Dr Ruth Saint R.Saint2@napier.ac.uk
Research Fellow
Affordable and sustainable green homes for underprivileged people in Africa.
People Involved
Prof Francesco Pomponi F.Pomponi2@napier.ac.uk
Visiting Professor
Project Description
A product service innovation providing affordable, fast, modular & sustainable construction technology using a new-age construction material "Composite Paper Honeycomb Panel”. The panel has two components - an inner core (paper honeycomb made with recycled paper) & outer face material (any local materials like cement board, wood, stone, etc.). This new-age wonder material can replace traditional construction materials & reduce the carbon footprint on the planet ( by 80% ). Composite Paper Honeycomb Panel is an evolutionary product that replaces non-eco-friendly materials like (wood, polyurethane foam, rock wool, and mineral wool) in their respective applications while preserving the key virtues of their usage. Composite Paper Honeycomb Panel is an eco-friendly, versatile, flexible & lightweight material that has excellent compatibility with other materials & an excellent strength-to-weight ratio. It combines with plywood, steel, plastics, fibre-reinforced plastic & many other materials as its sandwich faces to form some of the strongest composite panels for its weight and dimensions. It is more economical (50%), Super-fast (10x), a Space saver (50%), having zero carbon footprint, making it a boon to our planet. Large-scale usage of paper honeycomb can drastically boost the aim of preserving nature.
The housing affordability crisis is one of the biggest challenges the world is facing today. Access to decent, affordable housing is fundamental to the health and well-being of people and the smooth functioning of economies. But most cities struggle with the dual challenges of housing their poorest citizens and providing housing at a reasonable cost for the low and middle-income populations. The huge affordable housing demand and inadequate supply have created a big void in the market. Presently, 330 million urban households around the world live in substandard housing. By 2025, about 440 million urban households worldwide, and at least 1.6 billion people globally occupy crowded and inadequate housing. Land prices are so high that the lower and middle-income group finds it impossible to construct a house at a reasonable cost. Also, the traditional building methods are so time-consuming that it is impossible to provide housing to the community using the same old-age methods. We want to eradicate the housing affordability crisis using our innovative, carbon-neutral construction technique. We envision a holistically sustainable pathway for future generations by providing affordable housing solutions to bring back social integration and social cohesion, while simultaneously considering the economy and environment.
Status | Project Complete |
---|---|
Funder(s) | Royal Academy of Engineering |
Value | £19,923.00 |
Project Dates | Dec 12, 2022 - Dec 12, 2023 |
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