Shelter is a basic human need. Thus, providing adequate housing is a fundamental development objective but it is also highly complex. Successful housing activities can rarely be isolated from the development of associated infrastructure—e.g., water, sanitation, transport—and social services.
This section focuses on housing reconstruction after natural disasters that must be carried out in highly difficult circumstances and there are expectations to be operational very quickly. The section does not address technical standards for construction of housing units, water supply and treatment, etc. Instead, its purpose is (1) to convey the full range of environmental and environmental health issues associated with housing construction, and (2) to provide a guided framework for considering these issues in the siting, design and implementation of housing projects, particularly in post-disaster reconstruction and in risk-prone areas.
Note: It is highly recommended that readers review additional sector environmental guidelines in this series as much of their content has implications for housing activity: Water and Sanitation, Solid Waste, Rural Roads, and Small-scale Construction.
Resources
Disaster Prevention and Management
Resources in this section are organizations and websites, rather than specific documents. The websites are intended as portals for accessing a wide variety of documents and technical resources.
- Coordination Center for Natural Disaster Prevention in Central America. www.cepredenac.org.
- Costa Rica National Risk Prevention and Emergency Commission. .
- CRID (Regional Disaster Information Center). http://www.crid.or.cr/ing_index.shtml
CRID offers a gateway to an extensive technical library in English and Spanish, accessed via database search. Sponsored by six organizations that joined efforts to compile and disseminate disaster-related information in Latin America and the Caribbean, all of the constituent bodies may offer resources of interest to those engaging in post-disaster recovery efforts, including housing reconstruction. Online: www.crid.or.cr.
- Doctors Without Borders. www.msf.org
- International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. www.ifrc.org
- International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, Regional Unit for Latin America and the Caribbean. www.unisdr.org
- Pan American Health Organization (A regional office of the World Health Organization). http://www.paho.org
- UNCHS (UN Commission on Human Settlements) and the Together Foundation. http://www.unhabitat.org/bp/bp.list.aspx
This partnership maintains free documentation of disaster reconstruction efforts in the Best Practices Database. Documentation of best practice in disaster reconstruction can be accessed via the Best Practices Database, offered by the UN Commission on Human Settlements (UNCHS and the Together Foundation). Access to abstracts is free.
Technical Guidance
- Practical Action. Disaster risk reduction. http://practicalaction.org/disaster-risk-reduction-8. This site offers online technical guidance on appropriate and disaster-resistant housing. Practical Action (http://practicalaction.org/) Publishing’s online “Development Bookshop” service (http://developmentbookshop.com/) serves as a single point of search (and ordering) for this and other technical, development-related subjects. (Note, however, that books ship by post.)
Climate Change Resources
Note: USAID's Global Climate Change (GCC) Office can provide support on the climate change aspects of this Guideline. To contact the GCC office, please email: climatechange@usaid.gov
- USAID. 2007. Adapting to Climate Variability and Change: A Guidance Manual for Development Planning. http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADJ990.pdf
- USAID. 2009. Adapting to Coastal Climate Change: A Guidebook for Development Planners. http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADO614.pdf
The guidance provides information to assist planners and stakeholders as they cope with a changing climate throughout the project cycle.
- USAID. 2013. Addressing Climate Change Impacts on Infrastructure. https://dec.usaid.gov/dec/GetDoc.axd?ctID=ODVhZjk4NWQtM2YyMi00YjRmLTkxNjktZTcxMjM2NDBmY2Uy&rID=MzM2Njkx&pID=NTYw&attchmnt=VHJ1ZQ=
=&uSesDM=False&rIdx=NDM2MzY4&rCFU=
- U.S. Green Building Council. http://www.usgbc.org/
- Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). https://www.leedonline.com/irj/servlet/prt/portal/prtroot/com.sap.portal.navigation.portallauncher.anonymous
- International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA). FasTips #3. February 2013. Climate Smart Decisions. USAID Sector Guideline Housing 2013.docx http://www.iaia.org/publicdocuments/special-publications/fast-tips/Fastips_3%20Climate%20Smart%20Decisions.pdf
- National Institute of Building Sciences. Whole Building Design Guide. 2013. Passive Solar Heating. http://www.wbdg.org/resources/psheating.php
- Ibrahim, M. Strengthening Climate Resilience Discussion Paper 6. Post-disaster Housing Reconstruction in a Conflict Affected District, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka: Reflecting on the Climate Smart
Disaster Risk Management Approach. 2010. http://r4d.dfid.gov.uk/PDF/Outputs/ClimateChange/SCR-DiscussionPaper6-Sri-Lanka.pdf
- Construction Specifications Institute, North American Insulation Manufacturers Association, The Vinyl Institute. Building Design & Construction. High-Performance Reconstructed Buildings: The 99% Solution. 2012.
