Reflexión de la docente Nidia Yolanda Garzón Mora

 Cork flooring

 Linoleum flooring

 Bamboo flooring

 Eco-friendly carpeting

 Hardwood flooring

 Recycled hard wood flooring

 Natural stone flooring

 Recycled metal tiles

 Recycled glass tiles

102 – 372 150 – 340 136 – 340 204 – 884 204 – 816 340 – 2040 476 – 2380 2,040 – 4,760 2,380 – 6,800 Wall finishes  Zero-VOC paint (100 sq. m)  Natural paint  Wall paper  Wall tiles 120-240 140-300 40 – 2000 45 - 300 Window / door / ventilator frames (per sq.ft)

 Wood

 Aluminium (per length)

680 – 1,000 1,200 – 1,800

In the material details collected from the shop the bamboo flooring and linoleum flooring were low in cost. Recycled glass tile were more durable and expensive (Rs. 2380 – 6800).

3. Marketing tool

Effective marketing tools were followed so as to expand their shop and also meet the competitions in the industry. Web service was used by 80 per cent and newspaper by seventy per cent. Fifty per cent were advertising in the magazine.

4. Advantages and suggestions of green building materials

The response of the customer toward the eco-friendly materials differ because of their knowledge and awareness on green buildings. Majority of them responded green materials as reused products. Because the green building materials are friendly to the environment and it does not affect the nature. The common advantages that are given by the shop owners were the green materials are low maintenance and operation cost, energy efficient, and enhances indoor environment at quality. All the shop owners expressed that the cost of given green building is too high and it is the main disadvantage.

The suggestions were collected from respondent about the green building materials when suggesting eco-friendly practices was given by respondents, it was understood that majority of

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(90 per cent) them followed planting of deciduous shade tree to reduce energy use and evergreen to save energy and cold winter wind as well as follow xeriscaping in their landscape garden. 5. Criteria for selecting green building materials

Figure 1 : Selection Criteria of the Green Building Materials

It is clear that, the selection of materials largely depends on the durability, appearance, and thermal insulation. All of them expressed that the selection is based on conserving the environment. Around 80 per cent is selection is due to appearance of the material and thermal insulation is provides to the house. Sixty per cent of the selection criteria are based on the maintenance. Least performance is on the texture of materials and resistance.

CONCLUSION

It could be concluded that Green Building is the most important and environmentally responsible idea that more and more people need to adopt. This study identified the exciting developments that took place in the technology front and studied the availability of various materials in the market. These green buildings are dynamic environments that respond to their occupants‘ changing needs and lifestyle and that ―greening‖ will provide a tangible and significant return to the environment.

REFERENCES:

1. Gautham. R.K., (2001). Green Homes: Efficient, Healthy and Smart, BS Publication, Pp. 18, 150-200

2. Lorenz, D. and Lutzkendrof, T. (2008), Sustainability in Property Valuation – Theory and Practice, Journal of Property Investment & Finance, Vol. 26 No. 6, Pp. 482-521

3. www.grihaindia.org 4. www.spiritualityhealth.com 100 100 80 80 70 70 60 60 60 60 40 40 40 0 20 40 60 80 100 120

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A s i a n J o u r n a l o f

M u l t i d i m e n s i o n a l

R e s e a r c h

( A J M R )

NATURAL FIBRES FOR HOME TEXTILE APPLICATION

*Assistant Professor, ** Retired Dean,

Faculty of Home science and HOD, Department of Textiles and Clothing, Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and

Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore, INDIA.

______________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT

Natural fibres are obtained from natural source either from plant or animal or mineral source. The fibres extracted from the nontoxic and non edible crops is of great potentiality these days. The products made from these fibres are cent percent eco friendly and bio degradable. The products which are known for cradle to cradle effect instead of cradle to grave effect are also well appreciated. This study focuses on the extraction of the fibres from the abundantly available nonfood crop Agave americana and conversion of the fibres into fabric mixing cotton to it to improvise the properties suitable for home textiles. The ribbed woven structure was prepared. And also it was dyed with natural dye and converted into home tech products. These were evaluated at each stage for the required parameters to fulfill the requirements of home tech. Cotton-Agave Americana ribbed woven madder dyed original sample was noted to have good in general appearance, bright in colour, high in lustre, smooth in texture and uniform in dye shade as per the ratings of majority of judges. The performance studied sample showed decrease in ratings in the above parameters. The colour fastness properties of cotton-Agave americana ribbed woven scoured, bleached, madder dyed and performance studied sample showed a marginal difference to crocking and light, over original sample. The tensile strength, elongation, stiffness, weight and thickness were slightly reduced in performance studied runner samples over original sample in both warp and weft directions. The performance studied samples showed an increase in fabric count, wicking, sinking speed and drop immersion speed.

