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Sri Lanka Sustainable Housing and Construction Roadmap 2020 2050 High Res

The document presents Sri Lanka's Sustainable Housing and Construction Roadmap from 2020 to 2050. It provides an overview of Sri Lanka's geography, demography, buildings sector, and environmental challenges. It then outlines 8 action areas and goals to transition to sustainable housing and construction, including urban planning, new buildings, renovations, operations, appliances, materials, resilience, and clean energy. Cross-cutting challenges and recommendations are also discussed.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
81 views74 pages

Sri Lanka Sustainable Housing and Construction Roadmap 2020 2050 High Res

The document presents Sri Lanka's Sustainable Housing and Construction Roadmap from 2020 to 2050. It provides an overview of Sri Lanka's geography, demography, buildings sector, and environmental challenges. It then outlines 8 action areas and goals to transition to sustainable housing and construction, including urban planning, new buildings, renovations, operations, appliances, materials, resilience, and clean energy. Cross-cutting challenges and recommendations are also discussed.

Uploaded by

elviclip
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Ministry of Urban Development and Housing

Sri Lanka Sustainable Housing and


Construction Roadmap
2020 - 2050

Supported by

i
© Ministry of Urban Development and Housing - Sri Lanka

The views expressed are those of the contributors and do


not necessarily represent the views of the Government
and the United Nations entities supporting the initiative.

For more information:


Ministry of Urban Development and Housing
8th, 17th & 18th Floors "SUHURUPAYA",
Subhuthipura Road,
Battaramulla.
Sri Lanka
Web: https://www.moudh.gov.lk/

Proposed citation:
Hettiarachchi M., Munasinghe J. M., Samarakoon D., Usuf
A., Aleem M. (2022). Sri Lanka Sustainable Housing and
Construction Roadmap: 2020-2050. Ministry of Urban
Development and Housing, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

i
Acknowledgments:

Consultant Team
Dr. Missaka Hettiarachchi Senior Fellow, Dr. Alicia Regodón Sustainable Housing
World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Washington DC. Expert, Land Housing and Shelter Section,
USA Global Solutions Division, UN-Habitat
Prof. J N Munasinghe Professor
Department of Town & Country Jonathan Duwyn Programme Officer,
Planning, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka Buildings and Construction, Energy and
Climate Branch, Economy Division, United
Damitha Samarakoon Director Program Nations Environmental Programme
and Finance, SLYCAN Trust, Sri Lanka
(UNEP)
Project Assistants
Hashan Perera, Quantity Surveyor Geoffrey Morgan CEng MICE, Senior
Infrastructure Sustainability, Resilience and
Hirun Meepage, Software developer / Data Inclusion Specialist, Infrastructure and
Analyst,
Project Management Group – Strategic
Project Country Team Initiatives Team, United Nations Office for
Aziza Usoof Monitoring and Reporting Project Services (UNOPS)
Manager, UN-Habitat - Sri Lanka Chloe Decazes Infrastructure and Project
M S M Aleem Project Manager, UN-Habitat Management Specialist,United Nations
- Sri Lanka Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
RE-Think Buildings Programme Team
Christophe Lalande, Lead Housing
Specialist, Land Housing and Shelter
Section, Global Solutions Division, UN-
Habitat
Jesus Salcedo Programme Management
Officer, Land Housing and Shelter Section,
Global Solutions Division, UN-Habitat

The Ministry of Urban Development and Housing would like to thank the following for their
support for this initiative:
 The multi-stakeholder Expert Group for their active participation in the process, valuable
inputs and feedback on the content.
 UN-Habitat project team from the Sri Lanka Country Office for coordination with the
Ministry, consultants and stakeholders
 Mrs. Isuru Prabha Erandathie for ICT, layout and graphic design support
 The team from the Ministry led by Eng. Keerthi Ranjith Abeysiriwardena (Additional
Secretary- Housing and Construction) and Eng. S. M. A. Nelugolla for their leadership and
untiring efforts in making this document a reality

Donor Acknowledgments:
The RE-Think Buildings Programme is made possible thanks to the Multi-partner Trust Fund
for Sustainable Consumption and Production.
The Multi-Partner Trust Fund for SDG 12, a pooled fund established by six UN Agencies, is
the means to accelerate the implementation of SDG 12 and deliver on Agenda 2030.

ii
The Fund supports countries that are ready to implement SCP, with tailored support to national
level stakeholders.
Funding has been made possible thanks to the German Federal Ministry for Environment,
Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), and the Government of Denmark.

RE-Think Buildings Programme:


The United Nations RE-Think Buildings Programme is a joint initiative led by UN-Habitat in
partnership with UNEP and UNOPS, and in support of the One Planet Network Sustainable
Buildings and Construction (SBC) Programme for SDG12. The overall aim of the joint
programme is “Promoting a common approach to supporting countries in leveraging their
buildings, construction, and housing sector to achieve the SDGs”. The project outputs had the
following objectives during its implementation 2020-2022. 1) provide strategic support to the
United Nations Country Teams to help countries in improving the sustainability of buildings
and their impact on the environment, in particular on carbon emissions, 2) support
governments in transforming their buildings and construction sector to be a resource efficient,
low carbon and climate resilient sector, through coherent policy support and results-focused
programming based on science and facts. The programme was piloted in Sri Lanka and
Burkina Faso for 2020/2022.

iii
CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Executive Summary

Project Overview

1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1
2. Country overview ........................................................................................................... 2
2.1. Geography and Climate .......................................................................................... 2
2.2. Demography and Socio-Economic Development .................................................... 2
2.3. Governance and political context ............................................................................ 2
2.4. Materials and construction practices. ...................................................................... 3
2.5. Buildings and Housing Sector ................................................................................. 4
2.6. Environmental Degradation and Climate Change impact ........................................ 4
3. Country vision and strategy for climate change mitigation and adaptation...................... 7
4. Context and Way-Forward: Resource-Efficient Housing and Buildings Sector ............... 8
4.1. Action Area 1: Urban Planning ................................................................................ 8
4.2. Action Area 2: New Buildings ................................................................................ 12
4.3. Action Area 3: Buildings Renovation and Decommissioning ................................. 18
4.4. Action Area 4: Building Operation ......................................................................... 21
4.5. Action Area 5: Appliances and Systems................................................................ 24
4.6. Action Area 6: Materials ........................................................................................ 27
4.7. Action Area 7: Resilience ...................................................................................... 32
4.8. Action Area 8: Clean Energy ................................................................................. 34
5. Cross-cutting challenges .............................................................................................. 37
5.1. Lack of strategic level planning and inter-agency coordination: ................................ 37
5.2. Weak enforcement of regulations: ............................................................................ 37
5.3. Lack of community participation and engagement opportunities for disadvantaged
groups: ............................................................................................................................ 37
5.4. Inadequate resource allocation: ................................................................................ 37
5.5. Lack of SBC related capacity and skills: ................................................................... 38
5.6. Poor monitoring and data management: ................................................................... 38
6. Conclusions and Recommendations ............................................................................ 39
Acronyms ............................................................................................................................ 46
Annexure ............................................................................................................................ 47

iv
LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: Some important social statistics on Sri Lanka....................................................... 2


Table 4.1: Actions and goals for Urban Planning................................................................. 11
Table 4.2: Housing Predictions Sri Lanka............................................................................ 15
Table 4.3: Actions and Goals for New Buildings .................................................................. 17
Table 4.4: Action and Goals for Building Renovation and Decommissioning ....................... 20
Table 4.5: Action and Goals for Building Operation ............................................................. 23
Table 4.6:Trends in increasing number of household connections in Sri Lanka (National
energy balance 2012-2019.) ............................................................................... 24
Table 4.7: GHG Emissions from Electricity Usage in 2030-2050 ......................................... 25
Table 4.8: Average annual discarding Quantity of Appliances ............................................. 26
Table 4.9: Actions and Goals for Appliances and Systems.................................................. 26
Table 4.10: Materials Projection Data ................................................................................. 29
Table 4.11: Actions and Goals for Materials ........................................................................ 31
Table 4.12: Actions and Goals for Resilience ...................................................................... 34
Table 4.13: Energy Supply in Sri Lanka .............................................................................. 34
Table 4.14: Actions and Goals in Clean Energy .................................................................. 36
Table 6.1: Recommendations ............................................................................................. 41
Table 7.1: Action Areas and Proposed Specific Actions/ Goals relevant to NDCs .............. 43

ANNEX TABLES
Table A1: Institutions and Roles .......................................................................................... 47
Table A2: Processes ........................................................................................................... 50
Table A3: Policies and Regulations ..................................................................................... 52
Tables A4: Housing Programs and Best Practices .............................................................. 55
Tables A5: Summary of some emerging sustainable materials in Sri Lanka ........................ 60

v
LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: Sri Lanka Forest cover variation 1950-2000 ........................................................ 6


Figure 2.2: Land degradation and sand mining hot spots ...................................................... 6
Figure 2.3: GHG emissions Sri Lanka: 1970-2010 ................................................................ 6
Figure 3.1: Distribution of NDC among Action Areas ……………………………………………..7
Figure 4.1: RE-CCAT Analysis for stages pertaining to Strategic Planning and Spatial
Planning.............................................................................................................. 9
Figure 4.2: Institutional Framework of the Construction Sector - Sri Lanka ......................... 13
Figure 4.3: RE-CCAT Analysis for stages pertaining to New Building Construction ............. 14
Figure 4.4: Population, growth rate and urban fraction Sri Lanka ........................................ 15
Figure 4.5: Projected increase in number of housing units .................................................. 16
Figure 4.6: RE-CCAT Analysis for stages pertaining to Building Renovation and
Decommissioning ............................................................................................. 19
Figure 4.7: RE-CCAT Analysis pertaining to materials management................................... 29
Figure 4.8: Projected increase in cement use ..................................................................... 30
Figure 6.1: Overall SBC opportunities in different Action Areas and Enabling Domains ...... 39
Figure 7.1: Overall SBC opportunities in different Action Areas and Enabling Domains ...... 42

vi
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Housing sector of Sri Lanka at a glance

2020-2050 projected values As of 2020:

 Rural houses - 78.4%


 Urban houses - 17.2%
 Estate houses- 4.3%
 Permanent houses - 81.4%
 Semi-permanent - 17.7%
 Homeless and landless
families - 216,000

Environmental impacts of housing construction and demolition 2020 – 2050

What is the carbon footprint of 2.3 million new


houses? 3.25 million existing houses will be
Equal to demolished
125 Million tonnes
of CO2 emissions 25 Million Generating 620 million cu m of
elephants! debris
This can fill 250,000 Olympic
Swimming Pools!

If we renovate 50% of the houses to be demolished by 2050, it will save


50 million tonnes of CO2.

Equal to planting 20 million trees.

Demand for building materials’ sharp increase 2020-2050

2020-2050 projected values

Other materials
(2020-2050)

> 25 billion bricks


> 3 billion cement blocks
> 6.5 million cu m of timber

vii
Overarching challenges to sustainable/low-carbon (SBC) housing construction

 No mechanism for integrated strategic planning covering all aspects of housing


construction
 Inadequate laws, regulations and weak enforcement capacities to support SBC and
sustainable building material sourcing. Outdated regulations acting as barriers for
mainstreaming SBC
 Lack of participation and engagement opportunities for women and underrepresented
groups in decision-making processes related to housing and construction
 Poor monitoring, data management and lack of access to information related to housing
and construction
 Inadequate resource / finance allocation for research, promotion and mainstreaming SBC
practices and sustainable building materials in housing construction
 Lack of capacity and skills for mainstreaming SBC among construction industry
stakeholders particularly at artisan and vocational level. Construction norms and standards
unsupportive of SBC.

