This week we will be looking at how improvements in building standards can increase urban climate resilience. Last week we looked at infrastructure in general, and this week, as promised we will focus in on buildings in particular. There a various measures that might be taken to make buildings more sustainable: some actions involve upgrading existing structures to make them more adaptive to climate change or to help them to mitigate greenhouse gases (GHGs); other actions include innovative designs for new ‘green’ buildings that use natural resources (such as energy) more efficiently and reduce harmful emissions.
So far in this Learning Alliance we have largely focused on how the changing climate affects vulnerable communities, and as such we have two Latin American case studies for you that explore urban upgrading in informal settlements. We are nonetheless very interested to hear about any actions in your cities that relate to increasing resilience in the built environment – be that through new building codes, green roofs, sustainable building designs, urban upgrading programmes, or any others.
Our first case this week is an interview with Mariana Estevão, the founder of an NGO that runs a project to offer architectural and engineering expertise, along with a scheme to purchase building material to families living in a slum in in the city of Niteroi, Brazil. This grassroots project helps families to upgrade housing in order to reduce health risks; such actions include raising the height of roofs to enable more ventilation and thus reduce temperatures, sealing walls so as to reduce humidity and improving roofing so as to reduce leakages. In order to purchase building supplies inhabitants exchange used TetraPak cartons for credits, thus reducing waste and raising the profile of recycling.
The second case is from the informal settlement known as Villa Tranquila, in Argentina. The upgrading programme in this community was distinctly participative, involving multiple-stakeholders throughout the whole process. The upgrading of this community improved access to infrastructure, improved the standard of houses in some sectors and built new houses in others. Aside from the impacts on the built environment, this top-down, government-backed initiative improved complicated social relations within what was a once divided and fearful community.
This week we would like to invite you to view the video interview with Mariana Estevão and read the case of Villa Tranquila and engage with one another in a dialogue around the following questions:
1) Are you aware of actions in your city that are improving the climate resilience of buildings? If so, how do you think that such actions might be successfully adapted to other urban realities?
So far in this Learning Alliance we have largely focused on how the changing climate affects vulnerable communities, and as such we have two Latin American case studies for you that explore urban upgrading in informal settlements. We are nonetheless very interested to hear about any actions in your cities that relate to increasing resilience in the built environment – be that through new building codes, green roofs, sustainable building designs, urban upgrading programmes, or any others.
Our first case this week is an interview with Mariana Estevão, the founder of an NGO that runs a project to offer architectural and engineering expertise, along with a scheme to purchase building material to families living in a slum in in the city of Niteroi, Brazil. This grassroots project helps families to upgrade housing in order to reduce health risks; such actions include raising the height of roofs to enable more ventilation and thus reduce temperatures, sealing walls so as to reduce humidity and improving roofing so as to reduce leakages. In order to purchase building supplies inhabitants exchange used TetraPak cartons for credits, thus reducing waste and raising the profile of recycling.
The second case is from the informal settlement known as Villa Tranquila, in Argentina. The upgrading programme in this community was distinctly participative, involving multiple-stakeholders throughout the whole process. The upgrading of this community improved access to infrastructure, improved the standard of houses in some sectors and built new houses in others. Aside from the impacts on the built environment, this top-down, government-backed initiative improved complicated social relations within what was a once divided and fearful community.
This week we would like to invite you to view the video interview with Mariana Estevão and read the case of Villa Tranquila and engage with one another in a dialogue around the following questions:
1) Are you aware of actions in your city that are improving the climate resilience of buildings? If so, how do you think that such actions might be successfully adapted to other urban realities?
2) Do you think that the approaches employed in the Latin American case studies might be adapted to your function in informal settlements in your cities?
If you have any questions or would like any more information about either of these two cases we would be happy to pass on your enquiries to our Latin American experts.
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Best wishes,
Charlotte Heffer
Moderator
ELLA Learning Alliance on Climate Resilient Cities
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