Sustainable Building Design and Construction in Nepal with ...

Sustainable Building Design and Construction in Nepal
with reference to Urban Housing: Issues and Proposed
Measures.
- Manohar Rajbhandari, Nepal
1. Introduction
Out of three basic needs of human being, i.e., food, clothing and shelter; the toughest and most
difficult to meet is shelter. Rapid urbanization of Kathmandu and other major urban centers has
resulted in haphazard urban growth with subsequent concentration of population and their
socio- economic activities within the urban area. This has resulted in spiraling cost of land,
building material and labour. This paper tries to highlight the major issues and proposed
measures for design and construction of earthquake resistant and affordable urban housing in
Nepal.
2. Contextual Background
A survey carried in the year 1990 indicated that there were altogether 3 million houses in Nepal of
which 90 percent were in the rural area and only 300,000 in urban areas. The survey also indicates that
the total number of dwelling units required for the period of 2002 to 2006 is 174,900. Hence the
demand for houses is 34,980 per year. This is due to rapid urbanization, especially in Kathmandu, due
to job opportunities in the capital city and recently, sadly, due to political insurgency in rural areas.
Urban areas are undergoing considerable growth without concomitant growth in employment,
infrastructure and basic services. As per National Census 2001, the growth rate of urban and national
population is recorded at 3.56 % and 2.27 % respectively, with total urban population recorded at 3.25
million ( 14 % of national population of 23.15 million). Its urban growth rate of 5.89 % and
urbanization rate of 3.79 % (1991 census) was the highest amongst SAARC countries.
To fulfill the demand for housing, government, financial institution and private sector have lately
started organized housing and related activities.
The government sector has started number of Land Pooling or Land Adjustment Projects. More that 11
Land Pooling Projects covering 242 hectares of land have been implemented successfully.
During last five years numbers of private housing developers have stepped into this market. There are
more than 42 numbers of housing companies registered with the government and by next year, 600 to
800 units will be ready. They are providing the buyers with a variety of housing schemes and locations
in Kathmandu, Pokhara, Lumbini and Dharan. The phenomenal success of the housing companies has
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proven that there is tremendous potential for housing industries in Nepal. Some of the housing
companies are joint ventures between companies from neighbouring country and those of Nepal. Also,
some of the designs have been done by foreign architects.
3. Major Issues
3.1 Status of Building Structures
Most of the structures done by housing developers are with RCC frame and all of them claim that they
have designed earthquake resistant structures. Recently government has made it mandatory to adopt
The Nepal Building Code for all new constructions. The Nepal Building Code covers all aspects of
buildings. It has 23 volumes for Design requirements, Material Specifications, Guidelines, Architectural,
Electrical and Sanitary requirements and Safety requirements. This has initiated new problem, what
about the buildings built before implementation of this Building Code In my opinion, only option now
left for the owners of those buildings is to get assessment of their buildings for structural safety from
qualified structural engineers. If the assessment reveals that a particular building is not safe, then the
owner of that building should adopt strengthening by retrofitting of the structure. Strengthening by
retrofitting of existing structure is a new topic, which is not well known even by most of the practicing
engineers, forget about the common public. May this forum members can lend helping hands in training
this new subject to Nepalese Engineers.
Recently the Kathmandu Metropolitan City and Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City have made it
compulsory to submit detail structural designs of buildings for getting permission for their construction.
Moreover, municipal engineers have started checking the structural designs and making necessary
rectifications, if found faulty. This could be considered as a positive step in the field of construction of
safe structures.
3.2 Public Perceptions on Safety of Buildings
Due to massive publicity by news media about effect of recent tsunami and earthquake in Asia Pacific
Region, many individual house builders have shown their concerns regarding the safety of buildings,
especially in case next big earthquake occurs. This increased awareness, in itself, is a good sign.
However, lot more is desired in making public aware of the affect of earthquake and of a need of
constructing earthquake resistant buildings.