Sustainable Housing Construction Roadmap – Sri Lanka


Vision 2050
“By 2050, housing and construction in Sri Lanka are socially inclusive,
environmentally sustainable and carbon neutral”

Some major goals and activities proposed by the Roadmap


Issue Activity 2050 Goals

Establish a National
Achieving
Lack of strategic planning Alliance for SBC and set
National SBC
for housing construction National SBC Goals for
Goals
2050

Incorporating SBC to Removing all


Inadequate and outdate
national regulatory/ regulatory / policy
regulatory/policy
policy frameworks barriers to SBC

Poor integration and


Integrated
access restrictions to Central database for
information
construction related Construction data
system
information

National Action Plan to SBC incorporated


Lack of awareness and
raise awareness on SBC to all professional
inadequate industry
and build industry and vocational
capacity for SBC
capacity training coursesviii
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The United Nations Joint Programme on Resource Efficient Housing, is led by UN-Habitat Sri
Lanka, in partnership with UNEP and UNOPS, and in support of the goals of the One Planet
Network Sustainable Buildings and Construction (SBC) Programme. The overall aim of the
joint programme is “Promoting a common approach to supporting countries in leveraging their
buildings and construction sector to achieve the SDGs”. The project outputs will 1) provide
strategic support to the United Nations Country Teams to help countries in improving the
sustainability of buildings and their impact on the environment, in particular on carbon
emissions, 2) support governments in transforming their buildings and construction sector to
be a resource efficient, low carbon and climate resilient sector, through coherent policy support
and results-focused programming based on science and facts.
The programme was piloted in Sri Lanka and Burkina Faso for 2021/2022. The Sustainable
Building Country Assessment is the first output of the project, which was followed by the Sri
Lanka Roadmap for Sustainable Housing and Construction. The outputs are delivered in a
participatory manner with inputs and validation of key stakeholders in the housing, building
and construction industry of Sri Lanka.

ix
1. Introduction
This report presents the findings of the Sustainable Building Construction Country
Assessment for Sri Lanka (SBC-CA) and a Roadmap for Sustainable Housing and
Construction and achieving NDCs in the construction industry in Sri Lanka. It examines the
current status, and potential opportunities and challenges for adopting Sustainable Building
Construction (SBC) practices and policies. The Country Assessment and the Roadmap are
structured on the approach laid out by the ‘Global Alliance for Building Construction (Global
ABC) Roadmap for Buildings and Construction 2020-2050, where 8 Action Areas have been
identified for the transition towards sustainability in the Construction Sector:

1. Urban planning 5. Appliances and Systems


2. New Buildings 6. Materials
3. Existing Buildings 7. Resilience
4. Building Operations 8. Clean Energy

The Roadmap outlines recommendations to be implemented in each of these broad areas of


action together with overarching policy recommendations. The methodology of conducting the
Country Assessment was based on the Resource Efficiency Country Construction
Assessment Tool (RE-CCAT).

The Resource Efficiency Country Construction Assessment Tool (RE-CCAT) developed by


UNOPS, UNEP and UN-Habitat was developed for the purpose of construction sustainability
analysis and informing policy and action, which it supports (1) the country building and housing
context analysis and, (2) the enabling environment assessment to identify the challenges and
opportunities to improve planning, delivery and management of resource efficient buildings
and housing. The tool follows the 10 stages of the building lifecycle from strategic planning to
decommissioning and analyses of 7 enabling environment domains: 1] Institutional
arrangements, 2) Processes, 3) Policy, laws and regulations, 4) Funding and financial
management, 5) Knowledge and technical resources, 6) Stakeholder engagement and, 7)
Data management, monitoring and reporting.

Data for analysis was acquired through 1) desktop study, 2) key informant interviews, 3) short
consultations and, 4) workshops which provided inputs and feedback from the multi-
stakeholder expert group. The report is organised into three parts. The first part provides an
overview of the country construction industry, the housing sector, environmental management
and the vision for climate resilience. The second, gives the context and the way-forward for
the eight Action Areas identified for the transition towards SBC. The third presents cross-
cutting challenges and enablers identified in the study, provides conclusions and overarching
policy recommendations and the Roadmap for SBC towards 2050.

1
2. Country overview
2.1. Geography and climate
Sri Lanka, an island of 65,610 sq. km, on the Southern tip of the Indian sub-continent, has
high topographical, geological, and eco-climatic diversity. The diverse topographical features
vary according to altitude, from sea level to 2,524m. The country’s complex geology is formed
of a variety of rock types including gneiss, granite, limestone, quartzite, and various
sedimentary formations such as alluvial/ lagoonal clay and sand deposits. Climatically it is
divided into four main zones – Wet zone, Dry zone, Intermediate zone, and Semi-arid zone.
The tropical monsoonal climate with two monsoons, makes Sri Lanka wetter than most other
parts of the Indian subcontinent. Both rainfall and temperature vary widely across different
parts of the country. This geographic and climatic diversity supports a wide variety of
ecosystem types in the country of rain forests, dry deciduous forests, wetlands, grasslands
and coastal ecosystems. It also gives rise to many natural hazards - droughts, floods,
landslides, cyclones, and coastal erosion - that annually cause significant economic and
human losses. These topographical, climatic and ecological features and complexity pose
many challenges to the construction industry and for managing its environmental and climate
impacts.

2.2. Demography and socio-economic development


Sri Lanka was classified as an upper-middle income country with a Per Capita Gross Domestic
Product - GDP (nominal) of USD 3,680, in 2020. GDP was estimated to be USD 80,676,6811
with the services sector making the largest contribution to the economy of 54.6% of the GDP.
Sri Lanka’s GDP growth reached a peak of 8% between 2010 and 2014, but has declined
sharply in recent years. Sri Lanka has historically performed well in social development. The
Human Development Index (HDI) for Sri Lanka was 0.782 in 2019, placing it as high in human
development. However, it also suffers from many chronic social and economic problems such
as acute income disparities and gender inequality. It has a high Gini index value of 39.6 (2016)
and UNDP ranked Sri Lanka 75th on the Gender Inequality Index (GII). About 50% of the 2.3
million urban population is estimated to dwell in slums. Sri Lanka also has a substantial
number of IDPs and refugees – annual displacement was estimated to be around 135,000 in
20212. Table 1 gives some additional social and poverty indices.

Table 2.1: Some important social statistics on Sri Lanka (Source: Climate Risk Profile Sri Lanka)

Indicator Value
Population Undernourished 22.1% (2014-2016)
National Poverty Rate 4.1% (2016)
Share of Wealth Held by Bottom 20% 7% (2016)
Infant Mortality Rate (Between Age 0 and 1) 0.82% (2010-2015)
Dependents per 100 Independent Adults 71 (2015)

2.3. Governance and political context


Sri Lanka is a unicameral parliamentary democracy with an elected Executive President. It
has both unitary and federal characteristics in the three layers of government: National

1
World Bank - GDP per capita (current US$) - Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/
NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=LK
2
IDMC - Figures Analysis 2021 - Sri Lanka, Available at https://www.internal-displacement.org/sites/default/files/figures-
analysis-2021-lka.pdf
2
Government, Provincial Councils, and Local Government Agencies (LGA). The parliament has
the sole authority to make legislation. The executive comprises the President, the Cabinet
Ministries, and the Public Administration System. Different social and economic subject areas
(eg. health, agriculture, industries) come under the national and provincial ministries. The
Thirteenth Amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution delineates which tier of government is
responsible for the different subject areas. The administrative structure of Sri Lanka is also
three-tiered, comprising Village Officers - Grama Niladhari (GN), Divisional Secretaries and
District Secretaries. Over the past three decades, efforts for devolution of administration
through District and Divisional Secretariats have provided excellent platforms for ground-level
representatives from different agencies to interact and coordinate but much remains to be
improved. Recent years has seen intense political volatility in Sri Lanka, and frequent change
in governments. In 2022 the precarious foreign debt situation caused the worst economic crisis
in the country since independence, along with an acute shortage of some essential goods,
which has sparked widespread public unrest. Bilateral and multilateral humanitarian
assistance and debt restructuring are expected to ease the situation by early 2023, but the
long-term recovery will be slow.

2.4. Materials and construction practices


The construction industry is the largest consumer of natural resources in Sri Lanka, including
bulk minerals (sand, rock, clay), timber and fibre. A major portion of construction activities and
materials sourcing, remain informal or partially regulated. Price inflation of construction
materials has been variable, but generally very high. Building material production is a major
contributor to Green House Gas (GHG) emissions from the industrial sector. Cement
production, calcite and dolomite production and use, and steel rolling, account for about 92%
of the industrial GHG emissions3. Although the industrial sector only makes up about 2.5% of
Sri Lanka’s total GHG emissions, the construction industry has a much larger indirect
contribution through power and transport demands, which are yet to be quantified.
In rural and suburban areas, the most commonly used building materials for housing
construction are: random rubble foundations, brick or cement block walls, timber roof
structure, and cement-fibre or metal sheets roof covering. However, for larger higher income
housing projects in the urban sector more technically advanced practices are increasingly
used. Some estimates indicate that construction material quarrying amounted to 44% of all
raw-material extraction for domestic use in Sri Lanka4. Construction material quarrying
increased by 179.6 % from 8.4 million tonnes in 1990 to 23.5 million tonnes in 20185.
A significant portion of construction work is still a part of the informal economy, which is hard
to quantify. This is a major barrier to developing and maintaining proper construction
procedures and quality management processes, including sustainability measures. Recently
some initiatives have been adopted towards the sustainability of the construction sector such
as Green Building certification, and Green Material certification. From 2009, 80+ buildings and
45+ materials have been certified by the Green Building Council of Sri Lanka6. The initiatives
are further discussed under Section 4.2 (Action Area 2: New buildings).

3
Ministry of Environment Sri Lanka (MoESL). 2011. Second National Communication on Climate Change. Colombo:
MoESL
4
SCP Hotspot Analysis – Sector Profiles Sri Lanka, Available at http://scp-hat.lifecycleinitiative.org/sector-profiles/
5
ibid
6
Green Building Council of Sri Lanka - https://www.srilankagbc.org/
3
2.5. Buildings and housing sector
According to the Census of Population and Housing in 2011, there were 5,264,282 housing
units in the country. Of which, 78.4% were rural, 17.2% urban and 4.3% were in the plantation
sector. 81.4% of the houses were classified as permanent, while 17.7% were semi-
permanent7. Housing needs due to population growth in Sri Lanka have been moderate.
However, there is a significant and urgent demand for permanent housing driven by other
factors, such as displacement due to conflicts (Civil War 1983-2009), disasters, and
infrastructure projects, and also unsuitable quality of existing housing. The Housing Needs
Assessment of 20168 identified a critical need to improve the quality of existing housing.
According to the Sri Lanka government criteria, a house with concrete or masonry foundation,
masonry external walls and a permanent roof9 is considered a permanent house. As of 2016,
more than 275,000 of the existing housing units were temporary constructions and about
40,000 of these were in a highly undesirable (impoverished) state. There were over 800,000
families without a house and there were about 216,000 homeless and landless, families.
There had been various government-led housing projects historically in Sri Lanka in urban,
rural, and estate sectors, UDA’s Middle Income Housing Programme, and Low-income
Housing Projects are some examples. While some of these schemes were targeted at
providing housing for landless-homeless people, some were “urban regeneration programs”
where families were evicted from the informal and unauthorized buildings and relocated to
multi-story housing schemes. 23 such low-income multi-story housing schemes (12,771
Housing Units) have been built in Colombo metropolitan region10. Following the end of the
Civil War in 2009, it was estimated that approximately 168,000 households had to be
resettled, which had been partially fulfilled from 2010-2020 through bilateral and multi-lateral
aid programs (eg. 50,000 houses constructed 2012-2020 under assistance from the
Government of India). Section 4.2 presents more details about different aspects of the
housing sector and housing construction.

Currently 500,000 sq.m. of condominium space added per


year
It will be over 1.75 million sq.m. per year by 2050
The space covered is more than100 cricket grounds a year!

2.6. Environmental degradation and climate change impact


According to the Convention of Bio-diversity (CBD), Sri Lanka has the richest species
concentration in Asia11. There is also a wide diversity of forest and ecosystem types in the
island. Development activities and urbanization have taken a12 massive toll on Sri Lanka’s
ecosystems. The forest cover which was over 45% in the mid-last century fell below 30% by
the mid-1980s13. The construction industry is a major contributor to the country’s

7
Census of Population and Housing 2011, Department of Census and Statistics Sri Lanka.
8
Ministry of Housing and Construction (MoHC). 2016. Housing Needs Assessment and Data Survey. MoHC: Colombo,
Sri Lanka
9
Concrete slab or timber/steel frame sheltered with roofing tiles or metal/cement-fiber sheets
10
Urban Development Authority, Sri Lanka - https://www.uda.gov.lk/urban-regeneration-programme.html
11
Convention on Biological Diversity – Sri Lanka country profile - https://www.cbd.int/countries/?country=lk
12
Urban Development Authority - https://www.uda.gov.lk/urban-regeneration-programme.html
13
https://rainforests.mongabay.com/deforestation/forest-information-archive/Sri_Lanka.htm
4
environmental degradation. Mineral extraction such as sand mining, rock quarrying, soil and
clay excavation have had devastating impacts on ecosystems. The impacts of river sand
mining, such as bank erosion, ground water drawdown and salinity intrusion are particularly
catastrophic and now affecting every major river system14 in the country. Solid waste related
pollution also gives rise to major environmental issues in the country, with a daily solid waste
generation of more than 7000 metric tons15. It is estimated globally that the construction
industry contributes about 40% of the total solid waste volume directly or indirectly. In Sri
Lanka, materials such as concrete has shown waste percentages as high as 25%16. Illegal
dumping of construction waste in sensitive ecosystems is also causing severe impacts17.

