For various reasons in the 3rd world today, the poor build their own
shelters from among others corrugated iron, wood etc. I'm looking for
a (building) material to produce panels for the construction of
prefabricated low cost housing as an alternative to informal
shacks/sheds. The material/panels must be durable, water and fire
resistant and cheap (preferably made out of recycled materials such as
plastic, rubber etc.). It must also be light weight and easy to handle
so that construction can be done with minimum training, cost and
labour. Is such technology available or being researched and
accessible on the internet?

Hi! Thanks for this very interesting question.

There are a number of alternative construction materials for
prefabricated housing. Materials such as straw bale, ferrocement,
Calcium silicate products, composites and other cheap wood based
materials are currently being used for low cost housing.

Straw bale construction provides 
affordable, efficient housing
http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:lLdAvWoeemEC:minneapolisfed.org/pubs/cd/98-fall/straw-bale-construction.html+Alternative+building+materials+%2Bfor+prefabricated+low+cost+housing+&hl=en

This article gives additional discussion about straw bale.
http://strawbale.msun.edu/cen_demonstration_house.htm 

This one is from the Philippines using wood and wood based materials.
This one is called an F-house and boasts that it can outlast
permanently built homes if properly maintained.

Unfolding a new technology by Florence Pascua-Soriano
http://www.itto.or.jp/newsletter/v11n1/2.html 

The next article discusses the use of ferrocement in parks but it also
mentions that it has been used in low cost housing. One thing I like
though is that according to the article termites cannot damage this
material.

SUITABILITY OF FERROCEMENT TO REPLACE TRADITIONAL MATERIALS FOR
NATIONAL PARK FACILITIES
http://www.mered.org.uk/Hornbill/Saip.htm

Cement and Wood Combine to Improve Philippine Housing by Ann Milligan
http://www.aciar.gov.au/downloads/publications/PARTNERS/Cement__wood-wooPart14.pdf

Calcium silicate products with crushed building and demolition waste
http://www.iscowa.org/wascon2000/abstracts/myabstracts01.htm 

Composites can also be used as an alternative building material for
low cost housing.
http://www.tifac.org.in/news/build.htm 

This one from Durisol has a product specifically for low cost housing
needs in a 3rd world country
http://www.durisol.com/Non-ICF.htm 

------------
The following articles discuss alternative building materials for
low-cost housing and might be of interest to you

Rational Building Systems
http://www.modular-design.net/design/rat.html 

The following article is about the different materials used for low
cost housing in Malaysia.

CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY FOR LOW COST HOUSING 
by: ASSOC. PROF. IR. MAHYUDDIN RAMLI, FIEM, P.Eng, Charter MIFS 
Deputy Dean
http://www.kpkt.gov.my/jpn/artikel/arti05.htm 

An analysis of the Prefabricated Housing Industry in the Philippines
http://www.tradeport.org/ts/countries/philippines/isa/isar0005.html 

I hope this would help you in your research. Thanks for being a part
of Google Answers.

Regards,
Easterangel-ga

You may also want to contact the Building product manufacturers
themselves, as they are the experts in their particular product fields
(Roofing, Siding, Structural Steel, Etc..)  A good resource for
finding who manufactures certain types of products is
www.CMDFirstSource.com where you will find contact information on most
Building Product Manufactures in the US as well as information on
their products if they have provided them.

Jim

You can have a look at Asbestos sheeting, it is very common in India.
have a look here, http://www.eclipsescientific.co.uk/informationsheets/asbestos.htm
thank you,

Hi!

Look into the work of Nader Khalili.  "...California architect/author
is the world renowned Earth Architecture teacher and innovator of the
Geltaftan Earth-and-Fire System known as Ceramic Houses, and of the
Superblock construction system. ... Since 1975 he has been involved
with Earth Architecture and Third World Development, and is a U.N.
(UNIDO) consultant for Earth Architecture, the Ceramic Houses and
SuperBlock Technologies. In 1984 the award for "Excellence in
Technology" went to him for the innovation of the Ceramic Houses
system, from the California Council of the American Institute of
Architects (CCAIA), and in 1987 Khalili's project "Housing for the
Homeless: Research and Education" received a Certificate of Special
Recognition from the U.N. International Year of Shelter for the
Homeless and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)."
(excerpted from http://www.calearth.org/naderkha.htm )

You can find details, explanations, photos, and illustrations of Cal
Earth's work throughout the site, but this is a good start...
http://www.calearth.org/photogal.htm

Best of luck!

A well-established low-tech building material is rammed-earth blocks,
made with a CINVA ram.  The ram is a simple press, easily and cheaply
fabricated.  This is not quite what you are looking for (it doesn't
lend itself to offsite prefabrication) but can be a useful complement
to a more panel-based building material.

For a page of "rammed earth" links (CINVA ram and other technologies),
check this URL:

http://www.hahaha.com.au/rammed.earth/links.htm

A simple search will also turn up numerous sites containing
discussions of the ram, plans for its construction, and photos of
various styles of ram and the buildings made from the resulting
bricks.  Sample Google search:

"CINVA ram"

I've seen books published on constructing homes with tires.... yes
rubber tires.

People a paying to get rid of them.  They a problem in our landfills. 
The won't burn clean.  Kill two birds (lack of housing, and
environmental problems) with one stone.

moladi is a local manufacturer (Port Elizabeth, South Africa) and
global supplier of a fast track building system that offers: -
An affordable technique to effectively build durable, earthquake,
cyclone resistant shelter, whilst maintaining acceptable design
aesthetics for social acceptability amongst a wide range of cultures
An alternative way to enable and empower sections of society by
providing a building technology that encourages self participation
A cost effective, holistic design and build technology, that far
outweighs many of today's retrofit schemes designed to strengthen
existing poorly designed structures by demonstrating the use of moladi
as opposed to costly solid concrete-block or masonry structures.
A realistic modern alternative to overcoming the widespread misuse of
scarce materials, particularly timber, by introducing a system that
combines moladi with other indigenous materials suitable for easy
handling
 
We provide and assist in:
On site training and video
Technical manuals and support
Design or Architectural assistance 
Professional Engineering support 
Quality procedures 
Suppliers and Purchasing databases 
Formulation of Contractual Agreements 
Advertising and Marketing assistance 
Proprietary Technology 
Software packages 
Information Technology Data Bases 
 
Creating job opportunities and facilitating the speedy delivery of
much needed, low cost quality houses, clinics, schools etc. 
Communities are trained and assisted to build their own houses quicker
and for less than conventional brick and mortar.
You are invited to visit our website at: www.moladi.com to have a look
at the advantages that warrant moladi being awarded the prestigious
South African Bureau of Standards Design Award and how you, your
organization and communities can benefit from this Technology.

Quickwall specialize in housing estates and project construction of
high volume low cost housing, in the form of bungalow, link, five
storey walk-up and high rise configurations. We have developed
innovative and unique Construction methods that can only be achieved
because of the quality of our propriety building products. This
combination producing a finished product that is a quantum leap ahead
of conventional methods.

Our portfolio includes low cost housing estates, high rise buildings
through to military housing and commercial buildings in many countries
around the world such as South America, Australia, New Zealand,
Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and China.

We have a new technology that uses waste as a building material.  www.quickwall.com

http://www.itdg.org/ Intermediate Technology Development Group provide
loads of info on technology for developing nations.

And they do excellent publications: http://www.itdgpublishing.org.uk/

Specifically:
Appropriate Building Mini-Library     
Description: 
Consists of Appropriate Building Materials (197), Stone (3604),
Building with Lime (7270), Building with Bamboo (199) and Building
with Earth (3978).