http://www.bdcnetwork.com/sites/default/files/WP_BDC0512_low%20res_3.pdf
- Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. Climate Change and Housing. 2013. http://www.cieh.org/policy/climate_change_and_housing.html
- Snow, Mark and Deo Prasad. Climate Change Adaptation for Building Designers: An Introduction. EDG 66 MSA. 2011. http://environmentdesignguide.com.au/media/misc%20notes/EDG_66_MSa.pdf
- UN-HABITAT. Scoping Paper: Sustainable Building Practices for Low Cost Housing: Implications for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Development Countries. 2011. http://www.unhabitat.org/downloads/docs/10785_1_594340.pdf
- WHO. International Workshop on Housing, Health and Climate Change. Developing Guidance for Health Protection in the Built Environment – Mitigation and Adaptation Responses. Meeting Report. 2010. http://www.who.int/hia/house_report.pdf
- WHO. Health Co-Benefits of Climate Change Mitigation – Housing Sector. 2011. http://www.who.int/hia/hgehousing.pdf
- Environmental Protection Agency. Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. 2013. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/sources/commercialresidential.html
- National Communications are submitted by countries to the UNFCCC and include information on country context, broad priority development and climate objectives, overviews of key sectors, historic climate conditions, projected changes in the climate and impacts on key sectors, potential priority adaptation measures, limitations, challenges and needs. http://unfccc.int/national_reports/non-annex_i_natcom/items/2979.php
- The World Bank’s Climate Change Knowledge Portal is intended to provide quick and readily accessible climate and climate-related data to policy makers and development practitioners. The site also includes a mapping visualization tool (webGIS) that displays key climate variables and climate-related data. http://sdwebx.worldbank.org/climateportal/
- National climate change policies and plans. Many countries have policies and plans for addressing climate change adaptation.
General
- United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2012). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2011 Revision, Highlights. New York. http://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/pdf/WUP2011_Highlights.pdf
Documents Disponibles en Francais
- Outils d'intégration de la réduction des risques de catastrophes Notes d'orientation à l'intention des organisations de développement Charlotte Benson et John Twigg, avec la collaboration de Tiziana Rossetto Fédération internationale des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge/consortium ProVention, 2007. http://www.preventionweb.net/files/1066_toolsformainstreamingDRRfr1.pdf
- Programme d’Action Pour la mise en oeuvre de la strategie regionale africaine de prevention des catastrophes (2006-2015). Acceptée lors de la deuxième session de la Plate-forme Régionale Africaine en Réduction des Risques de Catastrophes, qui a eu lieu à Nairobi du 5 au 7 mai 2009. United Nations International Strategies for Disaster Reduction Addis Abéba, Juin 2009. http://www.unisdr.org/files/13003_P0AinFrench140609forWeb.pdf
- Manuel en environnement - Ressources complémentaires — Construction de bâtimentsOutils pour l'identification des effets environnementaux de secteurs d'activités spécifiques, des mesures d'atténuation appropriées et lignes directrices. Agence Canadiene de Développement International. http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/acdi-cida/acdi-cida.nsf/fra/EMA-218123618-NNH
- Préparation à une réponse efficace en cas de catastrophe Ensemble de directives et indicateurs pour la mise en oeuvre de la priorité 5 du Cadre d’action de Hyogo Cadre d’action de Hyogo pour 2005-2015 : Pour des nations et des collectivités résilientes face aux catastrophes. Nations Unies New York et Genève, 2008
Documents Disponibles en Espanol
- Directrices para la prevención de desastres naturales y medidas de protección en las zonas donde se producen ciclones tropicales. Autor: Comisión Económica y Social para Asia y el Pacífico;OMM; Liga de Sociedades de la Cruz Roja y de la Media Luna Roja. Ginebra, CH; 1977. http://www.cne.go.cr/CEDO-CRID/pdf/spa/doc233/doc233.htm
- Guía para la elaboración de planes de respuesta a desastres y de contingencia. Federación Internacional de Sociedades de la Cruz Roja y de la Media Luna Roja 2008. http://preparativosyrespuesta.cridlac.org/XML/spa/doc18982/doc18982-contenido.pdf
- Estudio sobre preparativos legales para la ayuda internacional en caso de desastre. Hacia la Aplicación de las Directrices IDRL en Colombia. Federación Internacional de Sociedades de la Cruz Roja y de la Media Luna Roja, Ginebra, 2012. http://www.ifrc.org/FedNet/Resources%20and%20Services/IDRL/IDRL%20reports/IDRL%20report_Colombia_final%20web.pdf
- Guía Metodológica 1: Incorporación de la Prevención y la Reducción de Riesgos en los Procesos de Ordenamiento Territorial. Ministerio de Ambiente, Vivienda y Desarrollo Territorial. Viceministerio de Vivienda y Desarrollo Territorial Dirección de Desarrollo Territorial. República de Colombia. http://www.minambiente.gov.co/Puerta/destacado/vivienda/gestion_ds_municipal/Series/Series10.pdf
- Normas Tecnicas de Vivienda Condiciones Minimas de Calidad y Habitabilidad. Ministerio de Desarrollo Económico. Dirección General de Vivienda. Gobierno de Bolivia. http://www.vivienda.gob.bo/web/docs/publica/Normas_tecnicas_de_vivienda.pdf