More than 3.25 million houses to be demolished 2000-2050


This will produce over 620 million cu.m of debris
This can fill 250,000 Olympic swimming Pools!

Renovate half of the buildings without demolition will save > 50


million tonnes of CO2! Equal to planting 20 million trees!

Total annual GHG emissions in Sri Lanka are estimated to be 18,454,691 (2016), with a per
capita value of 0.88 tons per person (1 ton per person as of 2020), which is lower than the
global average of 4.47 tons CO2 per person. It is estimated that the
construction sector contributions to the carbon footprint was 5.3 million tonnes CO 2 eq. (10%
of the total)18.

By 2020 5.8 million housing units, and 8.2 million


houses by 2050
Over 2.3 million new houses will emit more than 125
million tonnes of CO2
It is equal to 25 Million elephants!

Sri Lanka is recognized as highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, ranked 100th out of
181 countries in the 2017 ND-GAIN Index19. The temperature rise due to climate change in
Sri Lanka is estimated to be 0.8°C–1.2°C the lowest emission scenario20. This is also predicted
to increase the disaster risks ie. increased flooding, flash floods, and landslides21. The
construction industry will also be affected by climate change impacts, due to the predicted
increase in disaster events and extreme heat. Events such as floods and heat waves can
reduce the durability of the structures and further increase their vulnerability to hazards. Heat
waves will increase air conditioning energy usage and associated increased carbon

14
Ratnayake, R. Riversand mining- Boon or Bane? (2008). Available at: http://lankajalani.org/wp-
content/uploads/2017/04/RSM-English.pdf.
15
Environmental Foundation Ltd. (EFL), Sri Lanka - https://efl.lk/status-waste-management-sri-lanka/
16
Rameezdeen, R., Kulatunga, U. & Amaratunga, D., 2004. Quantification of Construction Material Waste. s.l., The
University of Salford.
17
Central Environmental Authority - Technical Guideline of Solid Waste Management Sri Lanka
18
SCP Hotspot Analysis – Sector Profiles Sri Lanka, Available at http://scp-hat.lifecycleinitiative.org/sector-profiles/
19
ND-GAIN Country Index 2022 Available at https://gain.nd.edu/our-work/country-index/
20
Climate Risk Country Profile: Sri Lanka (2020): The World Bank Group and the Asian Development Bank.
21
ibid
5
emissions. Increasing disaster events can also hamper the construction process and material
supply chains.

Figure 2.1: Sri Lanka forest cover variation 1950-2000 (Source – Ministry of Environment Sri Lanka)

Watershed boundaries

Areas affected by sand


mining

Most affected rivers 2010-


2020 period

Figure 2.2: Land degradation and sand mining hot spots (Source: Pereira & Ratnayake 201322)

Figure 2.3: GHG emissions Sri Lanka: 1970-2010 (Source: World Bank)

22
Pereira, K., Ratnayake, R. (2013). Water Integrity in Action: curbing Illegal Sand Mining in Sri Lanka, Berlin,
Germany: Water Integrity Network.
6
3. Country vision and strategy for climate change mitigation and adaptation
Sri Lanka adopted the National Climate Change Policy in 2011 with the following objectives:
1) taking adaptive measures to minimize climate change impacts, 2) mitigating greenhouse
gas emissions, and 3) promoting sustainable consumption and production23. The important
implication for the construction industry is that the policy identifies “sustainable consumption
and production can significantly address the current and future challenges of climate change”.
It also highlights that planning of human settlements and land use is a key climate change
adaptation approach, and recommends “incorporating nationally appropriate low emission
strategies and technologies and appropriate adaptive strategies in human settlement, land
use planning, and urban development24”. In 2016 Sri Lanka adopted the National Climate
Change Adaptation Strategy 2016-2025, which identifies human settlements and built-
environment as key areas for adaptation interventions.
Sri Lanka’s declaration of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) in 2015 set
a 2030 target of reducing overall GHG emissions by 14% (20% in the energy sector and 10%
in others)25, which was revised in 2021 to increase the emission reduction target to 14.5% for
the period of 2021-2030 from all sectors. The 2021 revision to the NDCs also included:
increasing forest cover to 32% and achieving 70% renewable energy in electricity generation
by 2030, while attaining Net Carbon Neutrality in electricity generation by 205026.
The most pertinent NDC target for the construction sector is the intended 7% emission
reduction in the Industry sector27. There were many sector-specific NDCs that are pertinent to
buildings and housing, where Action Area 7 (Resilience) had the largest share of NDCs28.
Figure 3.1 gives the distribution of relevant NDCs among the eight Action Areas concerning
this report. They are further discussed in Table 7.1 under Conclusions and Recommendations.
The upcoming Third National Communication of NDCs is expected to have specific targets for
construction.
There is no adequate review yet of how well the sectors
have performed in achieving these NDCs. However,
tracking of performance towards Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) shows that, while having a
New Buildings
good overall SDG Index score of 70/10029, the country is
Building Renovation performing poorly in the SDGs pertaining to construction
Resilience

Building Operations industry sustainability. Affordable Clean Energy (SDG7),


Appliance Industry Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG9),
s. Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG12) and
Life on Land (SDG15) were all evaluated as major or
significant challenges remaining for the achievement of
the SDGs30. The construction industry stakeholders
Figure 3.1: Distribution of NDC among therefore, bear a major responsibility in achieving these
Action Areas (source: Author calculations) critical climate and sustainability targets.

23 Sri Lanka adopted the National Climate Change Policy in 2011- http://www.climatechange.lk/CCS
%20Policy/Climate_Change_Policy_English.pdf
24
ibid
25
Sri Lanka Second National Communication of NDCs, 2015 - https://unfccc.int/documents/144627
26
Updated Nationally Determined Contributions, Sri Lanka, 2021 - http://www.climatechange.lk/CCS2021
/UpdatedNDCsSriLanka2021.pdf
27
ibid
28
Author assessment
29 Sustainable Development Report – Sri Lanka: Available at https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/profiles/sri-lanka
30 ibid
7
4. Context and Way-Forward: Resource-Efficient Housing and Buildings Sector
4.1. Action Area 1: Urban Planning
4.1.1. Baseline and Enabling Environment:
Under this Action Area three aspects are covered: National level physical planning, Urban
planning and Strategic planning for the Construction Sector. Sri Lanka prepares a National
Level Physical Development Plan at regular intervals and the legal framework for national
planning is provided by the Town & Country Planning Ordinance (Amended Act - 2000). The
first National Physical Planning Policy and the Physical plan was enacted in 2011 and the
National Physical Plan 2050, was enacted in 201931. The Plan adopted the principles of
sustainable development (17 SDGs) and the development framework provided therein is
aligned with UN Land Use- Climate Action Pathway of goal 13: protecting what we have and
restoring what we have lost. Under these plans, four urban conurbations, two metropolitan
areas, nine major urban service centers, and a series of well-connected secondary and tertiary
urban centers have been identified and demarcated for future urban development to provide
facilities to approximately fourteen million residents32. A prominent share of building
construction activities can be expected in the forthcoming decades in these areas.

The existing plan was formulated based on detailed scientific studies, expert stakeholder
consultations, comprehensive analysis of trend patterns and future requirements with an over-
arching holistic vision. Hence, it is important that the housing and infrastructure development
projects and other sectoral development programs comply with the directives and guidance
provided therein, in order to achieve climate responsive, economically and technically feasible,
sustainable building and construction sector in the near future.

The government which came into power in 2020, initiated another amendment to the National
Physical Plan, based on their election political manifesto33. These proposals have not been
adopted yet and the updating process still continues (in August 2022). Thus, the Plan enacted
in 2019 is still valid, unless another enactment replaces it in the near future.

The Urban Development Authority (UDA) is the apex urban planning and development
regulatory institution established under the Urban Development Authority Law of 1978 and
amendments thereafter. Among many other tasks, the UDA is mandated with the preparation,
enactment and implementation of development plans in urban areas. These declared urban
areas fall in line with the future urban development trends indicated in the National Physical
Plan 2050. Even though, there are 240 ‘urban areas’ declared since 1980s, only forty
development plans have been formulated as of 202234. These plans also needed to be
updated once in ten years and therefore, the UDA is currently experiencing significant backlog
of planning activities. This is a major gap that directly impacts the building compliance and
compatibility with the sustainability principles which also raise many social and environmental
concerns.

31 National Physical Planning Policy & The Plan — 2017-2050 National Physical Planning Department Sri Lanka
- National Physical Planning Policy & The Plan — 2017-2050 Available at
https://www.nppd.gov.lk/images/National_Physical_Plans/National_Physical%20Planning%20Policy%20and%20
The%20Plan%202050.pdf
32 ibid
33 Saubhagye Dekma- Vistas of Prosperity and Splendor, 2019
34 Urban Development Authority Sri Lanka – Development Plan 2021-2030 Available at https://www.uda.gov.lk/

8
With the growth of the economy, a larger share of the population will inevitably shift to the
category of ‘urban’ within the next few decades. Even though the Census of 2012 classified
18.5% of Sri Lanka’s population as ‘urban’, it is far from the ground reality. Several studies
(World Bank35, UoM36) revealed that, irrespective of the type of LGA in the area of residence,
at least half of Sri Lanka’s population would have reached the threshold of being ‘urban’ by
2020.

The RE-CCAT analysis of the construction lifecycle stages pertaining to urban planning –
“Strategic planning” and “Spatial planning” – showed that spatial planning processes are more
developed and stronger in most enabling domains than strategic planning (see Fig.4.1).
Strategic planning showed strength in enabling domains such as “Technical resources” and
“Process,” but was weak in domains such as “Institutional arrangement” and “Stakeholder
engagement.” Data management was somewhat strong both in Strategic and Spatial planning
stages because of the availability of general census and statistics data, but rapidly diminishes
in later lifecycle stages.
A
A
B
G
F B

F C

E C

E D D
Strategic Planning Spatial Planning

A. Institutional arrangements
B. Process Status
C. Policies and Regulations
D. Stakeholder engagement Effectiveness
E. Financial resources
F. Knowledge and Technical resources
G. Data management, Monitoring and Reporting

Figure 4.1: RE-CCAT Analysis for stages pertaining to Strategic Planning and Spatial Planning

35 World Bank Ground - Leveraging Urbanization in Sri Lanka, 2015, Available at


https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/srilanka/brief/leveraging-urbanization-sri-lanka
36 De Silva, M C K, Dharshini G C and Munasinghe J N (2016), Defining ‘Urban’ among Urbanizing Rural: the

case of Sri Lankan Urbanization, Proceedings of the 9th Internationla Conference of the Faculty of Architecture
Research Unit (FARU) University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka: pp 288-303
9
4.1.2. Projection 2050

 By 2050, it is likely that more than 70% of the population in Sri Lanka, will be
‘urban’37. There will be a rapid increase in demand for urban utilities such as pipe
borne water supply, formal drainage, grid-based electricity, municipal liquid and solid
waste disposal and many more. At the same time, there will be an increased demand
for urban facilities such as recreation spaces, shopping and entertainment facilities,
health services, etc.

 This trend is inevitably associated with an upward trend in building construction both
to facilitate the transformation expected in ‘urban residences’ and to accommodate
the urban facilities and services.

 This will intensify building material and energy flows for construction activities.
Accordingly, resource exploitation (earth, sand, quarried materials, clay and other
mineral resources, timber, water), pollution and GHG emissions are likely to
increase significantly between 2020-2050. Discussed in detail under Section 4.6.

 Elevated quality of life of people will result in an increased use of modern household
and office equipment further increasing energy and carbon footprints of the
construction and housing industry. Discussed in detail under Sections 4.2 and 4.3

4.1.3. Challenges and gaps


1. Inconsistencies in the implementation of the National Physical Plan and lack of
compliance with the plan in the implementation of projects by different agencies.
2. Absence of Local Area Development Plans (at local government level) for most of
the urban areas and the lower capacities in the LGAs to prepare Local Development
Plans on their own.
3. Lack of capacity, systems and interest in LGAs to effectively enforce planning and
building regulations in the areas under their jurisdiction.
4. Persistent data gaps in the development activities and inadequate coordination
among development agencies.
5. The existing definition of an “urban area” is inappropriate for current conditions,
resulting in inaccurate classification of LGAs into Municipal, Urban and Pradesheeya-
Sabhas.

