The Green Homes project in Nepal aims to promote sustainable housing technologies through three main goals: 1) Creating a favorable policy environment for local green technologies by revising building codes. 2) Strengthening small and medium enterprises in sustainable housing to increase local jobs and competitiveness. 3) Improving public awareness and demand for green products through information campaigns and a green labelling system. The project addresses Nepal's critical needs of sustainable urbanization, economic growth, and poverty reduction by making core development investments like construction more environmentally friendly.

1. Green Homes
Sustainable Housing Technologies
NEPAL
A project supported by the EU SWITCH Asia
Sustainable Production and Consumption
Presenter: Paula Pennanen-Rebeiro, HSO, ROAP 1

2. 01/02/2014
Introducing Nepal
Area 147,181 sq km
Popul. 2011 26,5 million
GDP/capita US$619 (2011)
Human Dev
Index
0.463 (157th)
Geographic regions
Terai plains below 500 m
Hills 500m to 3000m
High
mountains
over 3000 m

3. Urbanisation in Nepal
• Market towns along hill trails created larger towns, such as Pokhara
• Towns in Terai, southern plains, emerged as gateway to India; the hill
people migrated during 1970s-80s and more towns emerged
The strategic,
fertile location
of Kathmandu
Valley created
its historic
cities and the
present urban
agglomeration
of 6.7 M people

4. Why “Green Homes” in Nepal?
• Climate change is threatening economic growth
and well-being (Nepal Climate Change Policy 2011, National
Shelter Policy 2012)  Government needs policy
enforcement support
• Unplanned urbanisation has increased flood and
earthquake damages in cities  Cities need
better disasters risk planning
• Because of the high poverty rate, development
focus remains on poverty reduction

5. Joint UN-Habitat - EU Response
Green Homes: housing solutions
which reduce the consumption of
natural resources and produce less
harmful emissions and waste
Relevance: housing sector is a major
sector of employment and economy
in Kathmandu Valley, but also the
major source of pollution and
disaster risks
 Opportunity to make the core
development investments more
‘green’ by effective construction
sector policy guidance and
regulations, and reduce poverty by
sustainable employment creation

6. Nepal’s housing technology constraints
i. Construction markets are unfavourable for
local green building technologies – cheap,
unsustainable imports, no policy guidance
ii. Limited capacity of small & medium-size
enterprises’ (SMEs) to increase their own
competitiveness
iii. Low level of consumer knowledge on local
green technologies

7. Goals of ‘Green Homes’ project
I. Create a favourable national
and local policy environment
that promotes sustainable
technologies often produced
locally
II. Strengthen SMEs and their
supply chains to increase
competitiveness of local green
products
III. Increase public awareness and
demand for sustainable
housing products and designs

8. How do we do it?
I. Policies & plans revised and enforced
• Revision of Nepal National
Building Code to include
specific regulations for better
quality standards and
environmental considerations
• Guidance from Nepalese,
Asian & European best
practices
• UN-Habitat supports urban policy-making, planning and disaster
risk reduction capacities of central and local authorities: the
Kathmandu Valley Development Authority, the Ministry of Urban
Development, and 3 pilot districts

9. How do we do it?
II. Stronger SMEs, more local jobs
• Supply chains of SMEs improved for
sustainable housing technologies & products
by staff skills training and market assessments
& strategies
• Poverty is reduced by SMEs and individuals
being able to provide more employment for
the urban poor in local construction industry
 priority on unemployed youth and women

10. 01/02/2014
Green techniques: Five focus areas

11. How do we do it?
III. Better public knowledge, more demand
• Demand for sustainable housing is increased by
intensive consumer information on the benefits and
availability of local products and services
• Marketing campaigns and eco-fairs on energy efficient
buildings, water and waste management
• Voluntary Green Labelling System set up in Nepal to
inform consumers & promote products
• Guidance from Nepalese, Asian & European best
practices

12. Summary - the added value of the
Green Homes approach
Project addresses several most critical concerns of a
Least Developed Country government:
• long-term sustainable urbanisation and climate
change, medium-term economic growth and
immediate poverty reduction/employment
issues
• tackles problems at the critical but challenging
areas of evidence-based policy-making and
implementation and financing city development

13. 01/02/2014
Project partners
1 Overall implementation
2 Training and capacity building
3 Water and waste management
4 Energy and
climate change
5 Green buildings
6 SME mobilisation

14. Thank you for your interest
ご清聴、ありがとうございました。

15. 15

16. 16
Green Building
Household level composting alternatives

17. 17
Grey water management at household level

18. GREEN & SUSTAINABLE BUILDING MATERIALS
Available green materials in Nepal
 Hollow concrete block
 Soil -cement Block / CSEB
 Strawbale
 Earth rammed
 Bamboo
CSEB Hollow concrete block
Strawbale
Earth rammed
Bamboo
Prercast