Facts about the climate responsive school buildings in Bardiya

Three different kinds of buildings are being built with introduction of new techniques in stages:

04. June 2008

Type one:

In the first building new climate responsive design principles were introduced for natural cooling however the building material was conventional i.e.  Fired bricks, concrete beams and pillars.

In the design three important changes were introduced:

 a. The building is semi-underground i.e. the floor level is four feet below the outside ground level. This way the classroom benefits from the underground temperature which stays stable at 25C through out the year. 

b. The buiding has a green roof of grass which means that the summer sun does not heat the concrete slab and the room as it is observed in most other schools. The green roof also prevents noise from the rain, which is especially a problem in steel roof schools.
c. The building has many glass windows on the south side and no windows on east or west wall. This means that the sunrays go into the classroom in the winter when it is very cold in Terai, yet in the summer (as the sun moves overhead) no sunrays enter the room.
Cost:

Total NRs 1,0 62,605  

Community Contribution = NRs 322,983 

(NRs 152,302 in vouluntary labour and NRs 170683 in cash)

BASE (EFP) contribution = NRs 739,622

Lease of JCB digging machine was free, as it was exchanged for soil.
Note: The above is based on last years cost of construction materials, the same would cost roughly 13 lack this year.

Status: Completed and taken into use in early May 2008. 

Type two:

In the second type of building another big change was introduced in the building material and technique, as walls were made of  Compressed Stabilised Earth Blocks (CSEB)  and the roof is made of ferro-cement channels.   

Ferro-cement is strong, light and much cheaper than concrete slab. The school will have grass growing on the roof to solve problems of heating and noise. 

This building is on the ground as this village was said to be flood prone. Moreover we thought it would be good to have a sample of a normal looking building for those who may not like the underground look or feel.

In order to have some effects of earth-cooling the building will have a three feet high skirt of loose earth all around on the outside with grass growing on it. This and the green roof technique has been tested with success in the house of Sonam Wangchuk in Gulariya -

a conventional city house which showed temperatures around a comfortable 28 C degrees (max) inside, when the outside was close to 40 C in May 2008.

Cost of type two building:  Total NRs  809793

Community contribution= NRs137874

(All voluntary labour no cash as the village is very poor)

BASE (EFP) = NRs 671919

Note: This school is similar in size to the type 1, yet it is much cheaper despite the recent steep price rise in construction materials. This is mainly due to the use of new materials and technique. 

Status: Building was initiated in the last week of May 2008. The construction is estimated to last for 2 month +.

What are CSEB earth bricks?

Compressed Stabilised Earth Blocks (CSEB) are made mainly of local earth, mixed with 5% cement that is then compressed (with 15 ton force). The project uses an Auram 3000 press machine, developed by Auroville Earth Institute, India, to produce the bricks. 

Price of CSEB earth brick machine: Roughly NRs 200,000. (Including taxes transport etc.)

Type three:

The third school will use a mix of techniques used in the first two school types. It will use CSEB walls with ferro-cement roof and will be built 2 feet underground. Together with a three feet green earth skirt on the outside of the building it will have an effective earth cover of 5 feet and hence it is expected to be the coolest in the summer (and warmest in winter).

Construction will start by mid June.

The cost of the building is likely to be similar to the 2nd school and will be covered under Education for Freedom Project by BASE.