37
De Silva, M C K, Dharshini G C and Munasinghe J N (2016), Defining ‘Urban’ among Urbanizing Rural: the case of Sri
Lankan Urbanization, Proceedings of the 9th International Conference of the Faculty of Architecture Research Unit
(FARU) University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka: pp 288-303
10
4.1.4. Actions and Goals
Table 4.1:Actions and goals for Urban Planning

Challenge/Gap Action / Goal Timeframe


Inconsistencies in the Action 1.1: National Planning Department of the Short term
implementation of the Ministry of Finance to check all development projects for (03-05 years)
National Physical Plan their compliance with the NPP, before approval

Action 1.2: To establish an Independent National


Planning Commission to assure the compliance of all
major development projects in their implementation
Absence of Local level Action 1.3: Development of the Institutional Short term
Development Plans for Capacities (necessary financial and human resources), (within 03-05
most LGAs planning capabilities (technical and technological years)
requirements) and the core competencies (Urban Short (within 03-05
Planners, Engineers and other expertise) of the LGAs years for all MCs38
along with strengthening the capacities of the UDA. and UCs)
and
Action 1.4: Establishment of a dedicated Strategic Medium term (in
Planning Division in all LGAs (the purpose of which is to 10 years - for all
prepare, implement, monitor and phase out of the other LGAs)
development plans for the respective Local Area)
Lack of capacity, Action 1.5: Extend the UDA’s web-based development Short Term
systems and interest in application processing and clearing (On-line approval (within 03-05
LGAs to effectively system) into LGAs as a common platform, shared, years- MCs and
enforce Planning & audited and managed centrally and locally. UCs)
Building Regulations and
Action 1.6: Provide Local Authorities with the Medium term
necessary technical and technological capacities, (within 10 years -
capabilities and competences to manage geo other LGAs)
referenced, regularly updated and effectively managed
spatial data infrastructure, in collaboration with the on-
going National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)
development project.
Inappropriate definition Action 1.8: Provide necessary support to the Short term
of urban areas and Department of Census & Statistics to reformulate the (within 03 years)
resulting classification definition.
of LGAs

38 MC – Municipal Council, UC – Urban Council


11
4.2. Action Area 2: New Buildings
4.2.1. Baseline and Enabling Environment:

This section on New Buildings outlines the baseline on existing stock of housing units and the
trends in construction of new houses. Between 2000 and 2015, on average 76,500 houses
have been added each year to the building stock of Sri Lanka, with an average annual growth
rate of 1.8% (2000-2010) and 1.6% (2010-2015)39. Aggregate number of non-housing building
units added annually has not been estimated. However, it can be assumed that buildings such
as hotels and commercial high rise buildings have significantly increased since mid-2000s and
especially after the end of the Civil War in 2009. For example, the number of hotel rooms
increased from 14,714 in 2010 to 42,750 in 202040, and the floor space of commercial high
rise buildings (including luxury apartments) increased from 125,752 m2 to 582,345 m2 (2010-
2020) with a 36% annual growth rate41.

The SBC Country Assessment did not come across a comprehensive study on construction
practices in Sri Lanka. According to the interviews, most housing units are constructed using
conventional materials and methods – eg. masonry, concrete, timber structured roofing. Use
of more advanced techniques such as pre-engineered buildings, pre-caste panels and steel
structures are used in urban upper-income housing and commercial high-rise buildings. Use
of sustainable building techniques or materials are rare.

Construction of new buildings of any scale have to be approved by the relevant Local
Government Agency (LGA): Building Permit issued to commence construction and a
Certificate of Conformity (CoC) issued at the completion of construction. The Building Permits
and CoCs should adhere to the Planning and Building Regulations (PBR) formulated by UDA
or the relevant LGA. The current PBR (2020) consider, sustainability aspects such as the land
suitability, energy and water conservation, thermal comfort, sustainable usage of materials
and cultural sensitivity42. However, the interviews indicated that a significant share of buildings
throughout the island are still being constructed without obtaining formal approvals. This
creates a major barrier for improving quality of construction work, introducing good practices,
and knowledge transfer into the lower segments of the sector. It also disrupts the information
flow and creates room for corrupt and fraudulent practices.

Sri Lanka has detailed guidelines for forming formal construction contracts. The Standard
Bidding Documents published by the Construction Industry Development Authority (CIDA)
include the procedures, conditions of contract and specifications for forming and execution of
the contract. CIDA also registers and grades construction contractors according to their
capacity and specialization43. The institutional framework pertinent to construction of new
buildings is given in Fig.4.2. More detailed description of the construction industry legislation,
policies, stakeholders and regulators are given in Annexes - Table A1 and A3. These agencies
and regulations facilitate the systematic regulation of medium to large construction projects.
However, the Country Assessment showed that construction of new buildings of smaller scale

39
Author calculations based on 2012 Housing and Population Census, Sri Lanka
40
Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority statistics: https://www.sltda.gov.lk/en/statistics
41
Condominium Development Authority of Sri Lanka statistics
42
https://www.uda.gov.lk/attachments/act/2235-54_E.pdf
43
https://www.cida.gov.lk/
12
including a majority of houses are constructed by small holder builders and informal craft
persons, without a formal contract.

Policies, regulatory provisions and initiatives for constructing sustainable and low carbon
buildings are still at an initial stage of development in Sri Lanka. There are two notable Green
Building certification programs (i.e. Green Building Council – GBCSL, and Urban Development
Authority – UDA Green Building certification schemes). GBCSL program has certified 80+
buildings where a certificate is valid for 3 years. UDA has made Green Building certification
mandatory for buildings lager than 400 sq. m (Urban Development Regulations - 2020). There
are some initiatives to certify building materials on their sustainability and energy performance,
which are further discussed under Section 4.6.

The analysis of the enabling environment for SBC in Sri Lanka using the RE-CCAT tool
showed that stronger opportunities for SBC exists in the early stages of the building project
life-cycle – eg. Building sector planning and Design stages. Currently, mechanisms and
opportunities of SBC are less in Procurement and Construction stages. (see Fig.4.3). As an
enabling environment domain, “Knowledge and technical resources” for new building
construction was strong in Sri Lanka, where as “Stakeholder engagement” and “Financial
resources” were the weakest domains.

Figure 4.2: Institutional Framework of the Construction Sector – Sri Lanka

13
A A A

G B G B G B

F C F C F C

E D E D E D
Building Sector Planning Design Procurement

G B
A. Institutional arrangements Status
B. Process
C. Policies and Regulations Effectiveness
D. Stakeholder engagement
E. Financial resources
C F. Knowledge and Technical resources
F
G. Data management, Monitoring and Reporting

E D

Construction Figure 4.3: RE-CCAT Analysis for stages pertaining to New Building Construction
14
4.2.2. Projections 2050:

 Population of Sri Lanka as of 2020 was estimated to be 21.4 million. It is projected to peak
around 2040 to 22.4 million and start a gradual decrease stabilising around 21.8 million by
205044 (See Fig.4.4).

Figure 4.4:Population, growth rate and urban fraction Sri Lanka (Source: Author prepared)

 Sri Lanka had 5,207,740 housing units in 201645. As given below the projected values for
number of housing units and persons per house using linear forecast based on the housing
surveys of 1981, 2001, 2010 and 2016. Therefore, even by a conservative linear projection
around 2.34 million new housing units will be built in the 2020-2050 period (30% decadal
increase).

Table 4.2: Housing Predictions Sri Lanka (Source: Author calculations)

2020 2030 2050 Increase 2020 - 50


Number of housing units 5.2 million 6.4 million 8.2 million 2.3 million
Persons per house 4.2 3.6 2.6 n.a.

44
Data from Department of Census and Statistics Sri Lanka
45
Ministry of Housing and Construction (MoHC). 2016. Housing Needs Assessment and Data Survey. MoHC: Colombo,
Sri Lanka

15
Figure 4.5: Projected increase in number of housing units (Source: Author calculations)

 Sri Lanka emitted an estimated 18.45 million tons of CO2 in 2016. With linear forecasting,
this will increase to 21.98 million tonnes in 2030 and 28.46 million tonnes (per year) by
2050. Accordingly, the per capita carbon emission will increase from 1 tonne per person
per annum to 1.3 tonnes per person by 2050.

Housing sector CO2 contribution (2020-2050) = 128 million tons of CO2


for 2.34 million housing units

(based on average carbon footprint of about 55 tons46 for a 750 sq. m masonry house - the median
house size and common house type according to HIES report 201647)

4.2.3. Challenges and gaps:


1. Majority of construction activities in housing is conducted without proper contractual
procedures and by informal craft persons.
2. Informal processes makes it difficult to regulate smaller buildings, especially owner built
individual houses for quality or construction processes.
3. Prevailing data management on new buildings is disintegrated. The data existing in the
form of building permits approvals (at LGAs) is not integrated into a centralized system.
4. Enforcement and implementation of legislation, regulation and policy pertaining to building
construction at ground level is poor and uncoordinated.
5. SBC related policies and regulations are at a very initial stage of development. Major
improvements are needed.
6. There are no financial incentives for builders or house owners to adopt Green Building or
sustainable practices

46
Based on the 0.8 tons CO2eq/sq. m bench mark
47
Department of Household Income and Expenditure Survey – 2016 Report available at http://www.statistics.gov.lk/

16
4.2.4. Actions and goals
Table 4.3: Actions and Goals for New Buildings

Challenge/Gap Action / Goal Timeframe


Dominance of informal Action 2.1: CIDA to develop simpler contract documents Short Term
practices in housing /codes/guidelines for smaller projects. To be disseminated
construction through LGAs to individual house owners and small-holder
builders (for voluntary adaption).

Poor monitoring and quality Action 2.2: Communication and dissemination campaigns
management of smaller for small builders and individual house owners.
projects

Poor enforcement of Action 2.3: Review the existing regulatory process and
construction related simplify them.
regulations at ground level
Poor data collection on new Action 2.4: Integrate the data on new building permits and Short Term
buildings CoCs (collected and managed by individual LGAs) into a
central data base at the Ministry of Construction or CIDA.

Action 2.5: Combine the data from utility provision


agencies – eg. CEB, NWS&DB and other building related
data (eg. borehole data from NBRO) to the central
database, making it a one-stop-shop for all housing related
information.
Inadequacy of SBC / Low Action 2.6: Revise the CIDA Building Specifications and Medium
Carbon provisions in Conditions of Contract documents to adequately include Term
existing housing/ SBC/Low Carbon provisions in the proposed building code
construction policy and for Sri Lanka.
regulations
Action 2.7: Include SBC/Low Carbon provisions to LGA
by-laws related to construction.
Long Term
Action 2.8: Setting a 2050 vision for incorporating SBC
and Low-carbon provisions to the existing policy and
regulations operating under key stakeholders – eg. CIDA
UDA
No incentives for builders or Action 2.9: Develop a Green Financing process for Medium
house owners to adopt housing, in collaboration with the Ministry of Construction, Term
Green Building / SBC CIDA, UDA, Commercial Banks, Chamber of
Construction Industry, NHDA, GBCSL and UNEP.

Action 2.910: Explore the feasibility of providing tax


rebates by LGAs for individual houses and apartment
projects with sustainable and low-carbon features.

17
4.3. Action Area 3: Building Renovation and Decommissioning
4.3.1. Baseline and Enabling Environment

This section looks at the current status and availability of information on structural
maintenance, renovation and decommissioning of houses and residential buildings in Sri
Lanka. There was no accessible data on the maintenance or decommissioning aspects of any
type of residential buildings – ie. individual houses, low-come housing projects or luxury
apartments. Therefore, the information and analysis in this section is mainly based on Key
Informant Interviews.

Building maintenance and renovation: Maintenance work of individual houses happens


predominantly through small-holder builders and informal crafts-persons48. There are no
regulations governing renovation or maintenance individual houses. The Common Amenities
Board (Amendment) Act of 2003 makes it mandatory to formally manage maintenance of the
building through a condominium committee in apartment buildings. However Condominium
Management Authority of Sri Lanka does not have a mechanism to monitor this process. Low-
income housing schemes are managed by UDA and NHDA. These buildings have a
management office on site, and maintained for a limited time period by the government, before
handing over to residents’ committees. Therefore, there are no reliable data sources on actual
scale, or frequency of building renovation activities and the building material demands for
them. Non-residential public buildings such as schools and hospitals have maintenance
procedures managed by the relevant national or provincial agencies. Comprehensive records
are kept by agencies on maintenance work, often at district or local levels. However, there is
no mechanism to integrate this data across agencies and make it accessible.

