Three-storied apartment buildings constructed using lightweight EPS concrete panels for tropical climatic regions

Abstract

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.