NIRD-PR trains foreign delegates on sustainable housing technologies

Hyderabad: Speakers at an international training programme held at National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (NIRD-PR) called for taking urgent steps on the growing climate change concerns due to the increasing unsustainable construction technologies and lifestyle practices being adopted in the housing sector. According to a NIRD-PR communiqué, the international training programme hosted on 'Planning and Management of Housing Programmes', has participants from 13 developing countries. The programme was sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, under 'Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation' initiative. The month-long training programme attended by 22 participants from Africa, Middle East, North America and Asia.

As part of this training programme, a panel discussion was organised in the Institute recently to identify strategies to promote sustainable housing technologies and encourage affordably and climate-resilient habitations and villages in India. The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) Chairman, Suresh, emphasised the importance of incorporating green building measures such as the use of appropriate energy-efficient construction materials and adoption of efficient water, sanitation and energy management practices in buildings to ensure the promotion of climate-resilient habitations and villages.

Speaking on reducing carbon emissions, Prof Eugene Pandala, highlighted on the need for taking steps to reduce the huge quantities of CO2 emission emitted from urban areas due to improper housing design, use of conventional materials and unsustainable lifestyle practices being adopted by a relatively small number of the urban population. In the discussions, the members raised deep concerns over the lack of awareness on the sustainable housing technologies among a majority of the architects and engineers due to lack of a strong focus on this aspect in the curriculum of universities and colleges offering architecture and civil engineering courses.

In his concluding remarks, Dr WR Reddy, Director-General, NIRD-PR, raised concerns over the lack of wider thrust on this aspect and urged various government departments involved in construction of buildings to take proactive steps to incorporate sustainable building designs and use of appropriate materials to effectively mitigate the challenges being posed due to the impact of climate change. Starting a national network to create awareness and mass movement on sustainable housing technologies was also recommended.