Building demolition and disposal: No formal data exists about the number of buildings fully or
partially demolished or the volumes of debris generated in Sri Lanka. Demolition work is done
mainly by informal private contractors and unskilled worker gangs (even in most formal
contracts), causing noise, vibration and dust pollution. The “Construction Green Guide49”
(CIDA), and “Technical Guidelines on Building Demolition Work in Sri Lanka50” (NBRO) give
better practices for safe and environmentally responsible demolition, but are not legally
binding. Usually a house in Sri Lanka is demolished or overhauled in about 50 years51 from
construction. Also a large number of buildings are demolished or scheduled for demolition due
to slum-eviction and land acquisition for infrastructure projects. According to the UDA, 68,812
low-income families are to be relocated to apartments and their current dwellings demolished
in the coming years.52 Construction of Southern Expressway from Colombo to Galle impacted
more than 4000 households in varying degrees.53 There is no permit requirement to demolish
a building or transport the debris, but disposal is bound by solid waste related regulations.
Demolition debris is commonly disposed at municipal landfills, by giving a tipping fee to the
council. There is also demand for debris from construction projects to be used as filling
materials. Illegal dumping of demolition debris for filling of wetlands is also widely reported in
the media. Few initiatives have been taken to recycle demolition debris and construction work,

48
Key informant interviews
49
Construction Green Guide – Construction Industry Development Authority 2020
50
Technical Guidelines on Building Demolition Work in Sri Lanka – National Building Research Organization
51
Key informant interviews
52
Urban Development Authority - https://www.uda.gov.lk/urban-regeneration-programme.html
53
Sharni Jayawardena. 2012. Right of Way: A journey of resettlement. Colombo: Center for Poverty Analysis (CEPA)

18
such as a pilot construction and demolition waste initiative, a pilot recycling plant (COWAM
Centre) in Galle54. However, these are very small compared to the scale of demolition and
construction waste generation.

The analysis using the RE-CCAT tool showed that opportunities for SBC during the Operation
and Maintenance (O&M) and Decommissioning phases for the construction project lifecycle
were very low in all enabling domains both in terms of current status and effectiveness (See
Fig 4.4). The only enabling domain where current status offered some level of opportunities
for SBC was in “Knowledge and Technical Resources.”

A A

B G B
G

C F C
F

E E D
D
O&M Decommissioning

Figure 4.6: RE-CCAT Analysis for stages pertaining to Building Renovation and Decommissioning

4.3.2. Projection 2050


 Lack of data makes it difficult to make any form of reliable projections about resource
requirements for structural maintenance and renovation of houses or commercial high-
rise buildings. Therefore, carbon emissions due to renovation or maintenance also cannot
be estimated in a reliable manner.
 Similarly, it is difficult to estimate the volume of debris generated in demolition. However,
based on a 50-year life span expressed by the key informants, it can be assumed that the
total housing stock that existed in year 2000 would have undergone full or partial
demolition by 2050. Therefore, if we assume a factor of 75% of full demolition; 3,253,284
housing units that existed in 2000 will be demolished by 2050. Based on the median

54
Karunasena, G., Rameezdeen, R., Amaratunga, D. (2012) ‘Post-disaster C&D waste management: The case of
COWAM project in Sri Lanka’, Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building, Conference Series, 1 (2)
60- 71 6

19
house size of 750 sq ft (sq m), this will generate about 621 million cu m of demolition
waste55 from the housing sector alone (from 2000 to 2050).
 It is difficult to estimate a general value for per unit carbon emission in building demolition
(ie. CO2 emissions per cubic meter of demolition debris generated) as it differs widely
according to many factors such as building type and location. However, it is established
that an average 35 kg of CO2 emissions per square foot of a building can be saved by
renovating instead of demolishing56 it i.e. about 30 tons of CO2 eq. per 750 sq.ft. median
house size in Sri Lanka. Therefore, renovating 50% of the 3,253,284 houses to be
demolished by 2050 will save 48,799,262 tons of CO2 eq. 2000-2050.

4.3.3. Challenges and gaps


1. Lack of any reliable data on renovation and demolition of buildings remains the most
significant challenge for planning, regulating or policy making.
2. Absence of any regulations applicable to demolition of buildings. Enforcement of
construction waste management regulations is very poor, which leads to environmental
issues.
3. No circular economy plan for a sustainable/low carbon maintenance and
decommissioning regime of buildings.
4. There is a gap in skills both at professional and craft level to implement guidelines for safe
demolition of buildings as they have not been published by government agencies.
5. Facilities for recycling of demolition debris are highly inadequate compared to the scale
of debris generation and require vast improvements.

4.3.4. Actions and goals


Table 4.4: Action and Goals for Building Renovation and Decommissioning

Challenge/Gap Action / Goal Timeframe


Absence of a Action 3.1: Introduce and enforce regulations for Medium term
monitoring/ data demolition of buildings and disposal of construction waste
collection and and develop a 2050 vision for a circular economy plan for
regulatory mechanism building maintenance and demolition.
on renovation or
demolition of buildings Action 3.2: Introduce a Green Building certification
scheme for building maintenance, renovation and
demolition (similar to LEED for Operation and
Maintenance).

Action 3.3: Physical and technical capacity building of


LGAs to ensure the new/existing regulations for
renovation, demolition and disposal are enforced.

55
Debris Estimating Field guide 2010 – FEMA Available at https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/2020-
07/fema_329_debris-estimating_field-guide_9-1-2010.pdf
56
New Tricks with Old Bricks – BSHF & EHA Available at https://world-habitat.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/New-
Tricks-with-Old-Bricks1.pdf

20
Challenge/Gap Action / Goal Timeframe
Develop professional Action 3.4: Develop awareness and training programs for Short Term
and craft level skills for planning and execution of sustainable and safe demolition
safe and sustainable and debris recycling for engineers and architects, and craft
building demolition and level training through agencies such as CIDA, NBRO,
recycling debris CHPB, and CETRAC.

Action 3.5: Introduce standards for materials produced


from recycled C&D waste (SLSI) and a grading system for
demolition companies (CIDA).

Inadequate facilities for Action 3.6: Financial support to LGAs to establish C&D Medium term
construction and waste recycling plants at their waste management facilities
demolition waste
recycling Action 3.7: Public-Private Partnerships for C&D waste
recycling

4.4. Action Area 4: Building Operations


4.4.1. Baseline and Enabling Environment

This section covers status of energy, thermal comfort and other building services in Sri Lanka
and building designs to optimise these services. Located near the equator, Sri Lanka has a
tropical climate with high temperature and relatively high humidity levels. The need of having
a thermally comfortable living environment is a must in these conditions. Further the wear and
tear and maintenance requirements due to humid and dusty conditions is high.

The routine operations in residential buildings include regular cleaning of windows, interior
cleaning, painting, and weatherproofing of exterior walls, cleaning of septic tanks, repair and
replacement of electrical wiring and fixtures and plumbing operations. In large scale buildings
additional operations may take place such as regular servicing of air conditioning systems,
safety systems i.e. fire and burglar alarms. At present in Sri Lanka, most operations especially
in single houses, are conducted in an informal manner by individual tradespersons, with the
exception of services such as air conditioning, fire safety systems and wastewater systems
maintenance in high-rise residential buildings. Hence the data availability is low and there is
no adherence to specific quality standards.

Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority in their Guideline for “Sustainable Energy Residences
in Sri Lanka” highlights the importance of using different “passive design strategies” in building
construction which will increase the indoor thermal comfort and reduce the equipment/energy
usage, subsequent operation and maintenance requirements. According to the guideline
instead of using energy intensive appliances (such as air conditioning systems and fans)
different strategies can be used57. Design strategies such as orienting the building in correct
direction, having sufficient ventilation channels, thermally insulating roofing materials can be
used to reduce the hours of usage of these appliances.

Some commercial buildings in particular those related to hospitality industry are using
international level certifications such as LEED and EDGE in Sri Lanka, but the practice of

57
Code of Sri Lanka energy efficiency building 2020, SLSEA– available at -http://www.energy.gov.lk/images/resources/
downloads/draft-eebc-2020.pdf

21
using these in the housing sector is very low. Several international studies have shown
considerable energy saving can be obtained during occupancy if these guidelines are used
during construction58. There are two main local Green Building certifications issued under the
GBCSL -green certification, and the “Neela Haritha” by the UDA. The middle-income housing
projects implemented by the Government has implemented the Neela Haritha standards in
their design.

4.4.2. Projection 2050


 No specific studies are available to project the trends in building operations in the future.
Current practice of residential building design is more oriented towards outward
appearance. Operational aspects, thermal comfort and other services are rarely
considered. If this trend continues it can be predicted that the maintenance and service
requirements of buildings will keep increasing (e.g. frequent usage of cooling systems,
frequent repairs due to usage of sub-standard products). Effective and efficient building
operation and maintenance in terms of cost and environmental impact, could be achieved
if sufficient consideration is given at the design and construction stage.
 With a linear estimate of 8.4 million housing units by 2050, the operation and maintenance
requirement of buildings will increase. In order to benefit from available space and provide
services efficiently the housing units are made smaller. While this will enable the required
operations, services and maintenance to be provided efficiently, the lack of effective design
considerations might make operation and maintenance activities difficult due to lack of
space requiring sophisticated equipment to carry out a task or replacing items/equipment,
instead of repair and thus resulting in an increase in carbon emissions related to the
activities.
 Another major service that is predicted to expand in the future is the connection of current
stand- alone septic tanks into centralized sewer treatment systems in urban areas. Many
of the current peri-urban locations are projected to be classified as urban in the coming
decades. The environmental costs and carbon emissions of building, operating and
maintaining these sewer systems can be minimised if proper design considerations are
made now.

4.4.3. Challenges and gaps

1. Incorporating O&M considerations at the design stage is very low, resulting in higher O&M
costs during occupancy. Poor coordination between building designers/architects and
building operation service providers especially in the housing sector.
2. Lack of skills and expertise in using existing Sustainable Building Design Guidelines
(SBDG): both UDA and SLSEA have developed SBDG’s with health, comfort and energy
efficiency to reduce operation and maintenance cost, but there are few experts and skilled
workers capable of implementing these guidelines.
3. Lack of regulatory provisions for residential buildings to use SBDG guidelines.

58
LEED certified buildings in Sri Lanka -http://www.gbig.org/search/advanced?search%5Bflat_rating_program
_ids%5D=Certification&search%5Bplace_ids%5D=694

22
4.4.4. Actions and goals
Table 4.5: Action and Goals for Building Operations

Challenge/Gap Action / Goal Timeframe


Lack of interaction Action 4.1: Conduct continuous awareness creation on Short term
between designers the subject (including integration to syllabi) at different
and operation levels and platforms to interact, between various stake
service providers. holders (UDA, SLSEA, CIDA, Architects Institute)

Action 4.2: Simple regulations to be developed indicating Medium term


the involvement of a service provider at design stage (LGA
level guidelines).
Low regulatory drive Action 4.3: All houses/residential buildings in urban and Medium term
for residential peri urban areas to be built following the SBGs (UDA, MC
buildings to use & LGA’s).
SBDG guidelines
Action 4.4: Develop guidelines and standards for building
operations and maintenance and development of Long term
maintenance plans for all types of residential buildings and
provide training to non-formal sector service providers on
the same.

Action 4.5: Smart and sustainable building guidelines


(SGB) need to be upgraded to account for different types
of residential building types (e.g. apartment buildings,
attached houses, houses with garden areas and without,
houses within limits of LA based services and without LA
based services, different climatic zones), with a value
assessment tool developed for each type, enabling
occupants to compare the life cycle cost versus current
cost. Integration of cultural and religious practices together
with scientific methods especially in residential buildings is
an essential factor in achieving this success (UDA, SLSEA,
GBCSL).

Lack of skills and Action 4.5: Sufficient actors/service providers with Short/ Medium
expertise in using required knowledge and skill to be trained and made
existing sustainable available at LA level to serve building owners, residents.
building design (CIDA through Provincial Engineering Departments)
guidelines (SBDG)
Action 4.7: Conduct awareness creation and capacity
building programs for building occupants on sustainable
and efficient practices of occupancy resulting in energy
saving. (SLSEA, Media, Ministry of Environment, SLEMA,
SLIA, GBCSL).

23
4.5. Action Area 5: Appliances and Systems
4.5.1. Baseline and Enabling Environment

This section covers the current usage, resource requirements and efficiency of different
household equipment and building services systems. Household appliances are used as tools
for providing various services required by a household. These include cooking, thermal
comfort, water supply, cleaning and entertainment. Most of the appliances use electricity as
the main energy source. Biomass although used for cooking purposes only represent a higher
share of the domestic energy usage.

Data derived from the national energy balance from 2011 – 2019 reveals that the average
electricity usage per meter has been increasing in the country, mainly due to the increase in
the number of appliances used in households which is related to the increasing per capita
income of the country59. It is also important to note that Sri Lanka has achieved reasonable
living standards with low energy usage when compared with global and regional averages60.
Table 6.2 indicates the trend in the increasing number of household connections in Sri Lanka.

