National Housing Corporation bets on new technology to cut cost of building

By Margaret Kanini and Isaac Messo

Nairobi, Kenya: The cost of home ownership is projected to reduce drastically by about 30 per cent if a new technology is adopted.

Besides, the Expanded Polystyrene Panels (EPS) is expected to cut down on the time spent to construct a home or property by about 50 per cent.

EPS Managing Director Andrew Saisi noted that the new technology targets middle and low-income class, as the country seeks to enable more Kenyans own affordable and improved housing. “If the new technology is correctly installed and accepted by Kenyans, it would enhance the ability of Kenyans to own affordable and better houses,” he said, during a tour of the factory in Mavokoni Wednesday.

National Housing Corporation has been exploring ways to enable Kenyans own homes and reduce housing shortage in the country and view the new Italian technology in the housing sector as part of the solution.

Heavy machinery is used in the chain production of the polystyrene panels, a task that would take several manual workers to finish.

 The panels also require very little concrete to reinforce the buildings and little manpower for the construction, which makes it cheap.

The state corporation has invested billions of shillings in the production of the polystyrene panels for the construction of housing in the country.

Besides, the new technology is very strong, making the new houses resistant to earthquake and storm, besides being fire resistance, easy to install and sound proof. The Italian technology has been used in Europe for over 60 years, but only penetrated the Kenya market late last year.

More than 30 local Kenyans have been trained on the new technology and are currently working with the agency.

NHC targets to construct more than3,000 houses annually, however, the only challenge is lack of raw material to support the project.

The steel and the polystyrene beads, which are the key raw materials for the production of the polystyrene are all imported from china, India and Italy.