An update of our / DFID's shelter and WASH projects in Northern Sindh. This time with a calculation of carbon dioxide emissions reductions (!) And all about building with lime..

1. How humanitarian response can address key vulnerabilities,
innovate, showcase best Value for Money; and help people adapt
to changing climates
The Pakistan experience. Magnus Wolfe Murray

2. • Shelter “roofing” kit – with steel beam
• Water filter: multiple years of use (vs. aquatabs, etc.)
• Solar light x 1 @ £5.00 each
Link immediate relief to recovery –
resilience continuum – wherever possible

3. Upon return, most families have used this roofing kit a “second time” to cover temporary
shelters (that are NOT flood resistant). Now these same materials will be used a third time to
cover a durable flood-resistant home.

4. A roofing kit by Local NGO HANDS being used as to build a quite
permanent-looking shelter. The family built the walls themselves using
vernacular technology (earthen bricks and mud plaster).

5. And used again for the 3rd time
For a Flood-Resistant Shelter

6. Cost:
Emergency: £60 / family
Robust shelter: £130
Admin, etc.: £15
Total: £205 / family
The alternative:
Emergency only: £60 / family – every year assuming
climate change drives extreme weather events.

8. 0
2,000,000
4,000,000
6,000,000
8,000,000
10,000,000
12,000,000
14,000,000
16,000,000
18,000,000
Affected Population
Comparison across humanitarian crises

9. Large tent, £130 - £180 range. Limited adaptability
– can’t be used to reconstruct the home.
And expensive!
An overview of “conventional” response

10. £18 / Unit Cheap but not very good (not
much protection and dignity)

11. Cheaper tent (£100)

12. In contrast – a DFID / IOM designed family shelter
£60 / family – including a solar light

13. Whole families: better protection, enhanced dignity

14. The “Roofing Kit” idea
• £58 per unit
• Used as temporary
shelter
• Later to build a
roof
• Double the value
of a tent
• And half the price

15. Solar lights

16. OK but what does it mean?
Research:
Protection for women?
Economic savings?
Potential for small
businesses?
Ref. Grameen Shahkti -
Bangladesh

18. good
thick
Walls
(better for keeping
the house cool)

19. Many villages built these “chora” structures, which seem to cope with the
heat much better (hot air rises and escapes through the small gaps in the
thatch) while the steep roof ensures water flows away quickly in the rains.

20. “I am illiterate – therefore
my daughter has a right to
an education”
(!!!)
• Community development
organisations (CBOs) Key for
Social Capital and future
development
• A well built structure, large
enough to fit 50 people during
this meeting.
• External temperature: 42
degrees
• Internal temperature: 36
degrees

21. A quick introduction to Lime
• An ancient building material that could be the
key to flood resistant housing in Pakistan

22. Hydraulic lime can be poured directly into the foundation
trenches and used to reinforce the lower parts of walls, as shown.

24. Lime pits are built to allow lime rocks
to slake (soak) properly before being
used with local earth and sand to
create flood-resistant plasters and
renders. One person is elected by
the community to run these pits and
manage the process.

25. Walls after 4 – 5 days heavy rain, still in good condition

27. The ring-beam as designed by Heritage Foundation, installed by IOM’s partner NGO, SEWA. This is a lime-
based concrete, using gravel bought in the local market; steel bolts are sunk into the walls to connect with
the bamboo girders that will act as roof beams – making roof and wall an integrated structure. Note that a
piece of split bamboo replaces the conventional use of reinforced iron bar.

28. Four pieces of bamboo are
wired together to create a
beam spanning the 4m room.
Five such beams are used in
total. The ring beam distributes
their weight to avoid point
loading.
Note the massive 18” (50cm)
walls which reinforced with
lime based plaster should be
virtually indestructible.

29. Yasmeen Lari, head of Heritage Foundation explaining the different
components

30. A traditional Sindhi round-house, built on a
raised platform by Heritage Foundation as a
training model. Lime mud render for water-
resistance.
Examples from DFID-funded work with IOM
and Heritage Foundation, Sindh, 2012
Target: 17,500 one room shelters

31. View from inside the chora structure. These young men have now learned how to
build flood resistant structures like these – knowledge that could stay with them all
their lives.

