LOW COST HOUSING PROPOSAL

A PROPOSALFOR Low-Cost HOUSING

Background of the project:Nepal lies in one of major earthquake prone areas. Recently, a powerful earthquake 7.9 magnitude with epicenter in Barpak, Gorkha, hit Nepal. The earthquake was followed by a number of powerful aftershocks. As a result of this natural calamity, Nepali people suffered massive loss of life and property as well as major infrastructures. Number of buildings have collapsed and more than one thousand buildings were assessed as having a minor to moderate damages and number of houses. A rapid installment of low-cost building needs made as soon as possible as the affected people are forced to live underneath a small plastic sheet. In the lack of alternative, many people are still living in damaged houses which leaves them vulnerable as aftershocks are hitting Nepal one after another. In today's scenario, housing has become a major problem for every Nepalese citizen who have lost their house and are forced to live in a slum condition. Necessity of a good shelter is increasing day by day. But many people are not in a position to build new house due to the sky rocketing cost and short supply of building materials. The introduction of low-cost house can minimize these problems and may act as a good and hygienic shelter to those affected people. Low cost housing is the concept of providing shelter to people with effective budgeting and following the techniques which helps in reducing the cost of construction through the use of locally available materials along with improved skills and technology without compromising on strength, performance and life of the structure. Low cost house is a concept of proper management of locally available resources. It is also economic as finishing works can be postponed to a later time.

Project Introduction: People are suffering from housing problem since the earthquake has affected their house and turned down buildings into debris. They cannot dream of having a quality house as the cost of construction is increasing due to skyrocketing prices of construction materials and lack of sufficient manpower for project design and planning. Low Cost Housing is a new concept which deals with effective budgeting and following of techniques which help in reducing the cost of construction through the use of locally available materials along with improved skills and technology. It is done by proper management of resources. Basically the project has number of components: bamboo housing, bamboo based enterprises, energy production and resource rehabilitation. We have designed the low cost housing for the single unit family as well as multi-unit family by making the best use of construction materials i.e. by using the debris, locally available building materials, reducing plinth area i.e. 250-600 sq.ft.Building cost: The overall cost of the building is minimized as we make use of the locally available building materials. The labor cost can also be reduced by putting in place effective time schedule. We are planning to reduce the cost of the building as much as possible by using number of technique and strategy which are listed below:Areas from where we can minimize the cost of the building Reduce plinth area by minimizing the thickness of the wall Using locally available building materials in innovative ways. Use energy efficient building materials. Use environmentally friendly materials which may work as an substitute for doors and windows frames. Pre-plan every component of a house and rationalize the design procedure for reducing the size of component in the building. By using the debris of demolished house.

The overall the cost of building is divided into two parts: 1. Building material cost: 65 to 70%2. Labor cost: 20-30%

Objectives: To provide good and healthy environment to earthquake victims To identify different design parameters of housing To justify and make solution of the weakness from the collected data and information. To design a house which is eco-friendly and have all the necessary spaces, including safe evacuation route. To provide complete assistance and support to earthquake victims. To plan an operationally efficient, functional and healing housing environment. To insure their safety and security.

Project Justification:Nepal has always been considered vulnerable to earthquake. Recently, Nepal had to face massive loss of life and buildings due to the earthquake of magnitude 7.9 with epicenter in Barpak of Gorkha followed by series of aftershocks. More than 600,000 people have become homeless and many more people are suffering from psychological stress due to damage in their houses and buildings. Most of the affected people are in remote areas of the country. They are living in a tent and under a single plastic sheet i.e. tarpaulin. Necessity of house is increasing day by day in terms of security, climatic condition and so on. In today's condition, people are unable to construct their house as soon as possible due to skyrocketing cost of building materials. Hence, the new concept of low cost house has arrived as a solution for such problem where most of the building materials used are locally available. Similarly, cost can be lowered as much as possible by using debris and by reducing the plinth area but not compromising on basic requirements.Our small initiation of constructing low-cost houses will increase living standard of quake-hit people, protect them from bad weather, and help the children to get out from the psychological trauma caused by the earthquake.

Methodology:

LOW COST HOUSING

JUSTIFICATION AND OUTPUT ENVISAGED

ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK

PROJECT SITE VISIT AND ANALYSIS

FINALISATION OF REQUIREMENT ALONG WITH AREA

MASTER PLANNINGDESIGN CONCEPT DEVELOPMENTARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND DETAILING

Expected Output: Create a low-cost building for earthquake victims. To get maximum benefit from the space available. To design in an environmental friendly way. To design the good built environment for quake-hit people. Design a building that is environmentally sustainable by using natural resources.

The conceptual design:

Conclusion:Overall the low-cost house is designated for earthquake victims in remote areas of Nepal. The cost of the house is reduced by compromising on building materials but not on structure. Similarly, the final cost of the building depends on nature of the building to be constructed, availability of building materials, construction management technique and so on. We need to adopt better planning and design methods. We have qualified manpower with the experienced engineer, architect and numbers of volunteer for supervising the works, thereby achieving overall cost effectiveness to the extent of 30% in actual price.5