Recent seismic activity in Himalayan belt shows that there is a slip deficit- a non-recurrence of
earthquakes to release the stress that is accumulating. The most notable area of concern is the central
Himalayan Gap, a 600 km. long central area of the Himalayas. This area has the potential to generate
several earthquakes of magnitude 8 or more. The 600 km. long Himalayan Gap lies in Nepal. A survey
carried out by a Japanese team shows that 400,000 people will die and 95,000 will get wounded in
Kathmandu Valley, in the event of such an earthquake. Hence, it is imperative that the design and
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construction of housing must be done, keeping earthquake safety into consideration. More efforts on the
part of concerned government and local authorities is needed to make people aware of the gravity of
situation.
3.3 Urban Poverty and Implications on Housing.
According to Nepal Living Standards Survey (NLSS)/ World Bank (1996), 23 % urban households fall
below poverty line, compared to 44 % rural households and 42 % Nepalese as a whole. Due to poverty,
people can not consult structural engineers for design of earthquake resistant structures. They construct
their houses with the help of local labour contractors, who themselves do not know about construction
of safe structures. Moreover, due to low budget, they are forced to use low quality construction
materials, resulting in construction of weak structures.
Also, use of Low Cost Construction Technology can be helpful to meet the demand of housing for poor
people. Some NGOs, like SLTD, Lumanti are active in this field. SLTD is promoting the use of precast
light weight slabs, concrete blocks for the construction of low cost and earthquake resistant structures. I
think this Forum can come forward in promoting use of such technology, which will go a long way in
helping the group in society who can not afford for decent building construction.
3.4 Limitations faced by Private Housing Companies
The biggest problem for the housing companies is to find sizeable area within urban area and lack of
proper legislation. Hence it will be very fruitful if the housing project and land pooling (adjustment)
project go in tandem. This will also serve in sorting out the present regulation of requirement of 7 m
wide approach road for housing project.
3.5 Poor Technical Skills of Construction Labor Force
Most of the labour force involved in construction is from farming community, without any
training in basic construction trade. It will be very beneficial to them, if some sort of training
regarding construction technique is provided to them. There are number of schools in Nepal,
which could take up initiations in this direction.
3.6 Institutional Issues (Government Institutions, Professional Bodies, Educational
Institutions, Contractors Associations)
Lack of co-ordination and concerted approach amongst various organizations in the field of
planning and construction technology is apparent in Nepal. For example, lack of proper
regulatory framework along with a long and tedious land acquisition process contributes to
additional costs and time delays during project formulation. It is necessary to formulate a
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detailed planning and design guidelines for housing projects. Most countries have accepted
design standards and it would not be difficult to create one that is compatible to the Nepalese
context- probably by basing it on those of the neighbouring SAARC countries.
However, these guidelines need to be realistic and while catering to public health and safety,
they should also attempt to understand the economic impact on the market and maintain project
validity. Failure to do so immediately would mean that the quality of housing developments
would not be regulated and could lead to substandard products whose only selling point would
be the price advantage. It could also adversely impact the entire planned housing industry
including those that work towards maintaining a certain standard for development.
4. Proposed Design Options related to Construction Materials and Technology.
For safe and affordable housing, less material and hence, less dead load and appropriate
technology, should be the criteria. Pre-cast slabs, pre-stressed hollow core slabs for horizontal
structural members and high strength R.C. columns and wall elements of light weight concrete
blocks for vertical members, without loosing aesthetics of the building and of simple
configuration may be the answer.
References:
1. National Shelter Policy 1996, HMG , Ministry of Housing and Physical Planning,
Nepal
2. Housing for Urban Poor in Nepal : Issues, Challenges and Vision for the Future,
written by Mr. Umesh B. Malla, published in Shahari Bikas, 2005
3. Cost Effective Building Materials and Construction Technology for Low Cost Housing
in Nepal, written by Mr. B.L. Shrestha, presented in National Seminar on Science and
Technology held from March 8-11, 1999.
4. The Nepal Building Code.
5. Country Report on “ Housing Market ( Real Estate Business) in Kathmandu and
towards Developing a Sustainable Building Planning in Nepal”, submitted by Mr.
Shashi Bahadur Thapa to Asian Forum on 12 January, 2004.
6. Article published in a newspaper “Economist.”
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