32. Local and Global Emissions – total
brick production in Pakistan
Dioxins : 425.88 nanogramme
/ brick
32
CO2 Emissions : 37.4 million Tonnes
Equal to:
• 40m Pakistanis CO2 / year
• 9 million cars CO2 / year

33. Social impact – bricks in Pakistan
(Should we ignore this element?)
33
Child LabourBonded Labour

34. Table 1: Conventional construction materials and practice
Item
Required
amount per
house (KG)
quantity
per house
CO2e (Kg)
emissions per
Kg / brick
CO2e
(Tonnes)
emissions
per House
Target no
Houses
Amount for 50,000
houses (CO2
Tonnes)
Fired bricks (per
brick figure - based
on 0.23 CO2e per kg
n/a 5,500 0.55 3.03 50,000 151,250
Cement (Average
CEM I Portland
Cement 94% clinker)
600 600 0.95 0.57 50,000 28,500
Steel (Bar & rod
'Rest of World'
average recycled
content value)
54 54 1.95 0.11 50,000 5,265
Total Tonnes of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions 185,015

35. Table 2: Environmental Building Systems - as adopted by DFID & HANDS/IOM
Item (and items
being replaced)
Required
amount per
house (KG)
quantity per
house
CO2 (Kg)
emission per
Kg / brick
CO2 (Tonnes)
emission per
House
Target no
Houses
Amount for
50,000
houses (CO2
Tonnes)
Fired bricks used
for 20% of project
only
5,500 0.55 3.025 10,000 12,100
Lime - in place of
Cement (CO2e
reduced by 70%
as biomass based
- see below)
50 0.234 0.0117 50,000 585
Steel: one beam
instead of two
procured
26 1.95 0.0507 50,000 2535
Total 15,220
Difference and saving in tonnes of CO2: 169,795
Source: University of Bath, Embodied energy and carbon in Construction materials (2008)
Available at: https://www.circularecology.com/nuqdjaidjajklasah.html

36. VfM
• Lower cost = £50m saved
• Allowed for much greater coverage
• Low cost = easier to replicate for poor people
• RED supporting evidence study for replication
and publication of guide

37. Lessons learned
• Main objective: flood resilience
• Environment impact: let’s not make it worse
• Low cost = replicable
• LIME: community based training AT SCALE
• 100,000 safe houses at less cost than the post-
flood cash transfer programme. Value?
• Knowledge management (Humanitarian Library)

38. WASH in Emergency: Quick and Effective
But at what cost ?
Cost Environment Ecology Water

39. After 6 months in the
Sindhi sun…
$90 / unit
Note: this picture is
replicated across
thousands of
villages where
similar latrines built.
Lesson: we can do
better than this!

40. Structure alternatives – Earth Bags?

41. In May 2012 HANDS (local NGO based in Sindh) –
built this earth-bag latrine to test the idea. Total
cost including slab and door: £33 / $50 / 5000 PKR

42. Alternative slab design. Liberia, 2003.
These cost $5 / unit (compared to $35 / unit
of plastic slabs). A viable alternative?

43. • DOME shaped slab –
no need for iron or
mesh.
• Can be moved when
pit is full and re-used
• Lid section placed on
top prevents flies,
smells, etc.
• Very sturdy to stand on
– no wobbles like the
plastic slab

44. The other system: Pour Flush & Septic Tank Latrines. Copes better with heavy
water use. U-bend in slab means less smell. More costly:
Cost per unit: $275 (25,000 Rps)

45. But there are problems…
Septic Tanks will fill up. Effective run-off design needed – and
rarely incorporated

46. Poorly designed
overflow from septic
tanks
A common sight all over
Pakistan
A serious public health
problem has been
created, not resolved.

