Gunawardana, SGW; Eric, TB; Jayasinghe, MTR
As the cities are creating more and more office spaces, education centres and public services, people tend to move towards cities for work, education and better services. One of the important barriers of keeping people from moving towards cities is the availability of land. Lands are getting more congested and the prices are skyrocketing. Apartments can be a solution for affordable accommodation. However, with the presence of scarcity for natural resources like sand and metal, the time and labour required to construct an apartment building, the cost of constructing apartments is increasing. Thus, making it a dream to live near a city even for an upper middle-income family. In addition, apartment buildings in tropical climatic regions are well known for their higher operational energy to provide a comfortable living space. Concrete frames, concrete walls, and the cement sand blocks make the building to absorb and transfer the heat towards the living spaces. Therefore, the use of EPS based lightweight load-bearing wall panels is considered to be an attractive solution. This paper will discuss the suitability of the above-mentioned wall panels in the construction of apartment buildings in relation to various aspects as follows. The integration of applicable building regulations for apartments with the dimensions of the precast wall panels, creating a thermally comfortable sound environment with less need for artificial cooling, the time saved from applying finish coats of various natures for a smooth finish, a structural and architectural guidance to create effective apartment layouts, how the land is recovered by having a flat roof which is resistant for lightning and harsh wind conditions such as cyclones which are very common in the tropical climatic regions and some detail of the ability to have a cost-effective foundation system due to the less dead weight of the structure are discussed.