Table 4.6: Trends in increasing number of household connections in Sri Lanka - National energy
balance 2012-2019

2011 2012 2013 2016 2017 2018 2019


Domestic 3928.4 4062.9 4078.3 4810.6 5063.7 5230.9 5523.7
electricity
demand (GWh)
Average 13.21 15.56 17.93 16.18 16.26 16.29 16.63
electricity price
Domestic 4165738 4391445 4589929 5243433 5425060 5543137 5651452
meters
Units per month 78.57 77.08 74.04 76.45 77.7 78.63 81.44
per meter
Considering the increasing trend of electricity usage per meter (household) and the predictions
on the impact of global warming, it is evident that the business-as-usual scenario in household
energy usage will be of critical concern impacting the balance of trade, energy supply issues
and the overall emission targets of the country.
Household appliances and services are mostly regulated as consumer products, looking at
the benefits and demand of the individual consumer but in the recent past efforts have been
made by the government to regulate the quality and standard of appliances by looking at
environmental concerns and energy efficiency61.
Following table lists out the key regulations/guidelines regarding appliance labelling and
standardization in the country:
- The SLSEA has developed energy performance standards for compact fluorescent
lamps, fluorescent lamp ballasts, LED lamps, electric motors, refrigerators, room air

59
Sri Lanka Energy Sector Assessment – Strategy and Road map, available at https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/
institutional-document/547381/sri-lanka-energy-assessment-strategy-road-map.pdf
60
Consumption based CO2 emissions per capita vs Human development index, available at
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-co-emissions-vs-human-development-index
61
Introducing standards SLSEA, available at https://www.energy.gov.lk/index.php/en/energy-management/introducing-
standards

24
conditioners and computers enabling users to make an informed decision during
designing and purchasing62.
- Sri Lanka ratified the Montreal Protocol in 1989 and completely phased-out high-ODP
CFCs in 2008, two years ahead of the schedule. HCFC phase-out is also underway
and HCFCs will be phased out of the Sri Lankan market by 2030 79.
- Sri Lanka Standards Institution - code of practices for setting up biogas plants at
household level as a mode of cooking energy production and waste management. SLS
1292 Part 163
- The “anagi” clay pot stove- standardized under: SLS 1475/2013 for Two Pot Clay Cook
stoves (TPCCS).64
- A practitioner’s guide has been developed for rain water harvesting by the Lanka Rain
Water Harvesting Forum65

There are no strict regulations pertaining to disposal of household appliances, studies


conducted by PUCSL has revealed that with the increase in average income of households
the number of electrical and electronic appliance usage is increasing drastically, while the
lifetime of these appliances is reducing due to changing market demand and trends. Hence
the amount of appliance waste coming out of households are increasing66. This is a critical
area of concern in addition to the increase in energy usage due to household appliances.

4.5.2. Projection 2050

 Based on the prediction in expected number of households by 2050 and the energy usage
per meter; the electricity usage in the housing sector (assuming 100% electrification) and
using same grid emission factor as in 2019, the figures will be as follows:

Table 4.7: GHG Emissions from Electricity Usage in 2030-2050

No of Housing Average Annual electricity Related


units (no) Electricity usage usage emissions
(kWh/month) (GWh/Year) ( kTCO2e/ Year)
2030 6,400,000 95 7310 5412
2050 8,200,000 120 11826 8755

● The Study conducted by PUCSL reveals that a house consuming less than 60 kWh/month
will have on average 6 electrical appliances, whereas a house consuming between 120-
180 kWh/month will have 32 appliances. With the expected increase in the average
electricity usage, majority of the houses will be using more than 95 kWh/month by 2030

62
Appliance Energy Labelling Programme – Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority -
http://www.energy.gov.lk/index.php/en/energy-management/labelling-programme
63
Biogas standards – ( SLS 1292) -
https://www.slsi.lk/index.php?option=com_slstandards&view=search_standards&Itemid=436
64
Anagi clay pot Standard– ( SLS 1475) -
https://www.slsi.lk/index.php?option=com%20%20slstandards&view=search_standards&Itemid=436
65
Rain Water Harvesting Practitioners Guide for Sri Lanka - http://www.lankarainwater.org/books-and-reports/
66
Electronic waste management in Sri Lanka, available at http://www.auditorgeneral.gov.lk/web/images/audit-
reports/upload/2016/performance_2016/e_waste/Electronic-Waste-Management-in-Sri--Lanka----Performance-and-
Environmental-Aiudit-Report_1-E.pdf

25
and more than 120 kWh/Month by 2050 thus resulting in very high increase in the overall
electrical appliances used in the country. Based on the business-as-usual scenario.

 Estimating that by 2030 more than 50% of the houses will be using more than 95
kWh/month and thus using 10 appliances, and in 2050 more than 50% of the houses will
be using more than 120 kWh/month and thus using 32 appliances; the increase in number
of electrical appliances is given below, along with the resultant electrical/ electronic waste
generation (assuming 10% of these items will be discarded annually).

Table 4.8: Average annual discarding Quantity of Appliances

No of houses using No of Average Total increase in Average annual


more than average Appliances Appliances discarding Quantity
electricity usage (10%)
2030 3,200,000 10 32,000,000 3,200,000
2050 4,100,000 32 131,200,000 13,120,000

These figures reveal that it will be extremely important for the country to promote and educate
the stakeholders in SBC practices to avoid usage of unnecessary appliances through smart
design practices in order to achieve NDC and SDG targets and avoid facing an energy supply
and waste management crisis.

4.5.3. Challenges and gaps

1. Lack of studies on effective use of appliances (SC&P) practices: there are insufficient local
level studies and research carried out to convince the stakeholders that smart design
practices will reduce the energy and appliance usage at occupancy stage of a building.

2. Lack of knowledge of the inter linkage between appliance requirement and initial design
considerations, and designers not being able to relate to the link between
appliance/energy usage during occupancy and initial design considerations.

3. Product standardization and guidelines for performance has been taken up in the country
by the relevant regulatory bodies yet lack of resources has limited the application.

4.5.4. Actions and Goals

Table 4.9: Actions and Goals for Appliances and Systems

Challenge/Gap Action / Goal Timeframe


Lack of studies on Action 5.1: Conduct research and detailed studies using Short term
effective use of data specifically from buildings that practiced SBDG
appliances (SC&P) pertaining to appliance usage and measure the impact
practices (National Universities, SLEMA)

26
Challenge/Gap Action / Goal Timeframe
Lack of knowledge on Action 5.2: Training and capacity building of Medium term
interlinkage of stakeholders on improving housing design in order to reduce
appliance requirement future appliance requirement and energy usage (CIDA,
and initial design UDA, SLSEA, provincial engineering departments, national
considerations. universities, SLEMA), use existing guidelines from UDA,
GBCSL and SLSEA as starting points. NHDA, UN-Habitat
and similar entities to provide knowledge and know how.
Product Action 5.3 Increase the number of appliances that needs to
standardization be energy related and standardized based on importance.

Action 5.4 Increase awareness among stakeholders on


using energy efficient standard appliances.

Action 5.5 Develop tools and methods to identify and


optimize energy efficient appliances based on the type and
cluster of building.

4.6. Action Area 6: Materials


4.6.1. Baseline and Enabling Environment
This Action Area provides the baseline information for building material management in Sri
Lanka in aspects such as extraction, manufacturing, usage and disposal. A large variety of
vernacular, conventional and advanced building materials are used in the Sri Lankan
construction industry. Some of the most commonly used materials include67:

Structural Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), river sand, stone/metal for concrete and
material rip-rap (mainly hard metamorphic rock types such as gneisses), steel
reinforcement bars (mild and yield steel, 6mm -16mm diameter)
Wall material Burnt clay bricks, cement blocks (solid and hollowed)
Timber (mainly tropical hardwoods and coconut timber), clay roofing tiles,
Roofing and asbestos cement sheets, corrugated galvanized iron (CGI) roofing sheets,
carpentry zinc-aluminium roofing sheets
Finishing Plate glass, lime-based paints, emulsion and enamel paints, glazed ceramic
floor and wall tiles
Key informant interviews indicated a steady decline of vernacular materials such as wattle and
daub (Varichchi) construction, cadjan/palm thatch for roofing, and mud bricks, from the 1980s.
However, coconut timber which was a vernacular material has been successfully adapted to
modern housing construction, with chemical treatment. Some advanced building materials
(eg. concrete related chemicals, advanced adhesives, aluminium sections and toughened
glass) have been introduced, but the use is limited to high-value buildings.

There is no central database for sourcing, production, import, and export of building materials.
It is extremely difficult to track the supply chain of most building materials. Common building
materials are mostly extracted or manufactured in-country (e.g. sand, rock, clay, soil, burnt
clay bricks, cement blocks, and clay roofing tiles). Cement, timber, floor/wall tiles, and
reinforcement steel are both sourced locally and imported. Materials such as plate glass and
almost all advanced building materials are entirely imported. Estimates indicated that sand

67
Based on interviews

27
consumption in Sri Lanka stood at 50 million cubic meters as of 202068., cement consumption
was about 7-8 million metric tons (2020), of which 66% was imported and timber consumption
was around 1.6 million cubic meters per annum (2020) where more than 10% is imported69.
Price inflation of building materials have been generally high in the last three decades. For
example, yearly average price increase between 1990 - 2020 of cement, sand and steel, had
been 18%, 118%, 22% respectively70. Some periods saw a sharp increase in building
materials, where prices were most volatile. Due to the economic crisis 2021-22 price of cement
and sand has increased 206% and 77% respectively, in less than 12-months.

Sri Lanka has long standing governance systems for building materials management with
multiple government agencies mandated to manage various aspects (see Table A2 for
details):

Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) – permitting of mineral extraction


Divisional Secretariats – permitting of timber felling and transport
Ministries of Industries and Labour – building material manufacturing
Sri Lanka Standards Institute (SLSI) – quality control and standardisation
Construction Industry Development Authority (CIDA) – preparation of specifications
Central Environmental Authority (CEA) – pollution control
Consumer Affairs Authority – retail sales and product safety

Building material extraction and production has acute environmental degradation issues in Sri
Lanka. Principle among them is river sand mining, which has caused impacts such as river
bank erosion, sea erosion, ground water drawdown and salinity intrusion, which are
particularly catastrophic, and now affecting every major river system71. Key informant
interviews noted that illegal felling of trees for timber has significantly contributed to the
degradation of protected forests and given rise to soil erosion and landslides. Building material
manufacturing is also one of the major contributors of GHGs in Sri Lanka. The cement
manufacturing alone emits about 3 million tons of CO2 annually (2019)72.
Sustainable materials: Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEB) have been available for
many decades (see Table A5 of Annexes for more details on currently used sustainable
materials). Research on sustainable materials is conducted by the NERD Centre, NBRO and
in all recognized engineering schools. Interviews showed that there is a growing market trend
to use resource efficient building materials and techniques such as pre-cast / prefabricated
concrete components. Green Building Council of Sri Lanka has a Green Labelling system
GreenSL) for selected types of building materials, considering all stages of material lifecycle
in the assessment criteria. CIDA has also published an environmental guide for building
materials73 which helps the construction industry professionals to sustainably select, use and
dispose building materials. However, the existing building material standards or the building

68
Construction Industry Development Authority Data
69
Central Bank of Sri Lanka - Economics and Social Statistics in Sri Lanka – 2020 Report, Available at
https://www.cbsl.gov.lk/sites/default/files/cbslweb_documents/statistics/otherpub/ess_2020_e1.pdf
70
Construction Statistics July 2022 - Construction Industry Development Authority
71
Ratnayake, R. Rivers and mining- Boon or Bane? (2008). Available at: http://lankajalani.org/wp-
content/uploads/2017/04/RSM-English.pdf.
272 3.4 million metric tons of cement produced in Sri Lanka (2019) multiplied by global average CO2 emission rate of
0.85 tons of CO per ton of cement produced.
73
Hettiarahchi M., Van Breda A., Fonseka C., Priyanvada A.K.M., and Amarasekara, S. 2018. Environmental Guide for
Construction Materials and Products. Colombo: Construction Industry Development Authority (Government of Sri Lanka). 23 pp

28
specifications published by SLSI and CIDA do not consider environmental criteria, which
remains a major barrier for mainstreaming sustainable materials.
The RE-CCAT analysis showed that there is much to be improved in all enabling environment
domains for building materials management in Sri Lanka. While the existing “Knowledge and
Technical resources” and “Policy and Regulations” provided moderate opportunities for SBC,
other domains such as “Institutional arrangements” and “Financial resources” remained weak.
A