47. There are alternatives!
For example: constructed wetlands

48. Biogas plant
 A sectional view of a fixed dome biogas plant

49. Energy potential of
different materials
C/N Ratio Hydraulic Retention Time
Duck dropping 8 Human waste 55 days
Human Excreta 8 Cow/Buffalo Dung 45 days
Chicken dropping 10
Goat dung 12 Low C/N ratio  Low gas production
Pig dung 18 (Need 3 times the plant size to produce
Sheep dung 19 same amt of biogas as cow dung)
Cow/Buffalo dung 24
Water Hyacinth 25 High HRT  Less amount required
Elephant dung 43 for feeding into plant
Maize stalk 60
Rice straw 70 WASH solution – HYBRID PLANT
Wheat straw 90 Cow dung for biogas production
Saw dust 200 Human waste for sanitation

50. Biogas
sewage
treatment
Already tried and tested in Kenya – proving
that this treatment system works well at
low cost.
Funding for pilots and testing in this
technology needed.

51. Typical scene in semi-urban towns around Pakistan
Environmental engineering solutions needed
Must be: low cost, low tech and environmentally beneficial

52. UNICEF promotes model latrines, which it supports with < 9,000 PKR.
This model cost 5,500, for slab, cement, etc. Now the community have the design model.

54. The problem of standing water is prevalent across Sindh –
posing a challenge to both WASH and agriculture / livelihood
colleagues: which species are most appropriate here?

55. Adapting local spaces
Very low cost
(c. £10)
Paid by owner
Materials only now
available on local
market

56. UNICEF / NRSP provided 5,500 towards the cost of this
latrine.
Note: INNOVATION for hand-washing

58. What difference does it make?
Latrine Cost $ /
Unit
# Units # people
reached
(SPHERE)
Financial saving
Normal vs low-
cost
90 vs. 30 3,250 65,000 $ 195,000
@ 1m people 90 vs 30 50,000 1,000,000 $ 3,000,000
families people 1 latrine per 20 persons
10,000 65,000 3,250
100,000 650,000 32,500
153,846 1,000,000 50,000
# units # units # units # units
cost / unit $ 10,000 32,500 50,000 3,250
90 3,250 292,500
Latrine 90 900,000 2,925,000 4500000
292,500
Latrine 2 30 300,000 975,000 1500000 97,500
difference 600,000 1,950,000 3,000,000 195,000

59. Outcomes of 2012 workshop: research priorities
Sector Focus
Emergency sanitation Cost, design, ecology
Hygiene kits Evidence of impact
Emergency water Innovation and lower cost
Purr / aqua tabs Research efficacy / impact
ER sanitation Effective sewage treatment
Innovations testing
Environmental impact
Biogas and wetlands
ER water Durable HH solutions
Local soap production Pilot on much larger scale
Groundwater quality Link with existing research
Specific problem areas
Environmental impact of materials e.g. wood for latrines – at scale, what
impact?

60. Quick compost making
Essential material for
establishing plant and
tree nurseries
Source: IDEP permaculture field school, Aceh

61. Applied at a household
garden level these
innovations can
generate enormous
returns.
building resilience
for
communities facing malnutrition:
access to micro-nutrients
around the home
Garden in Jordan, used as part of short training courses.
Source: Permaculture Research Institute, Australia

62. Restoration of degraded, former agricultural
desert land in Jordan applying permaculture
design principles to create highly productive
plantations.
In Sindh, with a similar climate, this
approach could be adopted, transforming
salinated or depleted land into a resource for
fresh food, fuel, produce for sale,
construction materials, employment.
This short film gives a good
introduction to the strategy and
methods used:
http://youtu.be/sohI6vnWZmk
Before and after, Jordan, 2001.
Source: Permaculture Research Institute, Australia

63. HANDS in Gotki – a good example of grey water run-off.
Eucalyptus chosen – fast growing, very water hungry, high value timber

64. Bamboo or short rotation coppice to absorb waste waters
The problem is the solution (creates an opportunity rather than a problem)

65. Slide 1: A normal village in Sindh: little shade in the extreme
heat, no kitchen gardens, high malnutrition, poor health
and hygiene, deforestation, denuded environment, etc.

67. Concept: DFID
Illustration and artwork: UNHABITAT

68. Loess Plateau – China
An example of reducing vulnerability
& increasing resilience (for 50m people)

69. Stabilise eroding landscapes – tree
roots bind soil & produce food

71. Youtube: Hope in a Changing Climate, trailer = 5 mins.

72. Before
After Tamera, Southern Portugal