Fiber cement offers perfect fit for affordable housing

MANILA, Philippines - The Mahaphant Group of Thailand - one of Asia’s leading manufacturers of building construction materials – has proposed the use of fiber cement for the quick construction of affordable yet long-lasting homes, particularly as the Philippines continues to grapple with destructive typhoons and a massive housing backlog.

Fiber cement - which is made up of Portland cement, silica, water, and wood pulp - is an increasingly popular building material known for its sturdiness. Used in a variety of applications, such as roofing and walling, it lends itself to quick construction while providing cost-effectiveness and high-quality aesthetics.

“Fiber cement is one of very few building materials that provides benefits and value to both consumers and builders for small-to-large scale and simple-to-complicated installation of building constructions,” said Veerasak Kittinanthakool, vice president for marketing of The Mahaphant Group’s Shera brand, during a recent housing conference in Makati City.

“Fiber cement products offer numerous housing solutions and advantages over other traditional materials. Completed housing made of fiber cement has the capacity to be affordable for all housing segments,” Kittinanthakool added.

Shera’s own highly sophisticated engineering technology in the modern production methods has expanded the functionality of non-asbestos fiber-cement as being the sustainable and green building material for fasttrack construction.

Fiber cement products are highly durable, flexible, fire-proof, and water-, chemical corrosion- and insect-resistant. These qualities make it the ideal material for fast construction in areas with challenging weather and geographic conditions. Kittinanthakool mentioned that this can help in post-Yolanda rehabilitation efforts, especially in the Visayas region where providing permanent housing for affected families remains imperative.

Further, by combining structural integrity with cost-effectiveness, fiber cement fits well with the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association (SHDA) estimate of a demand for 10 million affordable housing units in the next 15 years.

According to Kittinanthakool, fiber cement lends itself to fast-track construction because the wide-ranging applications of fiber cement give homebuilders more types of material to already work while lessening labor requirements.

He noted that Shera provides the most complete range of construction cladding materials from ceiling down to flooring. He also shared that the high quality of Shera products match international standards and that they have been used in major ventures that sought to build structures in areas affected by serious calamities.

For instance, Shera’s fiber cement products were essential in the quick construction of around 300 schools in the Kashmir region in Pakistan under the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Earthquake Emergency Assistance Project after a 7.6-magnitude earthquake devastated the region in October 2005.  Shera products have now been widely used in mass and modern housing estates and affordable housing projects in many countries, such as in the Netherlands, Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Malaysia and Brunei.