G B

F C

Materials Management

E D
Figure 4.7: RE-CCAT Analysis pertaining to materials management
4.6.2. Projection 2050:
 Very approximate projections could be made on the demand for cement, sand and timber
based on past demand. Also projected demand for housing was calculated for the same
materials based on the projected increase of housing units 2020-2050 (Table 4.10A).
Table 4.10B gives summary of domestic extraction of some common construction minerals
including historical extraction data and projections up to 2050.
Table 4.10 A: Materials Projection Data (Source: Author calculation)

Material National demand Housing sector


2020 2050 Demand 2020-2050 CO2 emissions 2020-
2050 (tons x106)
Cement (million mt)74 8.5 20.0 23.7 30.4
Sand (million mt)75 43.0 100.1 82.5 1.2
Timber (million cu.m)76 6.5 7.7
Bricks (million nos)77 n.a n.a 23,750 17.3
Cement blocks (million nos)38 n.a n.a 3,100 8.3

74
National cement demand for 2030/2050 projected by a linear forecast based on 2000-2019 (Central Bank of Sri
Lanka Data). Cement demand for housing calculated based on typical cement requirements for 750 sq. ft. brick and
cement block houses. Per brick house – 10.13 tons of cement; per cement block house – 13.58 tons of cement. As per
2012 national census 53% of the houses were brick and 34% were cement block. CO2 values based on EPIC database
- https://msd.unimelb.edu.au/research/projects/current/environmental-performance-in-construction/epic-database
75
National demand of sand was calculated using cement demand as a proxy – sand demand by wt. = cement demand
by wt. x 5. Sand demand for housing calculated based on typical sand requirement for 750 sq.ft. brick and cement
block houses. Per brick house – 42.5 tons of sand; per cement block house – 37.5 tons of sand.
76
Sri Lanka Production: Timber: Other Logs, 1997 - 2015 - Department of Census and Statistics Available at
https://www.ceicdata.com/en/sri-lanka/production-by-commodity-annual/production-timber-other-logs
77
Brick and cement block demand based on - 19,187 bricks per750 sq.ft. brick house, 2,500 cement blocks (8 inch/
4inch) per750 sq. ft. cement block house

29
Table 4.10 B: Current and projected rates of construction mineral extraction in Sri Lanka (Source: Author
calculations using data from Geological Survey and Mines Bureau – Sri Lanka)

River Sand Sea Sand Dimension


Silica Sand Lime Stones Gypsum
Year (Cubic (Cubic Stones
(Tonnes) (Tonnes) (Tonnes)
Meters) Meters) (Tonnes)
2005 46,070 N/A N/A 1,094,919 4,117 548
Actual
Data

2010 67,606 4,829,840 6,741 1,191,629 3,433 104


2015 65,195 9,330,000 99,148 1,270,065 1,907 1,120
2020 58,738 14,128,881 4,117,416 1,397,947 2,478 2,052
2025 56,906 17,533,394 6,059,050 1,506,136 2,042 2,781
Projection Data

2030 55,074 20,937,908 8,000,684 1,614,326 1,607 3,510


2035 53,242 24,342,421 9,942,317 1,722,516 1,171 4,239
2040 51,410 27,746,934 11,883,951 1,830,706 736 4,968
2045 49,578 31,151,448 13,825,585 1,938,896 300 5,697
2050 47,746 34,555,961 15,767,218 2,047,085 N/A 6,427

Projected values 2030 - 2050

Figure 4.8: Projected increase in cement use (Source: Author calculations)

4.6.3. Challenges and gaps


1. No regular data collection or management process on building material extraction,
manufacturing, or trade. Records exist for certain aspects of limited number of materials
(e.g. cement imports/manufacturing, sand mining permits, timber production), but they are
not integrated into a central database.
2. No mechanism to assess and review the building materials demand, local availability,
sustainable extraction rates, import requirements and potential environmental impacts/
carbon emissions. This is a major challenge for systematic planning of building materials
management in Sri Lanka, including sustainable and low carbon construction.

30
3. Though there are some initiatives to introduce, certify and conduct research on
sustainable building materials, financial resources and funding should be substantially
increased to mainstream these materials.
4. Existing building material standards and building specifications do not adequately cover
sustainability criteria and innovative material use.
5. Poor enforcement of regulations to control environmentally harmful and illegal practices
related to building material extraction or manufacturing.
6. Lack of awareness and practical experience among end-users (individual house owners,
investors) and construction practitioners about sustainable materials, and their use.
7. Lack of financial incentives, high initial investment requirements, poor demand, high
competition from conventional materials and regulatory restrictions make it difficult for
producers of sustainable and low-carbon materials to enter the market.

4.6.4. Actions and goals


Table 4.11: Actions and Goals for Materials

Challenge/Gap Action / Goal Timeframe


No regular data collection/ Action 6.1: Establish a central database to collate Short Term
management process on building material related data including mining
building material extraction, permits (GSMB Minerals Year Book), timber permits
manufacturing, or trade (District Secretariat), and manufacturing/
import/export data (CBSL/ Ministry of Industries).
No mechanism to
assess/review the building Action 6.2: Construction Ministry led committee to Short Term
material demand, availability, annually review material demand, availability, price
and other sustainable and environmental issues along with
concerns CIDA/GSMB/CEA/NBRO/UDA/ Ministry of Finance.
Develop an annual plan for sustainable sourcing and
production of building materials.
Existing building material Action 6.3: Develop or adapt a carbon calculator for Medium
standards and building construction work in Sri Lanka Term
specifications do not contain
adequate sustainability criteria Action 6.4: CIDA to review the existing building
specifications (including the upcoming building code) Short Term
Absence of accepted carbon and incorporate sustainability/low carbon criteria
calculator customized for
construction in Sri Lanka Action 6.5: SLSI to review the existing building
material standards and incorporate sustainability/ Medium
low carbon criteria, in line with international Term
initiatives.

Lack of funding for Action 6.6: Government budgetary allocation, Medium term
developing, manufacturing exploring external funding sources (including climate
and mainstreaming finance) and Public Private Partnerships for research
sustainable building and piloting sustainable material.
materials, including training
at both professional and craft Action 6.7: Exploring the possibility of providing tax
levels. rebates for local manufacturers of sustainable
materials.

Action 6.7: Communication and awareness


campaigns on sustainable / low carbon materials

31
4.7. Action Area 7: Resilience
4.7.1. Baseline and Enabling Environment

This section looks in to the impacts of natural and man-made hazards on residential buildings
in Sri Lanka and current provisions to improve built-environment resilience. Sri Lanka
experiences many natural and man-made hazards that often turn into disasters driven by
community and institutional vulnerabilities. Most commonly experienced hazards in Sri Lanka
are: floods, landslides, droughts, cyclones, coastal erosion, lightening, human induced fires
and pollution related hazards. According to the INFORM Risk Index, Sri Lanka ranked 97th
out of 191 countries with moderate disaster risk levels78. For example, 59,000 people were
annually affected by river flooding (in 2010), with an annual impact on GDP estimated at $267
million. Average annual direct losses from disasters is approximately $140 million per year
(2014)79. Development pressures and climate change are both likely to cause an increase in
these figures. Sri Lanka is recognized as highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, ranked
100th out of 181 countries in the 2017 ND-GAIN Index80.

Poor planning and design of buildings is a key contributing factor to disaster vulnerability of
communities. Informal buildings and poor maintenance also make the communities more
vulnerable to disaster. For example, 2016 flooding in the Kelani river watershed fully or
partially damaged more than 4000 houses81, most of which were in poor maintenance
conditions in low-income areas.

The Disaster Management Act (No. 13 of 2005) governs all disaster related issues in Sri
Lanka, while the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) overlooks disaster response as well as
risk reduction, along with agencies such as Irrigation Department and Coastal Conservation
Department. There are disaster Preparedness Plans developed at district, division and village
levels. Disaster resilient planning and mainstreaming DRR into development has been
identified as an objective of DMC in these plans82. The National Building Research
Organization (NBRO), in the past three decades, has developed guidelines for built
environment resilience, including developing a Hazard Resilient Housing Construction Manual
and Guidelines for schools and other public buildings83. NBRO is also developing hazard and
risk maps for various hazards. NBRO also designates areas with landslide risks as “landslide
prone”, and since 2011, any development permits (by Local Governments) in landslide prone
areas require concurrence of NBRO.

These are encouraging developments towards planning for built environment resilience in Sri
Lanka. However, the mechanisms to implement or enforce these technical guidelines and
regulations remain very poor. Lack of provisions to monitor the quality during construction and
absence of data about the status, and maintenance of existing buildings makes ensuring built
environment resilience extremely difficult.

78
European Commission (2019). INFORM Index for Risk Management. Sri Lanka Country Profile. URL:
https://drmkc.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ inform-index/Countries/Country-Profile-Map
79
Climate Risk Country Profile: Sri Lanka (2020): The World Bank Group and the Asian Development Bank.
80
Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative – University of Notre Available at https://gain.nd.edu/our-work/country-index/
81
Sri Lanka: Floods and Landslides - May 2016 – OCHA. Available at https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2016-000050-lka
82
National Disaster Management Plan - Disaster Management Centre, Available at
http://www.dmc.gov.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=74&Itemid=236&lang=en#future-upgrading-of-
the-plan
83
Hazard Resilience Housing Construction Manual – National Building Research Organization, Available at
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o3iVz0y4g4c9e2Nj3UdXKR-0_WJfbqtg/view

32
4.7.2. Projection 2050

 Climate Projections indicate that a temperature rise of 3.2- 3.5°C under RCP8.5 scenario
and 0.8-1.2°C under RCP2.6 by the 2090s84. This is expected to increase the frequency
of extreme storms, flooding and cyclones and thereby the occurrence of landslides. A
potential sea level rise ranging from 0.18 – 0.59 m by 2100, compared to the levels at year
2000 is predicted for different climate change scenarios. This would further increase the
risk of flooding and coastal erosion.
 What would historically have been a 1-in-100-year flood events, could become a 1-in-50-
year or 1-in-25-year events. By the 2030s, number of people annually affected by river
flooding is expected to increase up to 85,000, and annual impact on GDP to $338 million85.
During the period of 2030 to 2045, the total number of people effected by extreme flooding
is estimated to be between 900,000 - 1,000,00086.
 The impacts of extreme heat on buildings in Sri Lanka has not been properly analyzed or
estimated. However, extreme temperature levels can lead to expansion cracks and faster
deterioration of finishing materials, leading to increased maintenance and demolition
requirements.
 Population density in Sri Lanka will peak during the period 2040-2050. This would increase
disaster vulnerability in certain densely populated urban areas.
 All the above factors will substantially increase the disaster vulnerability of buildings,
especially housing units between 2020 and 2050. However, certain initiatives and factors
may contribute to ameliorating disaster vulnerability of housing units e.g. landslide resilient
housing program conducted by NBRO where around 20,000 families are to be relocated
from high landslide risk areas.

4.7.3. Challenges and gaps

1. The projected increase of extreme weather events and resultant hazards pose a significant
challenge to built-environment resilience and safety of occupants and property.
Understanding the impact of these extreme events on built-environment needs to be
substantially improved.
2. Skills available for effectively implementing the technical guidelines and regulations for
resilient building design and construction, is inadequate and needs substantial
improvement
3. Lack of construction stage monitoring and absence of data about the state of existing
buildings is another major challenge to built-environment resilience.

84
Climate Risk Country Profile: Sri Lanka (2020): The World Bank Group and the Asian Development Bank
85
ibid
86
ibid

33
4.7.4. Actions and goals
Table 4.12: Actions and Goals for Resilience

Challenge/Gap Action / Goal Timeframe


Need for improved understanding Action 7.1: A joint DMC/NBRO/CIDA/UDA/ Short Term
about the impact of extreme Universities initiative to assess the climate
climate events on built- threats to built-environment in Sri Lanka.
environment Develop an action plan for built-environment
disaster resilience, conforming to the National
Resilience Action Plan DMC87.

Action 7.2: CIDA/UDA to update urban Medium Term


development and construction regulations to
integrate built environment resilience.

Inadequate skills for effectively Action 7.3: Develop a regular training program Short Term
implementing the technical under CIDA/CHPB to improve awareness and
guidelines and regulations for skill to ensure built-environment resilience in
resilient building design and design and construction, targeting engineers,
construction architects, technicians and crafts persons.
Include it in University / Technical College
curricular.

