A house for the future

A house for the future


Could an eco-friendly house be an answer to the utility and housing crisis coupled with environmental hazards? Faizul Khan Tanim finds out


illustration by Shibu Kumer Shill

As the environmental crisis continues to grab the headlines and becomes a major cause of concern across the globe, the need for eco-friendly housing is becoming only more urgent.

As the depletion of fossil fuels, drought, climate change and pollution affect every aspect of our lives people have started to take notice. Moreover, with the climate becoming more extreme in developing countries like Bangladesh, as can be witnessed by the problems with utility services and the rising housing crisis in the capital city, increasing numbers of households are turning to greener energy options.

In order to reduce environmental impact, houses of the future would need to be drastically different, with a focus on eco-friendliness, energy-efficiency, sustainability, and socially responsible building procedures.

A new eco-friendly environmentally responsible development plan essentially consists of: eco-friendly bungalow pattern one-storey houses made of concrete interlocking blocks or concrete hollow blocks with a tiled roof made of clay – both of these components are environmentally friendly, and do not require corrugated tin roofs,, which causes major disasters when major cyclone hits coastal areas.

The eco-friendly house is the answer for Bangladesh, like many other countries across the globe.

The reasons for this are proven - pressure on the electricity supply can be reduced by the use of solar panels, while cooking gas could be supplied by bio-gas plants using cow dung and poultry feces. The slurry from the plants (slurry is the feces waste product of bio-gas generators) is excellent fertiliser that can be used to grow organic vegetables.

And since heavy rain is such an integral part of the weather in this region, rainwater harvesting and preservation could be a very effective method partial solution to the water crisis.

Now, what is left is to use clean energy for transportation. With the advent of compressed natural gas (CNG) usage in cars, it is foreseeable that energy-efficient electric bikes might soon come into the market.

Eco-friendly home-making materials

Building houses with concrete interlocking blocks and roofs with clay tiles are not only environmentally friendly but building houses becomes faster as well. Many local companies like Concord make these blocks, and as such supplies are locally available.

Earthen houses are also becoming popular in the northern part of the country, especially in areas like Dinajpur. Earthbound resources such as loam and straw are combined with lighter elements like bamboo sticks and nylon, lashed into shape to build a form that is durable and strong. The use of mud and straw is not only very environment friendly but the process can reduce the use of bricks, which, in turn, means, less pollution from the brick fields.

‘Nowadays, some of Thailand’s houses are typically 36 sq. m. in size and the design features the use of concrete interlocking blocks or concrete hollow blocks with tiled roves. House construction normally takes about 20 days. Average monthly repayments are approximately US$28.50,’ said Prince Sanjay Saha, manager of marketing and volunteer program of Habitat for Humanity International Bangladesh, referring to how cost-effective and environmentally friendly houses are being built in other countries.

Habitat for Humanity International Bangladesh has been active since 1999, working across the country to provide support to those who need the most. They seek to eliminate poverty, provide cheap housing, and decent shelter.

Habitat for Humanity works with people of all backgrounds, races and religions to build houses together in partnership with families, especially in disaster prone areas.

Bio-gas plants

In order to prevent further environmental and agricultural deterioration, it is necessary to promote new sources of energy technologies in this country. Among the alternative sources of rural energy, biogas generated from animal dung and poultry feces is undoubtedly one of the best sources of energy for rural communities.

This project was first initiated by infrastructure development company ltd, Dhaka (IDCOL) and Netherlands development organization (SNV)-Nepal. Today, under the renewable energy programme, IDCOL now works with partner organisations in all the districts of Bangladesh and provides Tk 7,000 as investment subsidy to the biogas households who install biogas plants as per the specifications and standard set by IDCOL/SNV.

Biogas, mainly composed of methane (60-70 per cent) and carbon dioxide (30-40 per cent), is a combustible gas produced by anaerobic fermentation of organic materials by the action of methanogenic bacteria. The methane is odourless gas and burns with a clear blue flame without smoke. Family size biogas plants are extremely cost-effective for domestic use, such as cooking and lighting.

According to IDCOL sources, these data are based upon the households who have five or more cattle heads. The dung produced by five cattle could be sufficient to feed a biogas plant with a gas output of three cubic meters per day.

The average cooking requirement was found to be five hours per day. However, as the National Domestic Biogas and Manure Programme also envisions giving access of biogas to smaller households, the promotion of smaller plants requiring a daily feeding of 30 kg of dung (3 cattle head) has also been proposed.

Similarly, poultry droppings are also considered to be an excellent feeding material for biogas generation.

According to an estimate (BCAS, 2005) about 116,000 poultry farms are in operation all over the country. Out of them about 80, 000 poultry farms capable of keeping 200 – 1,000 birds, construction of domestic size biogas plant is quite feasible. In this context about 80, 000 biogas plants strictly using poultry droppings are considered to be technically feasible for domestic sized plants, IDCOL sources say.

Solar energy

Solar energy refers to the usage and utilization of the sun’s rays; it is the conversion of sunlight into electricity by photovoltaics, concentrated solar thermal devices, or by technologies such as a solar chimneys or solar ponds. With the rising power crisis, solar power can be used to curb the existing shortcomings.

In Bangladesh, IDCOL is working with partner organisations (PO) to promote solar energy, especially in the rural areas.

