Hariyo Ban Program Building Material Selection and Use An Environmental Guide WWF Nepal, Hariyo Ban Program PO Box: 7660, Baluwatar, Kathmandu, Nepal T: +977 1 4434820, | F: +977 1 4438458 [email protected], www.wwfnepal.org/hariyobanprogram Building Material Selection and 1 Use: An Environmental Guide Hariyo Ban Program Building Material Selection and Use An Environmental Guide Building Material Selection and ii Use: An Environmental Guide © WWF 2016 All rights reserved Any reproduction of this publication in full or in part must mention the title and credit WWF Cover photo credit: Brick factory © WWF Nepal, Hariyo Ban Program/ Amit Pradhan Published by: WWF Nepal, Hariyo Ban Program PO Box: 7660 Baluwatar, Kathmandu, Nepal T: +977 1 4434820, F: +977 1 4438458 [email protected], www.wwfnepal.org/hariyobanprogram Disclaimer: This environmental guide is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this document are the responsibility of WWF and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. Building Material Selection and iii Use: An Environmental Guide Acknowledgments Many people contributed to this guide. We are very grateful to Missaka Hettiarachchi, WWF-US Fellow, and Charith Fonseka, Lecturer, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka for undertaking extensive research and writing the guide. Many people reviewed it or helped in other ways, including Mr. Padma Kumar Mainalee, Deputy Director General, Department of Urban Development and Building Construction; Diwat Shrestha, Training Director, Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training; Sanjaya Uprety, Associate Professor, Institute of Engineering; and Chandra Laxmi Hada, Anita van Breda, Judy Oglethorpe, Jennifer Pepson Elwood, Keshav Khanal, Sabitra Dhakal and Rabindra Shah from WWF. Amit Pradhan and Jyoti Shrestha undertook production management. We are very grateful to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) for supporting Hariyo Ban Program’s green recovery work, including production of this guide. In particular, Netra Sharma Sapkota and Bronwyn Llewellyn provided support and encouragement for the green recovery work. Building Material Selection and iv Use: An Environmental Guide Building Material Selection and 1 Use: An Environmental Guide Introduction Two massive earthquakes that hit Nepal on 25 April and identified promoting the use of safe and green building 12 May, 2015 caused far-reaching social, economic and materials and reuse of disaster debris as a key principle for environmental damage. Thirty-one of the country’s 75 environmentally sound reconstruction. If sound practices are districts were affected leaving over 8,790 deaths and 22,300 not used, we can create many future problems such as erosion, people injured. A total of 498,852 houses were categorized deforestation, landslides and floods; deprive communities of as fully collapsed or damaged beyond repair and 256,697 essential livelihood resources; and put people, infrastructure partly damaged. The earthquakes triggered thousands of and ecosystems at greater risk of future disasters. Practical landslides that destroyed 2.2% of forest cover in six affected guidelines for sustainable construction material sourcing districts (National Planning Commission 2015). Material and use are rare in Nepal. This guide to responsible building demand to rebuild half a million destroyed houses and other materials aims to provide guidance on sound practices for infrastructure will put much additional pressure on Nepal’s government, NGO and UN staff involved in relief, recovery and already stressed natural resources. reconstruction after major disasters. Nepal has a wealth of building materials which, if selected, extracted, processed The Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA), Rapid and used in a sound manner, can make a major contribution Environmental Assessment (REA) and Post Disasters Recovery to better and safer reconstruction without creating additional Framework (PDRF) carried out by the Government of Nepal environmental problems for the future. The aim of this publication is to provide general guidance for engineers, Aim architects, project managers and technicians working in disaster reconstruction projects in Nepal to select, source (or procure) and use building materials in an environmentally responsible manner. It is assummed that users have a basic knowledge about building materials and the construction process, but not advanced technical training. Building Material Selection and 2 Use: An Environmental Guide © Samir Jung Thapa Communities at risk due to landslides in Rasuwa Building Material Selection and 3 Use: An Environmental Guide Building Material Database for Nepal Key Concepts Think through the whole supply chain. Environmental and social impacts from for optimal design rather than either over-engineering or creating rigid requirements building materials can occur at any point in the supply chain, from sourcing raw can reduce material waste by allowing some flexibility in construction and in material materials, through processing and delivery to the site. This includes the social and options. For example, if one material or size is not available locally another can be environmental practices of manufacturers. For example, do working conditions at used in its place to achieve optimal design instead of importing additional materials the processing plant meet responsible standards? Is the processing plant disposing to fit a very specific requirement. Following material-specific storing and handling of leftover material in an environmentally and socially responsible way? However, guidelines also helps extend the shelf life of materials and ensures that materials are the first criterion for an environmentally responsible material is the safety of the not damaged and needing to be replaced. structure built using it. “Not safe” is “not green.” Use local sources where this can be done in a sustainable way. Local procurement Only support sound and legal sourcing of materials. In large-scale, post-disaster of materials can be a more environmentally sound strategy than the procurement rebuilding, the demand for raw materials can quickly outstrip the supply of natural of distant materials through reduced carbon emissions from transportation and resources, such as clay for bricks, sand for cement, and trees for timber. For natural resource use in packaging. Give priority to materials selected or processed example, unsound excavation of clay or clear-felling of timber on steep hillsides to with traditional knowledge. When using local materials, however, project managers rebuild hundreds or thousands of houses increases the risk of landslides and top soil should make sure that extraction, processing, and use do not put people’s health or erosion. Such environmental damage can increase risk and jeopardize the success environment at risk. of the overall recovery effort. Project managers should be aware of the sources of their building materials and make sure that they establish contract specifications Use disaster debris as a reconstruction material. One of the most environmentally for the use of sound and legally sourced materials. Using materials that have been sustainable options for construction projects in a post-disaster setting is the reuse of officially certified is one strategy for ensuring that materials have been sourced building materials in disaster debris. If using disaster debris, project managers must sustainably. Material sourcing, processing and use should be socially equitable. Any ensure that the debris meets applicable specifications for strength and safety. form of material sourcing that puts a disproportionate burden on women, children, differently-abled or socially marginalized is not sustainable. Furthermore, material Use materials with recycled content and recycle as much as possible. Materials with sourcing should not adversely impact established local livelihoods. recycled content are widely available, one example is cement produced with fly ash from coal-fired power plants. Project managers should consider using building Design to use fewer materials and reduce waste. In designing structures such as materials with recycled content where practical to reduce demand on natural houses, project managers should consider ways to effectively meet humanitarian resources and lower the project’s human and environmental impacts. Left over needs with fewer materials. Reducing packaging materials and designing structures material or material packaging should also be considered for reuse, repurposing, with standard material sizes can help to prevent waste of materials during the and/or recycling. transportation and construction phases. Designing structures and specifying materials Building Material Selection and 4 Use: An Environmental Guide © WWF Nepal, Hariyo Ban Program/ Samir Jung Thapa © WWF Nepal, Disposal of waste material after reconstruction is always a challenge Building Material Selection and 5 Use: An Environmental Guide Assessing material Project Cycle and Materials sourcing and reuse options, environmental 01 impact assessments, asessing livelihood Inception and Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Project environmental (GESI) issues related to vision (e.g. carbon materials neutral, green building); Material related decisions in a construction project are not regulatory and social all made at one time. Different