There is a huge demand for sustainable, earthquake-resilient, and cost-effective technological solutions for housing in both urban and rural Nepal.
The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) and Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC) in collaboration with UN Habitat, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), and Institute of Engineering (IOE) organized a three-day exhibition and presentation carrying the theme “Sustainable and Safer Building Technologies” on 20-22 August 2015 at IOE Pulchowk campus.
The program focused on various building construction techniques for urban and rural context. The techniques were locally sustainable, cost-effective, and disaster-resilient. The exhibitors who came from both local and international organizations explained about low-cost concrete blocks, bamboo construction, soil cement blocks, rammed earth construction, eco sanitation, rain water harvesting, water purification techniques, and various other innovative designs.
AIT and Innotech Nepal Pvt. Ltd jointly presented Habitech Building System with a full scale model and presentations on its efficiency and durability. Dr. Naveed Anwar, Executive Director, AIT Consulting provided an illustrative presentation on technical aspects of the Habitech Building Technology (HBT) while Mr. Gyanendra R. Sthapit, Director, Habitech Center further explained the benefits of this innovative technology. During the exhibition, Mr. Sthapit and Innotech Nepal Director Mr. Iswar Joshi along with Innotech technical staffs explained to the locals how to build their houses using HBT.
According to Mr. Iswar Joshi, “The response was overwhelming and people were very interested to build their houses with this new technology. They were happy to implement it in their areas. Most of such visitors included locals from affected areas, NGOs and INGOs. Visitors were very impressed with this technology and waiting for the endorsement of this technology by the government.”
Innotech Nepal Pvt. Ltd is AIT’s partner in Nepal, as Habitech Nepal Center, in providing design, production, construction, training and supervision, and technology transfer for earthquake-resilient, sustainable, and cost-effective buildings.
