The Buildup
Wander around. Everywhere you go, from the high hills of Darchula to the low-lying plains of Morang, you can see built structures popping up.
Unsurprisingly, Kathmandu leads the race in building new, unplanned concrete houses. Had the Shah king viewed Kathmandu valley from Chandragiri in 2021, he would have quickly marched back to Gorkha, and left the ugly ‘concrete monstro-city’ alone.
A booming construction industry, even if limited to the residential sector, is a welcome sign for any developing economy. The construction landscape is ridden with a billion problems. And yet it is nothing out of the ordinary. Every one of those issues, even the unrivaled levels of financial irregularities, were foreseen in a post-revolution Nepal. So, these quirks can be safely ignored by seeking solace in the wisdom of ‘time heals everything’. A celebration of sustained infrastructure growth is entirely justifiable.
If it is indeed all roses and diamonds in the AEC industry, why do we need SCAPE? Turns out, it is not all roses and diamonds, not even close. Shocker? Probably not. Time is aplenty to address the prevalent corruption and stupid regulatory obstacles. But the issue that SCAPE looks to address is extremely extremely urgent (no that wasn’t a typo — it’s that urgent). While it will undoubtedly heal in the long run, humans sadly won’t be around to see it — that is if we fail to generate meaningful actions and interventions right away. Enters SCAPE.
The Why
So, let’s get to answering the 10 Arba rupiye (insider-Nepali knowledge) question then — why Scape?
Engineering definitions have undergone a seismic shift in the past few decades. Sustainability, serviceability, and circularity have taken a center stage in design considerations. Global warming and the role construction plays in it needs to be taken at face value by engineers and stakeholders worldwide.
On the one side, there are developed countries. Engineers there work tirelessly to introduce greener building practices and contribute as much as they can for the environment. Projects are designed for maximum benefits for the people and minimal impact on the environment.
And then there are the developing countries like Nepal. No one bats an eyelid when infrastructure projects destroy the surrounding or sacrifice serviceability for immediate economic gains. It is unfortunate that thousands of young engineers graduate every year, studying a curriculum that precedes any knowledge of global warming or sustainable construction, and clueless to the development trends in the last couple of decades.
Converse with a Nepali construction stakeholder, or even a local person for that sake, on environmental sustainability in construction, and you can hear them going something like –
‘Westerners don’t want us to develop. So, they try to stop our glorious projects by enforcing serviceable or environmental roadblocks on us. Why should we stop anything for their cause? Global warming is a problem they invited, let them fix it. It doesn’t impact us anyway,’ wiping sweat on their foreheads, they add, ‘Somehow even the hills have hot climate these days.’
Here’s what it sounds like –
‘Why should we learn from the mistakes Western countries made in the past? We learn the hard way — repeating the same mistakes all over again. Let’s take pride in our nationalism by cutting down 24 lakh trees to make a completely uncalled-for airport. Let’s destroy the environment too, so they know we don’t buy into foreign influence.’
What happens then? A string of poor designs, from the local residential buildings to mega-infrastructures, put the people and environment on a path of harm. Everyone suffers from bad construction practices.
Nepal will ultimately have to transition to sustainable construction to keep up with the world. The equation is simple — the later it gets, the costlier the transition becomes. We need to intervene early; the engineers and architects need to be made aware of the implications of their designs and the status quo needs to be changed. Why pass through the destructive construction phase when we can jump directly to green building, and be a world leader at that.
This makes SCAPE a necessary venture. To the best of my knowledge, nobody is doing anything. A public-private corruption partnership of developers is ongoing so that they can escape a flailing Nepal to developed countries when the full effects of global warming manifest.
It all comes down on us youths, especially engineers and architects, to take the country, we will inherit in the future, on a better path. And it will not be easy, but with a clear vision, we can contribute a lot. Green building practices need research on both local conditions and international resources and lots of innovation.
That’s why SCAPE was born — to provide a by-the and for-the youth platform for research, innovation, and discussion on green construction practices to build a better future for ourselves and the coming generations. With an accumulated knowledge pool shared by a shimmering network of green-ovative engineers, we can revolutionize the AEC industry, both inside and outside Nepal.
The How
Revolutionizing the AEC industry is pretty ambitious, I agree. And yet I am confident that SCAPE can do all that and much more. How do we plan to do that?
Starting, we focus on laying down the all-important theoretical foundations for understanding sustainability. Sustainable construction is a complex, multi-stakeholder subject. And since we are starting as junior undergraduate students, a lot of in-depth research is essential to know the basics.
So, the first phase of SCAPE will mostly be dedicated to building a community of undergraduate students from around Nepal to gather under a single roof (virtually, of course) and research the ins and outs of all the facets of sustainability — design and analysis, material sciences, efficient energy systems, policy level obstacles, and many others that I have no idea of. The research will be pooled through regular discussion sessions and shared with the world through blogs and infographics.
The second phase starts once we have built a strong team and knowledge base on sustainable practices, that we can proactively share with the wider Nepali community, especially in places with increasing construction. Advocacy sessions will help people understand the long-term cost savings sustainable construction gives and the positive impact on human health, comfort, and the environment. People can then demand greater accountability from design engineers and the government as well.
The third and most important phase begins after our team graduates and spreads out into their respective professional fields. Everyone can contribute to ridding the obstacles of green building through a combination of strategies, both for-profit and non-profit. All these contributions will accumulate to change the general mindset of the construction stakeholders, and superior innovations will help revolutionize the industry.
The What
So, what activities and events will we be doing? Follow us and find out for yourself!
Or better still, join us and plan it out yourself! We welcome everyone to join us, from every field (engineering or no engineering), even if you don’t have the slightest idea on sustainable construction (we don’t either). Let’s learn and grow together to design the way forward for Nepal.
Cheers,
Abhishek Jha (Founder, SCAPE)
