Member Article

Eco-homes for flood plains

This month, the housing and planning bill is being debated in parliament. However, instead of focusing on ways to improve the quality of the housing stock, it lays the entire weight to increased home ownership. In fact, in the process, the bill reduces the availability of affordable housing. As is, the affordability of housing and the design of homes are intrinsically linked. Many times, the value of housing is measured during construction, yet building ordinary and unfit houses on flood plains will ultimately cost the government and the residents fortunes when new protection measures have to be invested in.

Extensive discussions need not be ignored in matters consequences of building on flood plains. Conventional houses must not be built in such an environment by all means. It is common knowledge that building such houses will eventually lead to floods. In fact, building in floodplains increases events of flooding in other areas and that is not just costly economically, but there are also social and emotional costs involved. As a result of climate change, it is almost impossible for flood defences to cope with the floods no matter how high they are built. It is more reasonable to strategically focus and concentrate on houses that can withstand such an environmental condition.

Unfortunately, most house builders, as well as the government, have continued to ignore the many design lessons of the eco-housing. They fail to understand that this is an innovation that can support flood-plain durable houses. There is a deep-rooted resistance to changing the norm of building houses. Somehow, this is linked to the fear of market risks, learning new knowledge and a perception that ecological changes equal being less comfortable.

However, this notion cannot be justified given that many examples around the world demonstrate how cost effective eco-housing is to build; how cheap it is to occupy, and how comfortable it is. More so, this housing is better able to withstand extreme weather conditions in this case floods. If houses have to be built on floodplains, they can be designed in a way that withstands floods. At least, the building has to be easily recoverable. Already, the Environment Agency has given directives on how homes should be designed to minimise damage. The agency has advised that houses should be built using flood resilient materials such as wet proofing, use high electric points, and low permeable building materials.

Eco-houses are built to withstand floods without any damage. The designs include building houses on stilts, homes that float as water rises, and building a sacrificial basement. These designs are not being newly introduced; rather they have been in use in many other parts of the world. Also, these houses would reduce the havoc caused by floods given that the designs work in accordance with the climate features of a given region. These houses come equipped with gardens that absorb and collect water, the houses collect and store rainwater, and they minimise and treat waste produced by the household. This is what reduces any runoff.

Eco-houses may appear to be more costly than normal housing in the initial construction. However, after the building cycle, the cost of living will dramatically go down. What’s more, building better homes that will auger well with the environment will eliminate the high costs of clean up after floods. Currently, the cost of flood clean-up is approximately 30, 000 Euros per property. It is necessary to understand that no house including the eco-houses can prevent flooding. This is why every house must be accompanied by better water management from how it is absorbed, to how it runs from the highlands to how it is collected and disposed at the household level.

Simple measures such as paving and reducing the amount of concrete can play a big role in reducing the amount of water getting into the sewer network. This is one way of decreasing sewer flooding. Eco-houses do not have to be expensive than the conventional houses, especially over their lifecycle. Eco-houses can undeniably prove to be remarkably cheaper to live in (Source: Baufritz.com - One of the first Eco House Builders). These houses have the capacity to collect water, generate their own electricity, and need just minimal heating. As many people continue to be rendered homeless and house prices keep rising beyond many citizen’s abilities, it is necessary to rethink on the types of houses used and build houses that are not just affordable but ecological too.

The question for many involved parties is whether to switch from the old materials to the eco-friendly ones. A floating house may not be on people’s architectural radar yet. However, there is solid logic backing the design. As floods continue to wreak havoc, an amphibious house is an asset in the flood-prone areas. Rather than having residents freed to upper lands from flood zones, ecological houses allow people to remain in their homes during flood episodes. In the UK, many regions are in need of practical and innovative designs to protect residents from floods.

Standard responses for floods include flood defences and including barriers to flood pathways. During landscape designing and overall architecture, these measures are often not too well integrated, resulting in poor functioning streetscapes. It is common knowledge that under heavy floods, the sewerage system is overwhelmed. It is not just a UK consequence. Every sewer is designed to use gravity and water to flush dirty water. With heavy rainfall, it is possible to displace the dirty water and get it to the surface and eventually into people’s houses. This is more reason to embrace eco-friendly houses.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Hagen Petters .