Community-Based Micro-Climate Resilience | India

Community-Based Micro-Climate Resilience helps urban poor communities in Gorakhpur, India adapt to climate change by designing and building new types of flood-resilient and affordable houses. Locally available bricks are used, with technologies and techniques that make building brick walls less energy intensive. This building method is more environmentally friendly than conventional practices, both in terms of optimization of resources and energy efficiency.

Fast facts

Climate friendly construction technique uses 19 per cent fewer bricks and 54 per cent less cement mortar;
Bricks from local areas are used in construction, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions associated with transporting bricks long distances.

The problem

The Mahewa ward of Gorakhpur, India, is prone to flooding during the monsoon season, affecting more than one million people in Uttar Pradesh. Many of the people who live in this community are poor and marginalized and are therefore more vulnerable to the impact of climatic hazards, such as floods, cyclones, altered rain patterns and heat waves.

The solution

Community-Based Micro-Climate Resilience fuses improved building materials and design with indigenous knowledge in developing countries. The result is low-cost, housing that is both climate resilient and produces fewer carbon emissions. People who benefit from the project are involved in the construction process and then help others who want to adopt the design.

Helping the planet

The homes built by this activity minimize the use of energy-intensive materials like bricks and cement. In addition, the construction materials are locally sourced to reduce the cost of transportation and the greenhouse gas emissions associated with it.

Helping people

Low-cost, sustainable housing policies, standards and techniques provide several benefits to residents and the wider population, including resilience to climate change, improved health, increased safety and sanitation and poverty alleviation. Over the years, this activity has reached out to families affected by earthquakes, floods and cyclones; restoring homes, schools and hospitals.

Spillover effect

Community-Based Micro-Climate Resilience uses replicable and cost-effective technologies to build sustainable housing. To ensure the technologies are replicated, activity representatives held consultations, workshops and hands-on training in Mahewa, a highly flooded area with a population of about 12,000 people.