The Belarus HABITAT Committee and an NGO, in a longterm process developed and presented to the authorities a new, ecological construction technology which meets the objectives of ecological housing construction and the need to build accommodation quickly and affordably.

Starting Position

More than 20 % of the population in Belarus have to make do with insufficient housing. The situation is further aggravated by the resettlement of more than 600,000 of their fellow citizens who were affected by the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl (Ukraine).

One of the achievements of the 1996 Habitat Conference was to also equip Belarus with an academy for sustainable development. Cooperation was established with the NGO BD IAE, with the objective to investigate into ecological building methods and to adapt them for housing construction in Belarus. International workshops were held and a national programme was set up to implement affordable construction methods with special emphasis on the socially disadvantaged. One construction technology in particular, a straw bale house introduced at one of the workshops, proved ideal for local conditions.

The NGO got 50,000 US $ worth of funding from Swedish NGOs, the Soros Foundation and the government, amongst others, to do research on sustainable construction technologies, train experts, oversee pilot projects and launch a media campaign.

Methods

Establishing the first pilot projects, i.e. raising straw bale houses in one village, was essential to launching the initiative. This initial step was instrumental in convincing building contractors and the ministry for construction affairs. Simultaneously a media campaign was launched to attract future residents.

The new technology helped to reduce labour costs to one tenth of the original, expenditures for providing material dropped to below one thousandth, while transport costs amounted to approximately one fifth and construction time was down to one third of that of comparable buildings.The new technology also has the advantage of additional insulation, reducing energy consumption to one third of previous amounts. Construction material was derived from by-products and is essentially reproductive.

The new construction technology was established simultaneously with the loan system introduced by the federal government of Belarus. The most destitute were granted their homes for free provided they worked on the construction sites, others were offered a loan system truly affordable for the less affluent in society.

Experiences

Despite the country’s serious financial deficits the above cooperation succeeded in developing a programme to provide highquality housing at affordable prices. Citizens were included in the construction process.

Transfer Potential

The Belarus Habitat Centre and BD IAE have presented the technology to EU and GIS experts several times already. There have since been requests for cooperation from England, Denmark, Slovenia, the Philippines and India, amongst others. The construction method has already been transferred to the Ukraine and Germany.