Eco-friendly concrete blocks launched

At a time when all industrial sectors are moving towards a "green" alternative in order to contribute to the environment, here comes an eco-friendly option in construction business - Renocon Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) blocks.

R P Selvasundaram, chairman and MD of Renaatus Procon Pvt Ltd (a subsidiary of the RPP group), lanuched the concrete blocks in the city on Wednesday. "It is expensive, but it has lot of advantages such as high energy and low thermal conductivity, which result in low weight of the block compared to bricks. It also reduces the air conditioning cost of a building," said Roopmathy Anand, a renowned architect, at the launch.

This earthquake-resistant Swedish technology, which was first used in 1929, has been successful in other regions like Middle East and China as well.

The future of this new renewable and recycable concrete blocks looks promising in the State as the real estate is booming in Tamil Nadu. Builders like Akshaya Homes are already using these blocks in their buildings on a smaller scale.

"Once we are promised with enough supply, we will definitely go for this block on a large scale. Initially, it might be dufficult to convince a customer as it is slightly expensive, but once the awareness is created, it is sure to mark its place. Within next five years, all the bricks will be completely replaced by AAC blocks," said Chitty Babu, CEO and chairman of Akshaya Homes.

The only challenge, according to the Selvasundaram, is the small number of masons available to produce the blocks. So, increasing in the man power will help to produce the blocks in lagre numbers. 

As of now, the company produces 21000 blocks per day in order to support projects of any size. "The promotion of such product is very crucial to reach the customers, especially when we are particularly targeting the middle class," says Selvasundaram. He also said that the government was also supporting them in many ways.

When the construction field is already trending in contributing to the environment, this particular change is welcomed by many, though the future of this entirely remains in the hands of the end customers.