Sustainable Materials in Housing: Modroof for a Transformative Roofing Solution.
February 04, 2022
Ayushi Garg, UnATHI Fellow - Haryana
Introduction
Housing improvement is a key part of the housing sector’s economy and directly influences livability for households. Improvement through sustainable and affordable design solutions is an expanding initiative. Sustainable housing shall ensure that the needs of the households and their day-to-day concerns are addressed along with achieving environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainability. A significant case-based example of this explanation of sustainable housing could be understood by learning about modroof, an innovative product solution created by ReMaterials to address the challenges of inadequate roofing.
The IHF team visited the ReMaterials factory in Ahmedabad to meet Mr. Hasit Ganatra (Founder, ReMaterials) on November 16, 2021 as part of the interactions scheduled for UnATHI Fellows during the team’s convening. ReMaterials was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Ahmedabad. The purpose of this visit was to get exposure to an enterprise’s journey of creating a unique product for sustainable housing. This was an opportunity for the IHF team to meet and learn about Mr. Hasit’s experience in designing modroof, the advantages or disadvantages and applicability of the material in the construction of houses. This interaction contributed to the team’s capacity building in the field of housing by familiarising ourselves with the experiences of an expert and an early stage enterprise.
Context
Millions of houses in slums and villages use tin or metal sheets as roofs but constantly poses the challenges of: trapping heat during summers; loud sound and leakage during monsoons; and damage or wear out resulting in recurring repair-costs. Such challenges perpetually interfere with people’s quality of living. The reliance on this temporary material is often due to lack of affordability or insecure land tenure. The available alternative is the conventional concrete roof which is commonly used across the world. Such roofs may not be affordable and do not have good insulation properties. Taking this into account, ReMaterials has engineered a sustainable, modular roofing system, called ‘modroof’, which has an estimated lifespan of over 25 years, with requirement of only minimal maintenance.
Mr. Hasit interacting with the IHF team at the ReMaterials factory
Photo Courtesy: IHF
Innovation in Modroof
The idea of Modroof came up when Mr. Hasit along with his colleagues were undertaking a study for expansion of rural solar electrification technology across villages and slums in four states. They observed poor quality roofs in the majority of the 600 houses that were surveyed. They also observed that 70 percent of houses remained incomplete under different government schemes due to limited subsidy and lack of affordability for building a pucca roof. Thus, this problem could be solved through a unique and innovative product which is durable, sustainable and affordable such that it meets the roofing requirement of low-income households. The main component of the ‘modroof’ roofing system is that the panels are made of recycled materials including packaging and agricultural waste. The product is custom manufactured and is convenient for shipment, installation and replacement of individual panels. Modroof’s aesthetic appearance and promising solution makes it an aspirational product.
ReMaterials has worked on defining the product requirements. They have undertaken repetitive research to enhance the quality of their product. They identified the possible failures in the product and worked on resolving them. They underwent this journey in the following four stages of the product:
The first version was a sturdy small block made of cardboard material but it absorbed water and was not leak-proof. In an altered version they used mixed materials of natural fibres and binders along with cardboard to make a waterproof material.
In the second stage, they created beam structures and did synthetic coating of the panels such that they are water and UV proof.
In the third stage, they connected the beams with the enhanced panels but their structure was thick and bulky. It had beams in the middle of two panels and included the provision for including electricity wires and water pipes.
Eventually, at the fourth stage, they have designed the perfect product of robust panels condensed in thickness yet highly durable.
They have tested their prototypes for multiple impacts of: torrential rain and resulting leakage; heavy weight resistance; fire or fire-cracker damage proof; and vandalism. Eventually the final version of the product has been tested in the field through its usage by low-income families and has obtained validation for the solution.
Mr. Hasit along with the different stages of modroof’s design displayed at the entrance of the factory.
Photo Courtesy: IHF
To expand the usage of the product, ReMaterials partnered with Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), Mahila Housing Trust (MHT) and Saath Charitable Trust which are pioneering citizen sector organisations (CSOs) working closely with low-income communities. ReMaterials partnered with micro-finance companies such that the households could leverage credit if they could not afford the cost of the roofing immediately. The roofing through these panels cost about Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,00,000. Mr. Hasit shared that the weight of the current panels is 3.5 kg per sq ft. Initial manufacturing price was Rs 1600-1700 per sq ft which has now reduced to approximately one-fourth of it.
Initially, Rematerials was a sustainable solution willing to cater to the low-income segments of the society, but owing to the economic slowdown due to the pandemic, they decided to expand their product’s reach to the high-income groups as well. Two offices in the ReMaterials factory have roofs made of their own product. As per their estimates, modroof can support multi storey structures of upto three floors. They have developed a product that holds the potential to compete with conventional contemporary materials or products.
Key Takeaways
Power of Ideas
The team at ReMaterials reflects an entrepreneurial mindset guided by the motivation of a simple yet powerful idea of ensuring adequate roofing for houses. The enterprise has taken its journey, evolution and experience in its stride. It has demonstrated its ability to capture the idea, bring it to life and sustain it. The passionate and self-motivated approach with which the discussion took place in the ReMaterials factory speaks volumes about the committed intention to solve a part of the challenges surfaced in low-income housing.
Contribution to sustainable housing
Team at ReMaterials includes professionals who are chemists, product engineers and site engineers with relevant knowledge and capacity to carry out extensive research and development of their solution. Modroof is an innovative, good-quality, time-efficient and affordable product which has been improved over time and contributes to the housing sector by meeting customised demand. ReMaterials is upscaling its sustainable solution to serve its customer segments of both low-income and middle or high-income groups. This attempt suggests that sustainability shall not be ‘imposed’ on low-income housing; rather, the product shall be made aspirational and the creators of the product and the high-income households shall also use it. This makes sustainable housing a collective responsibility.
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There is an immense scope for practicing sustainable housing across income groups in India. Incorporating residents’ experiences and perceptions of housing can support government and non-government actors to deliver affordable and sustainable housing. The sustainability momentum shall create critical linkages between different approaches, stakeholders and communities as they shape or improve the built environment.