Our projects> Climate Resilient Low Cost Buildings in Marsabit County, Kenya

Climate Resilient Low Cost Buildings in Marsabit County, Kenya

Closed

Combination

Buildings and housing

Energy

Call 5

Kenya

Time consumed

Start: 18-Apr-16 End: 30-Jun-20

Lead Nordic partner

Häme University of Applied Sciences Ltd. (HAMK)

Country of Lead Nordic partner

Finland

Local partner(s)

Strathmore Energy Research Centre (SERC) , Marsabit County Government, Department of Energy Lands, Housing and Urban Development

Other partner(s)

UN-HABITAT

NCF grant size

497,660

Total project cost

1,086,764

Technologies

Improved cookstoves, Solar photovoltaic systems

Methods

Sustainable construction solutions

Country of implementation:

Kenya

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Description

The project creates models for sustainable low-cost buildings and energy-efficient renewable energy technologies in hot and arid climates by providing affordable and quality housing options for low-income people.

The county of Marsabit is located in the hot and arid northern region of Kenya, it is one of the most undeveloped regions in the country where water and energy are precious resources and the people in the... The project creates models for sustainable low-cost buildings and energy-efficient renewable energy technologies in hot and arid climates by providing affordable and quality housing options for low-income people.

The county of Marsabit is located in the hot and arid northern region of Kenya, it is one of the most undeveloped regions in the country where water and energy are precious resources and the people in the area are struggling to adapt to the increasingly harder climatic conditions. A majority of the population in urban areas live in informal settlements without provision of basic services and housing units are made of iron sheets that hardly protect from the extreme climatic conditions. Need for housing infrastructure development is thus one key development areas of the region.

Despite availability of good soil for construction and local stone quarries, lack of technology, resources and knowledge to use local construction resources is leading to an unsustainable building industry. This pilot project will become a training field and showcasing of sustainable construction and energy efficiency technologies for future building projects by both the public and private sector throughout the country. To support this process the project will work with the local government to include sustainable building and Energy Efficient/Renewable Energy measures in local building regulations and bylaws.

This project will address mitigation of climate change by developing building models with the private and public sector that can reduce the embodied energy in building and the energy, fuel and water consumption. The project will also address adaptation to climate change by developing models less dependent on scarce resources like water, firewood or electricity from fossil fuels.

The project will contribute to the reduction of GHG emissions by using green building technologies as well as energy-efficient and renewable energy technologies. Reduction of energy consumption in construction and building operation will have positive impacts on the environment in addition to having influence on the buildings themselves. The use of water efficient fixtures and other technologies like water reuse or water harvesting will contribute to reduction of water consumption in building whilst providing good quality of water. The use of indigenous vegetation and recovery of the green cover around the building areas will also help proper water natural infiltration. In the same way, efficient cook stoves and solar lanterns can reduce both the use of firewood that is contributing to deforestation in the county with all the consequences that it carries and the use of energy from diesel generators that are highly pollutant and make use of fossil fuels.

This project will be the first public low-cost housing construction that will include sustainable building design principles and EE/RE technologies in Kenya. It is up-scalable, uses local building materials with new sustainable designs that reduce energy and resource consumption by promoting natural lighting and cooling, efficient use of energy, cooking fuel and water. It will also introduce wind proof construction technologies for Marsabit where most of the conventional buildings suffer from wind damage.

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Objective

•Training and awareness-raising material developed on sustainable building, EE/RE and green business management
•Skills on sustainable construction and EE/RE technologies of local masons, artisans and energy technicians, construction sector, local vocational centres and polytechnics developed. At least 400 people trained, with women making up at least 50%.
•Awareness-raising on the environmental, social and economic benefits of sustainable building and EE/RE technologies raised among the community of...

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Results

The project never managed to proceed to the construction phase. First, the County Government of Marsabit (CGM) struggled for years to allocate the land for the Project construction, and then, when the issue of land was settled, CGM was not able to get the financial commitment in due course to allow construction to be started. This forced the partners to request the project termination. ...

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Sustainable Development Goals

Videos

Relevant links

Häme University of Applied Sciences Ltd. (HAMK), Strathmore Energy Research Centre (SERC), UN-HABITAT, Open access materials (training, technical notes, drawings, pictures etc)

Climate Resilient Low Cost Buildings in Marsabit County, Kenya

Time consumed

Lead Nordic partner

Country of Lead Nordic partner

Local partner(s)

Other partner(s)

NCF grant size

Total project cost

Technologies

Methods

Country of implementation:

Description

Objective

Results

Sustainable Development Goals

Videos

Relevant links

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