Smart building system for construction sector
THE Smart Industrialised Building System (Smart IBS) is a research and development product of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, headed by associate professor Dr Abdul Kadir Marsono together with associate professor Dr Ahmad Mahir Makhtar and associate professor Dr Marsine Md Tap.
It is a building system based on precast concrete technology with smart mechanical joints.
The system has been registered for National Patent Filing on August 11 2010 and Indonesia Patent Filing on August 26 2011.
Dr Ahmad Mahir said Smart IBS is designed to address issues in the construction industry such as uncompleted and abandon projects, delays, low quality works and the dependency on foreign labour in the construction industry.
"The edge of this system over others in the market is its flexibility, of which similar components are used for various types of buildings up to six storeys," he said, noting that housing projects and schools are among industries that will benefited most when Smart IBS is used.
Dr Mahir said projects can be completed faster as components are made in the factory and supplied to the site, ready for assembly.
"The usage of Smart IBS provides other benefits such as cleaner and safer construction site, less labour on the site and the implementation of build-then-sell concept is then possible," he said.
He said the system which is connected through a bolt and nut connection provides the possibility for the building to be extended vertically and horizontally.
Smart IBS is green technology as it uses concrete based products and the components are recyclable as joints are made of mechanical joints.
Connections between beams and columns can be extended to embed earthquake protection devices, to strengthen buildings against earthquake, high winds or tsunami.
"The system already embeds earthquake resistance technology of which it is designed with earthquake resistance up to 5.5 richter scale," he said.
Dr Mahir said with the number of houses approved in 2010 and 2011 and completed in the first half of 2010 and 2011 respectively, Smart IBS offers the solution for the long due issues in the housing industry.
He said since Smart IBS applications are not limited to the housing industry alone, the overall construction cost is expected to reduce as the scale of the whole market is huge.
"The commercialisation of Smart IBS is through Smart IBS Sdn Bhd which was incorporated to manage the licensing of the Intellectual Property of the products," he added.
Source : New Straits Times
Date : 18 December 2012
Afternoon Highlight (18/12/12/217/692)
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