Housing solutions in Kyrgyzstan This presentation will outline the three main methods that habitat is using to address the housing crisis in Kyrgyzstan: Completing half-built home, renovation of buildings and the construction of Cane Reed housing. The central focus will be on how Cane Reed houses are built and why the are affordable, sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Finishing half-built houses After the fall of the Soviet Union government funding for housing and families dropped dramatically. This meant that many families that had begun building their own homes had to stop, as a result there are incomplete house across Kyrgyzstan. Habitat for humanity has been assisting in the completion of these houses, it can include building more walls, adding roofs or ceilings and putting in doors or windows. This style of renovation is occurring in the suburbs of Bishkek, Barskoon and Kochkor. The renovations are paid back over an average of three to five years with a monthly payment of around US$40. The construction also includes adding water and sanitation facilities, heating and insulation.

Refurbishment and renovation Renovation includes plastering walls. Painting and putting up wall paper. It also includes protecting building against the harsh winters by adding new windows, insulation and efficient heating. Renovations of houses have also included the addition of one or more rooms to prevent overcrowding and unsafe conditions. The renovations are highly successful as the cost of houses and building materials has risen in Kyrgyzstan, by renovating privately owned homes with locally sourced materials Habitat for Humanity has created an affordable solution to the housing crisis.

Renovating apartment blocks One of the most successful types of renovation has been the restoration of old Soviet style apartment blocks. By adding new roofs, windows and insulation to one building block hundreds of families can be helped at once. For example, the reconstruction of three apartment blocks in 2007 provided 257 families with a nicer, safer place to live.

Cane Reed housing Cane Reed housing - 19th century idea, 21st century solution. Cane Reed housing successfully won the World Bank Award in 2006 for its innovative design. The houses are affordable due to the use of locally sourced materials and environmentally friendly thanks to there insulation and under floor heating systems. Habitat for humanity’s cane reed housing combines the nineteenth century technology of constructing a house out of reeds and clay, with twenty-first century technology of under floor heating.

The construction process: The first steps to constructing a Cane Reed house is locate the Cane Reed and then cutting it down and leaving it to dry out in the sun. Whilst the Cane Reed is drying out work can begin on the framework for the foundations. The framework in made using wood, this is then filled with cement to form the base of the house. Once the first layer of cement has dried the rest of the floor is created out of layers of cement, gravel and cane. Between the layers that form the floor of the house the coiled circuit under floor heating system is installed.

Volunteers preparing the cement for the foundations Volunteers preparing the cement for the foundations. This image shows the wooden frame that is constructed to support the base of the house.

Under floor heating system The heating system is sandwiched between the reed and the clay and the final layer of concrete. The floor also contains a reflective plastic/foil membrane and the coil (which is a 1cm diameter plastic pipe that runs across the entire floor at 12cm intervals. The reflective foil maximizes heat conduction and reduced the amount of heat that can escape. The spacing of the pipe ensures an even distribution through out the house. The system is operated using a water heater tank that has a ten liter capacity. The entire system requires only 30 liters of water in total due to the extra thin, locally produced pipes that are used.

The next stage is the construction of the main frame of the house The next stage is the construction of the main frame of the house. The frame is created out of locally sourced wood.

Global Village volunteers helped to constructed the main frame of the house.

The walls of the house are then formed with layers of the cane reed The walls of the house are then formed with layers of the cane reed. After the reed has been woven into the wooden frame extra pieces of fiberglass are added to ensure the structure is sturdy.

The walls are then sprayed to disinfect the materials and provide fire and bio protection.

The walls are then plastered inside and out using a mixture of clay and reed. A layer of wire mesh is also added to the outside of the house to help strengthen the plaster.

Finishing the house After this a the roof is added and the walls are plastered with a water proof, cement-stabilizing plaster.

What makes a Cane Reed house environmentally friendly house? The use of water and electricity to heat the house reduces both the cost of the heating bills for the family but also the amount of fossil fuels used by the community. A major problem in Kyrgyzstan at the moment is that the amount of coal and gas used by the population exceeds the amount generated by the country, this creates a dependency of foreign imports. The coiled heating system used in the Cane Reed houses are more efficient, reduces dependence on imported fuel and reduces the pollution created by burning fossil fuels. Using locally sourced materials reduces the costs spent on transportation. Using the cane reed is more sustainable than using wood as growing and harvesting cane reed is easier and is more environmentally sustainable than deforestation. The materials used to construct cane reed houses provide better insulation to prevent the loss of any heat. It has now be proven that this type of housing can save a family up to forty percent on construction costs and up to seventy-five present of heating and energy bills. This amounts to around $60 which is the equivalent of 490 loaves of bread, 20kg of meat or 160 liters of milk.

This is Imanaliev Niyazbek (30), his wife Edisa (26) and their children Edinay (4) Kanyshay (3) infront of their newly constructed Cane Reed home.