Environmental research

The overall objective of the proposed project is to conserve energy and reduce poverty by means of identification, preparation, adoption and practice of energy efficient building designs and techniques in Multan. CONTEXT/BASELINE Residential Development in Multan. Multan is the center of a vast hinterland mainly consisting of medium towns, large villages and small hamlets, where agriculture is the main economic activity. The city provides specialized services to its hinterland including services like health, education, commercial etc. in addition to the administrative functions. By virtue of its location and role it acts like a magnet for the population from surrounding areas. The rural to urban migration has been taking place unabated during the past decades. The process of urbanization makes the city dynamic in terms of its spatial growth and diversity in functions and services. The city has been expanding mostly in haphazard manner due to the following two reasons: 1. Absence of an effective Master Plan to provide adequate strategies and guidelines for urban development and spatial growth. 2. Lack of enough resources with the public civic agencies to provide various services at the rate equivalent to the rate at which urbanization took place. The result is a mushroom growth of residential areas with substandard living conditions, called slums and Katchi Abadies. They are most commonly scattered all around the city in a rather natural and organic fashion. However, the areas developed by public agencies and private builders are found at specific and selected locations. Map-1 shows the city of Multan with major corridors of development where development has either taken place during the recent past or trend of present development prevails. Table-1 gives the names of such areas where residential development is taking place at dynamic rate. JUSTIFICATION FOR SUPPORT - LINKAGES WITH GEF THEMES AND OPERATIONAL PROGRAMMES Multan City is the largest urban center in Southern Punjab with a vast rural hinterland. The climatic conditions of the area are harsh with hot and dry conditions. The temperature sometimes sores to more than 48 degrees during summers, which see little rain even during the monsoons. The survival under the circumstances requires making extra efforts for cooling the buildings both for housing purpose as well as workplaces. This requires extra consumption of electricity during the long months of summer. Therefore a major portion of the household budget of all population groups is spent on payment of electricity bills, making it extremely difficult for particularly the low-income families to afford. The total urban population of Multan is about 1.6 millions and it is estimated that as much as 30 percent of this population lives in the low-income communities. It is proposed that by adopting different building designs and using different construction materials can considerably reduce excessive use of electricity for cooling purpose. The Operational Strategy and Operational Programme of Global Environment Facility focus on the removal of barriers to Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation. The proposed project aims to adopt innovative building designs and use different building materials, which would help to reduce energy consumption. The use of electricity directly contributes to the global warming. The poverty-environment nexus requires innovative interventions to reduce energy consumption especially in summers, through energy efficient building structures in Multan. Building Control, Standards & Practices There has been either little or no legislation pertaining to the land use control and building byelaws. Whatever byelaws exist, they are not adequate to meet the actual socio-economic, cultural and traditional conditions of the people, therefore are not generally acceptable. The application and implementation of these byelaws is not effectively exercised. The major objective of the authorities has always been to increase the revenue by the levy of fines and fees against unauthorized structures under their jurisdiction. Climatic Conditions in Multan and Impact on Housing The climate of Multan has been classified as warm composite in which all three seasons, hot dry, hot humid and cold prevail. As said earlier the temperature sores to above 48 degrees for some days in summer. In hot-dry months maximum insulation is needed to prevent heat gain in the building. In the hot-humid months, in addition to insulation from solar heat, humidity control is required to keep the level of relative humidity low and facilitate evaporative cooling. The local traditional architecture provides important lessons in appropriate building design with reference to climate control. Traditional buildings had evolved an architecture that minimized heat gain by maximum insulation and provided controlled ventilation of the interior. The layout of the houses was introvert, i.e. spaces were grouped around a courtyard. The houses were normally buffered from two to three sides by adjacent houses. The use of Mung provided effective ventilation. The modern architecture in Multan has deviated from the traditional designs. The adoption of new building designs requires high-energy consumption for cooling during the summer, resulting in exorbitant electricity bills difficult to pay for most urban households. The lack of appropriate building control has further aggravated the situation. The Role of Public and Private Sectors i

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