by Viju Mangalore for Daijiworld News Network - Mangalore

Mangalore, Feb 1: Building ones dream house remains only but a dream with the ever-rising land costs and building materials. Although banks are on their toes to offer home loans, the final cost is a huge sum. Here is one man who has makes dream houses affordable by using German technology.

Good news for people of the undivided DK district this technology comes again in a modified style and more suiting the climate of the coastal belt.

The six-storied hotel at Luzern in Switzerland build by Karl

All credit to German Company Thermbau Berlin owner Captain Karl Neugebauer who brought this technology to the twin district a few years ago. Speaking to press persons at Udupi on Tuesday Neugebauer said that his company has developed a building concept that minimises costs significantly by using high tech technology. More than 270 houses, apartment buildings, commercial complexes, clinics have been built in India and Europe based on the concept.

By using high-density, insulated concrete form system (ICF), which gives much higher compression strength than bricks and stones, a sandwich construction is made with a core of highly heated insulating expanded polystyrene (EPS). He further explained that during construction, a special concrete mix is poured in specially designed aluminum moulds to create a heat insulating-highly load bearing wall structure.

The system is also used successfully for earthquake resistant buildings such as the Red Cross Hospital in Armenia, which withstood an earthquake of 7.2 on the Richter scale.

Having studied Vaastu in India, Neugebauer decided to base himself here in Mangalore and has been constructing houses using this technology - the first constructed at Moodbidri.

One of the first houses built by Karl in Moodbidri

Capt Karl Neugebauer in his military career became the group captain in the German Air Force and flew 747 Boeings for Lufthansa. Later he came twice to India to study Vedic Sciences and since 1986 and later became a student of Vaastu. All his house designs strictly follow the principals of Vaastu. Married to an Indian, Capt Karl's Indo German Constructions Co has built several houses in Shimoga, Moodbidri, Mangalore and Manipal. Presently, Neugebauer has set up his office at Lalbaugh in Mangalore

Building castles in the air does not cost, but building dream houses will however cost less with the modified German technology.