Reall’s Partner Opens Pioneering Precast Factory for Greener Affordable Housing

Reall partner, Janaadhar, are proud to announce they have completed a purpose-built precast concrete factory, which secures a substantial reduction in energy and water consumption for housing construction. The Reall-funded plant will produce modular housing panels which, when constructed on site, deliver green affordable homes accessible to low-income families across India.

The factory marks the onset of innovative affordable housing projects across the Bengaluru region, but also provides a sustainable construction blueprint which can be replicated and scaled across emerging markets in Africa and Asia.

Emma Ahmed, Reall’s Head of Operations Asia, said: “Janaadhar’s precast factory is an excellent example of how Reall and our partners are tackling the twin crisis of rapid urbanisation and climate change for people living on low incomes in markets like India.

“The factory increases our environmental credentials in India, reducing water consumption by 30% from normal construction techniques. It will also improve quality, speed and transportation costs, lowering the carbon cost of construction. Precast Concrete is just the beginning of our greener technology in India.”

Sandeep Bedi, Janaadhar’s CEO, said: “We at Janaadhar are extremely excited about our new precast production facility. With thanks to Reall’s investment, we have secured state-of-the-art, world class equipment. Innovation and sustainability are always at the core of everything we do, and we believe that bringing manufacturing efficiencies into construction is the only way to create high quality, sustainable buildings, on cost and at scale.”

Precast concrete – the lowdown

Precast concrete is an alternative construction method where walls and flooring panels are produced in a factory environment before structural components are assembled onsite. This approach has key benefits, including:

• Sustainability – Precast buildings typically have 20% less embodied energy, and use 30% less water compared to traditional onsite construction. This approach boosts Janaadhar’s green credentials and eligibility for EDGE certification
• Resilience – Use of concrete ensures resilience is locked in, providing protection against future climate shocks in vulnerable areas
• Energy usage – Janaadhar are exploring reducing the embodied energy of the precast panels further through decarbonising individual elements of the manufacturing supply chain
• Efficient and quality construction – This technique means better build quality, less material and resource wastage, and reduced delivery time result in design efficiencies, limiting carbon emissions and reducing maintenance costs for homeowners. Production is also not affected by poor weather or labour shortages

Factory highlights

• Situated near Bengaluru, India, the factory has been successfully built in under a year – a huge accomplishment despite the major impact of Covid-19 on Janaadhar’s team

• The plant has a production capacity of the structural building components required for approximately 800 affordable housing units per year

• A project for 306 housing units that will house students of Jain University is already underway

Reall are proud to partner with Janaadhar – together we are driving down the carbon cost of construction with innovative energy-efficient materials and technologies. Affordable green homes accelerate the transition to net-zero, drive inclusive growth, reduce emissions, and build resilience for people, for profit and for the planet.