The IDCOL’s solar programme has the mission of fulfilling basic electricity requirements in the rural areas of Bangladesh and hence, supplementing the government’s vision of providing electricity to the whole of Bangladesh by the year 2020. IDCOL, with support from IDA and Global Environmental Facility (GEF), is channeling grants and refinancing existing renewable energy projects in rural areas under this programme, sources say.

Officials from IDCOL say that the price for the whole solar household system (SHS) includes photovoltaic power panels (PV), batteries, charger controller, wires, solar lamps, switches and other accessories, costing around Taka six to seven lakh for one-time installation cost and consumers can purchase a SHS both in cash and credit. The panel has a lifetime of 20 years.

Therefore, SHSs One Kilowatt system is a convenient way of supplying power for small electrical loads such as lights, fans, radio, and TV for a household of four to five members, living in a small two-bedroom house with a kitchen.

Water efficiency with rainwater preserving and harvesting

Water has become so scarce and inadequate that countries like India, Australia and Thailand now rely on mechanisms to collect rainwater in barrels, drought-tolerant plants and in some places, rooftop rainwater collection systems, supplying significant amounts of water. It is a certainty that the alarming water crisis will drastically change the way we use water in the future.

With appropriate treatment the water could be recycled and repeatedly used in sinks, showers and gardens. The house of the future would have a slanted green roof in rural areas - a roof paved to maximize rainwater gathering. A green roof replaces surfaces that would have previously allowed rainwater to seep into the building’s foundations. With the new green roves, the water would fall on the slanted surface, move through the paved area and get collected in a safe and compact container where external dust, pollution and insects would not be able to enter.

Bilqis Amin Hoque, executive director and head of research of environment & population research centre (EPRC), an organisation dealing with water management concentrating on arsenic problem and rainwater harvesting in rural areas, said ‘if we can build swimming pools on our building roofs, we can easily build horizontal compact containers that would hold and preserve rainwater for future use’.

‘The main idea is to capture the rainwater following refinement process and once it is collected in safe containers, it would be good to use for a long time,’ Bilqis added.

Interestingly Coca-Cola in partnership with Plan Bangladesh will soon launch ‘Rain Water Harvesting and Drinking Water Project’ in Bangladesh.

The project aims to enhance availability of water in poor communities and ensure a supply of safe drinking water among school children and their families. The project involves installation of rain water harvesting (RWH) systems in five schools in Mirpur area of Dhaka City Corporation and Barguna Sadar.

This project aims to initially create a total harvest capacity of 32,50,000 litres of water per annum and form school management committees and user committees to promote awareness on the water conservation, maintenance, health and hygiene and safe drinking water.

Once complete, this unique initiative would benefit over 1000 children with access to portable water throughout the year. In addition, millions of litres of harvested water can also be utilised for secondary purposes like washing and sanitation.

According to Edward Thomas Espey, country director, Plan Bangladesh, ‘Plan Bangladesh is committed to provide deprived children with access to basic amenities. The launch of RWH and drinking water project in partnership with Coca-Cola Far East Ltd is a unique initiative in this direction. The Project intrinsically involves creating awareness amongst the various stakeholders on the need and importance of water resources management’.

Debasish Deb, country manager, Coca-Cola Far East Ltd said, ‘water is fundamental to all communities and we understand that businesses thrive only amidst vibrant and sustainable societies. We are excited to partner with Plan Bangladesh for commissioning of ‘water conservation and drinking water project’.

Tushar Quader Haq, sponsorship and grants support manager of Plan Bangladesh added that this programme,would involve preparation of rain water collection surfaces, installation of piping systems, and construction of a storage tank, along with distribution and cleaning taps. Classrooms will be specially equipped with filtration systems to ensure bacteriological safety of the water at the point of consumption.

Food for thought and beyond

Organic food are said to be produced according to certain production standards. They are essentially grown without the use of conventional pesticides, artificial fertilisers, human waste, or sewage sludge, which makes them exceptionally nutritious.

Shykh Seraj, producer and host of the now celebrated Mati o Maush says ‘the slurry or waste produced from the bio gas plants is extremely good and the safest bio fertilizer. Moreover, when this slurry is acquired after usage in the bio-gas plants, they do not have any gas bubbles in them which make it safer than conventional compost.’

‘Due to its richness, almost all types of vegetables, spinach and garden plants can be grown around the ‘house of the future’ and since there is no need to put in pesticide due to the use of the slurry fertiliser, this is the safest food,’ he added.

Energy-efficient appliances

Nowadays, large consignments of fuel-less and environment friendly Chinese made electric bikes are coming to the country. The battery of the bike will get charged by plugging it into the power system.

Also, Bangladesh diesel plant ltd (BDPL), an enterprise of Bangladesh Army, Sigs International and Lotus Bird of China manufactures the two types of electric transport – electric bikes and rickshaws at BDPL industry at Joydevpur.

The price of an electric rickshaw will range from Tk 40,000 to Tk 50,000, while the price of electric bike is between Tk 60,000 and Tk 70,000 depending on its capacity. The rechargeable battery of the bike and the rickshaw will last one year and the price of each battery is Tk 4,000, newspaper reports say.

Using energy-efficient appliances and light fixtures can also make a huge difference. Anyone who follows the markets knows there are innumerable devices now that conserve electricity and drastically brings down electricity bills.

Building one such ‘house of the future’, each individual can save money, and, by carrying out acts of individual social responsibility, and help build a better future.