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1. INTRODUCTION

Natural fibres are obtained from natural source either from plant or animal or mineral source. The fibres extracted from the nontoxic and non edible crops is of great potentiality these days. The products made from these fibres are cent percent eco friendly and bio degradable. The products which are known for cradle to cradle effect instead of cradle to grave effect are also well appreciated. This study focuses on the extraction of the fibres from the abundantly available nonfood crop Agave americana and conversion of the fibres into fabric mixing cotton to it to improvise the properties suitable for home textiles. The ribbed woven structure was prepared. And also it was dyed with natural dye and converted into home tech products. These were evaluated at each stage for the required parameters to fulfill the requirements of home textiles.

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

The materials and the methods used are discussed under. 2.1 Extraction of Agave americana Fibres

The leaves are fleshy and require mechanical decortication for separation of the fibres, the method of decortication was adopted for extraction of the fibres from the leaves1. The leaves of equal length were arranged together and fed into the decorticator. The fibres obtained were washed, dried and combed when slightly wet, using a suitable brush. Combing was done to separate the short fibres from the long fibres2.

2.2 Softening, carding and spinning of Fibres

The oils are often used on fibres as lubricants to help spinning efficiency3. Hence, to lubricate and soften, the Agave Americana fibres, these were cut into suitable length and then treated with Turkey Red Oil and piled up for 24 hours. Then the treated fibres were carded using breaker cards. Slivers obtained from breaker card were fed into this machine, ten slivers at a time for obtaining uniform slivers. The slivers obtained from the finisher card were fed into intersecting drill draw frames of passage I, II and III subsequently for drawing. Two or more slivers from the finisher card were fed into the passage I. This was passed through passage II and passage III of the drawing machines to obtain more regularity and uniformity in the yarns4. The sliver of Agave Americana were first drafted in the flyer drafting field which is often designed on a three-roller- two-apron-drafting unit. From the drafting field the drawn sliver was transported over the flyer top into the flyer log which exists at the bottom. The vertical movement necessary for the winding is accomplished by the bobbin. Because the flyer operates at a constant speed, the vertical movement and the revolution per minute have to be adjusted continuously according to the bobbin diameter. The limit of rotation per minute for the flyer is about 1300 to 1500 rpm 2.3 Weaving Process

Sizing of the warp threads was done to Agave americana to reduce the effect of friction during weaving. Fabrication was done using power loom to prepare cotton-Agave americana, ribbed structure.

2.4 Processing of Fabrics

The woven fabrics were scoured and bleached for assessing the important property changes. These fabrics were also dyed for making it suitable for different end uses. Scouring is

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a pretreatment process that removes the dirt, dust, acquired impurities including batching oil, added in spinning5. Hydrogen per oxide bleach as it is free from chlorine atom unlike chlorine and chlorite bleaching, and it also improves product quality6. Natural dyes were applied for selected fabrics to make them suitable for different end uses.

2.5 Dyeing of Fabrics

For madder dyeing, alum was used as mordant. Pre mordanting technique was used for the study. The madder dye powder was made into a paste, and mixed in water. This mixture was boiled for 30 minutes and the fabric was immersed in the dye bath and left for 30 minutes. The material liquor ratio followed was 1:20. Alum was mixed in water and boiled. The dye dipped fabric was then immersed in the mordant solution and left for 60 minutes. This was then washed using soft cold water and then dried in the shade. The dyed fabric samples were then analysed for the colour fastness to washing, rubbing and light.

2.6 Conversion of the Ribbed Woven Cotton-Agave americana Fabrics into Products

The ribbed woven cotton-Agave americana fabrics were converted into table napkins, mats and runners. The prepared products were subjected to application study by imparting 10 washes after use. These were then evaluated subjectively and objectively, for colour fastness properties. The nomenclatures of the samples are: CARSBM – Cotton Agave Ribbed Woven Scoured Bleached Madder Dyed sample and CARSBMW - Cotton Agave Ribbed Woven Scoured Bleached Madder Dyed Washed sample.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The results of subjective and objective analyses of ribbed woven samples are presented and discussed under.

3.1. Subjective Evaluation

The findings of the subjective evaluation of ribbed woven madder dyed samples are given in Table -I

TABLE – I

VISUAL ASSESSMENT RATINGS OF RIBBED WOVEN FABRIC SAMPLES