4.8. Action Area 8: Clean Energy


4.8.1. Baseline and Enabling Environment

The action area on Clean Energy covers the current status of clean energy usage in residential
buildings in Sri Lanka and provisions to convert to clean energy. Basic household needs such
as preparation of food, access to water, decent living environments, health, and educational
services are dependent on the availability of energy, mainly electricity. However with the
interlinkage of energy with fossil fuels and ever-increasing usage of such energy directly
results in an increase in global warming. Thus designing, planning, and constructing the built-
environment, particularly in the housing sector, to reduce the requirement of energy usage
while achieving better services and higher living conditions is of prime importance. Further,
the same spaces being effectively used to generate and harness renewable energy is critical
if the world is to achieve a net-zero status by 2050 while successfully achieving the SDGs.
The overall energy supply in Sri Lanka is a mix of renewable energy and fossil fuels. Key
indicators of energy usage in Sri Lanka are given below, based on the Sri Lanka energy
balance published by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Sri Lanka for the year 201988.
Table 4.13: Energy Supply in Sri Lanka
HH, Comm, Other (PJ) 2015 2018 2019
Biomass 125.2 81.8 82.7
Petroleum 15.8 25.2 25.7
Electricity 28.3 34.3 36.2
Total 169.3 141.3 144.6

The electricity demand is 24% of the household energy demand, whereas 57% of the demand
is supplied from biomass which is mostly used for cooking purposes. Household and

87
Disaster Management Centre – Emergency Response Plans Available at
https://www.dmc.gov.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86&Itemid=245&lang=en
88
Sri Lanka Energy Balance - 2016, Sri Lanka Energy Balance - 2017, Sri Lanka Energy Balance - 2019

34
commercial sectors together are the predominant user of energy in the country closely
followed by the transport sector. The energy usage in the household and commercial sectors
is dominated by the cooling and heating energy requirement which is mainly supplied through
biomass89. Existing policies and regulations related to improving RE and EE in household
energy usage and demand.
Energy Tariff The energy tariff is set based on usage blocks, a lifeline limit of 60 units is
(penalizing given a special subsidy. The other usage blocks are categorized as (60-90,
excessive usage) 90- 120, 120 – 180 & above 180)90 and the unit rate is increased by the usage
blocks with an effort to discourage high electricity usage.
The decision is further rationalized with the argument that excessive electricity
usage (demand) is met through electricity produced from fossil fuel based
thermal plants hence a higher rate is applied for the supply of this excess
demand.
Solar roof tops The Government policy to promote renewable energy has allowed households
to install solar panels on the rooftops and benefit from using the national grid
as a virtual storage. Three options i. Net metering (setting off household
usage from the national grid against the amount generated from the solar roof
top, no financial transactions involved). Ii. Net accounting (setting off the
household usage from national grid against units generated from solar roof
top and being able to receive a monetary sum for the excess generation from
CEB). Iii. Net plus (receiving money from CEB for the number of units
generated from the Solar roof top system)91.
4.8.2. Projection 2050
 The country's electrical energy generation is shifting towards a fossil fuel base due to the
ever-increasing demand. As Sri Lanka has reached the maximum of its hydroelectric
generation potential, the targets of increasing the renewable energy share in the electrical
energy supply will depend on solar, wind, and other non-conventional sources. Thus, it is
important to consider the potential to generate electrical energy using renewable sources
at the household level (using housing infrastructure) as the land/space available for setting
up systems to harness renewable energy is reducing.
 As presented in table 4.7 under action area 4.5 on appliances and systems, the household
energy usage will increase up to 7000 GWh by 2030 and 11000 GWh by 2050. The change
in climate conditions will require additional energy to provide thermal comfort requirements
by cooling. If the number of households with a small window type air conditioner for 1 room
will increase by another 100,000 (less than 2% of the total number of households in SL by
2030) the electricity demand per day will increase by 600 MWh.
 The country under its NDC obligations, aims to install 2000 MW of solar PV by 2030.
Integrating housing and related building design to accommodate solar roof tops and solar
hot water systems together with sufficient infrastructure and upgrading of the national
electricity grid will enable achieving this target.
 Further, following SBDG advice will enable successfully integrating biogas systems,
rainwater harvesting systems and biomass stoves in to housing units thus contributing to
increase the RE share generated and used at household level and reducing the energy
requirement for water pumping.

89
Sri Lanka Energy Balance -2019, available at https://www.energy.gov.lk/images/energy-balance/energy-balance-2019-
lq.pdf
90
https://www.pucsl.gov.lk/electricity/consumer/tariff-and-charges/
91
https://www.pucsl.gov.lk/electricity/consumer/domestic-solar-power/

35
4.8.3. Challenges and gaps

1. Connecting Solar roof tops to the Grid: the current capacity of the national grid does not
facilitate setting up roof top solar systems in certain areas. Even in areas where there is
capacity, regulatory barriers (such as not being able to integrate one meter with different
roofs) has slowed the process of adding RE supply in to the grid.

2. Controlling energy demand through smart design has been limited due to lack of
knowledge and incentives provided to house owners who are using SBDG’s, to consider
the initial investment required.

3. Cooking energy demand shifts from biomass to fossil fuels as household income level
rises, generally , the shift in the energy ladder will be from biomass to kerosene, to LPG
and finally to electricity. However in urban areas, irrespective of the income capacity, low
income households are compelled to use kerosene or LPG due to the compact nature of
houses and lack of ventilation.

4. Lack of financial tools and support for house owners to make Investments in using
residential infrastructure for renewable energy generation (Solar PV/ Hot water, Bio gas).

4.8.4. Actions and goals

Table 4.14: Actions and Goals in Clean Energy

Challenge/Gap Action / Goal Timeframe


Controlling energy demand Action 8.1: Educate stakeholders on the benefits of Medium /
at Household level through using SBDG, provide financial and other incentives long term
demand management (tax relief, priority in approvals – LA level), and
enforce guidelines provided by SLSEA.
Enable NDC targets to be achieved on demand
management
Increasing solar PV and Action 8.2 Provide regulatory support to allow using Short term
water heating roof-top roofs of different buildings under same meter (power
systems. wheeling) CEB/ PUCSL

Lack of financial and other Action 8.3: Make available financial and other tools Medium
tools as support for house such as loans, easy payment schemes tax term
owners to make investments concessions for house owners, to enable making
initial investments required for setting up RE based
energy generation/energy saving systems at home
including Biogas, Biomass stoves, Rainwater
harvesting. (Treasury, commercial banks)

36
5. Cross-cutting challenges
The Country Assessment showed that there are major challenges in all eight Action Areas
pertinent to Sustainable Building Construction in Sri Lanka – ie. Urban planning, New
Buildings, Existing Buildings, Building Operations, Appliances and Systems, Materials,
Resilience, and Clean Energy. These challenges also vary according to the phases of the
construction lifecycle. The same challenges were further highlighted by the RE-CCAT
analysis. Six challenges were recurrently observed in all eight Action Areas which threatened
an effective shift towards SBC policies and practices or weakened the effectiveness of existing
ones.

5.1. Lack of strategic level planning and inter-agency coordination


Currently there is no process for developing overarching strategic plans for the construction
sector in Sri Lanka. This remains a major barrier to the paradigm shift needed to improve
SBC as there is no central platform to guide decision-making processes for improving
sustainable housing and construction in the country. Also, coordination among agencies
for a concerted shift towards sustainability in the construction sector remains weak.
5.2. Weak enforcement of regulations
There are strong environmental protection regulations and construction related regulatory
procedures in place that can contribute towards sustainable and low-carbon construction.
However, their enforcement has been weak, undermining their effectiveness. Specific SBC-
related regulations and policies (eg. UDA’s Green Building certification for all buildings >
400 sq.m.) are relatively new and their effectiveness in implementation is yet to be
understood. Overall, there is a need to strengthen the enforcement of existing regulations
and policies pertaining to all Action Areas discussed in this report.
5.3. Lack of community participation and engagement opportunities for disadvantaged groups
There are acute disparities in stakeholder engagement in all aspects of the construction
sector. Powerful government stakeholders are well consulted in the planning and design
stages of major construction projects through established mechanisms, in both state and
corporate-driven projects. Consultation processes are weaker in the latter stages of the
construction life cycle. Engagement of the community in general and especially vulnerable
groups (eg. women, elderly, persons with disabilities, ethno-religious minorities) is very
poor at all stages of the construction life-cycle. Some provisions are there for community
engagement during the project approval stage of major development projects through the
Environmental Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) process and requirements in donor-
funded projects. These consultations are for projects in general, not specific to building
design or construction. Inclusive strategies are required in all aspects and lifecycle phases
i.e. planning, building design, construction and building operations.
5.4. Inadequate resource allocation
There is a vast gap between the financing, human resources, and other inputs required for
the urgent shift towards SBC. The current level of resource allocation by the state or private
entities are not adequate to make this shift. Apart from small-scale initiatives budgeted
under sub-projects of government agencies, there are no dedicated budget allocations for
SBC. Private sector investment in SBC is sporadic and insignificant. Currently there are no
direct incentives provided by the government to encourage private sector companies to
invest in SBC. This deficiency was observed in all eight Action Areas, however resources
for SBC were comparatively better in “Urban planning” and “Clean energy.

37
5.5. Lack of SBC related capacity and skills
There is an acute lack of awareness and skills for SBC at artisan/tradesman level (eg.
masons, carpenters, electricians). Most of the skills at this level are stil acquired through
informal education, where former traditionally sustainable practices have largely
disappeared and modern awareness of sustainability has not yet developed. The existing
vocational training programs do not focus on SBC. At the professional level (e.g. civil
engineers, architects, energy consultants, environmental engineers and sustainability
consultants) SBC / low-carbon design knowledge and skills are developing. Most
engineering and architecture programs at the university level offer sustainability and
environmental management-related modules. There are also professional level programs
on SBC related topics offered by professional organizations and private companies.
However, a lot still remains to be done to bring the sustainability skills to the level required
for an effective shift towards SBC.
5.6. Poor monitoring and data management
Monitoring and documenting is one of the least developed aspects of the construction
industry in Sri Lanka, compared to industries such as transport or plantations where there
are, thorough state regulated processes for data collection and management. The
challenge of monitoring and documenting is aggravated by the large informal sector of the
construction industry. There is no mechanism available currently to monitor any of the
sustainability aspects of the eight Action Areas of this report. Lack of data remains a major
barrier to policy level decision-making towards SBC.
Based on these cross-cutting challenges, and the specific actions proposed for the eight
Action Areas we have identified over-arching policy, planning and management
recommendations for different enabling domains for SBC. The recommendations are
described in Table 6.1 in the next section.

38
6. Conclusions and Recommendations
The SBC Country Assessment showed that Sri Lanka has mature policy regimes for the
governance of construction, energy and environment, with key governing bodies and
legislation being in operation for more than 40 years. Sustainability has been adopted in
principle and formally introduced to policy documents in these areas since 2000s. Climate
Change governance is still nascent but has grown considerably in the last decade.
However, as discussed in detail in the “Context and Way-Forward” section, there are many
significant challenges that cumulatively pose a roadblock to an effective shift towards SBC in
Sri Lanka. These challenges and current opportunities for SBC are varied across the eight
Action Areas considered in this report and also manifest more sharply in certain stages of the
construction life cycle. Fig.6.1 gives a qualitative assessment of the overall SBC opportunities
for the eight Action Areas.
Enabling Domains

Weak Opportunities for SBC Stron


g
Action Areas

Figure 6.1: Overall SBC opportunities in different Action Areas and Enabling Domains (source: Author assessment)

Opportunities for SBC in Action Areas: Action Areas such as “Urban planning,” and “Clean
energy” showed certain promising initiatives towards SBC in recent times. However, areas
such as “Building renovation and decommissioning,” “Materials” and “Building operations”
require vast improvements.
Opportunities for SBC in the Enabling Domains: “Knowledge and Technical Resources” is
currently the strongest enabling domain in the Construction Industry for SBC. Domains such
as “Policies and Regulations,” and “Institutional arrangement” provided some positive
prospects. “Stakeholder engagement”, “Data management” and “Financing” were the weakest

39
domains. Fig.6.1 gives a qualitative assessment of the overall support for SBC provided by
each domain.
Climate adaptation and mitigation: The need for Climate Change adaptation and mitigation in
the Construction sector had been identified at a higher strategic level through NDCs. Few
promising initiatives in green building and household energy efficiencies have been
implemented. However, no concrete policy, planning or regulatory mechanisms are in place
to address Climate Change in the Construction sector.
Following cross-cutting challenges were identified across the considered Action Areas and
throughout the different stages of the Construction Lifecycle:

 Lack of strategic level planning


 Inadequate laws and regulations and weak enforcement
 Lack of community participation and engagement opportunities for disadvantaged
groups
 Inadequate resource allocation
 Lack of SBC related capacity and skills at the vocational level
 Poor monitoring and data management
To overcome these cross-cutting challenges and achieve the specific actions proposed by for
the Action Areas, we propose the overarching 2050 Vision for SBC in Sri Lanka, elaborated
in the policy, planning and management goals given in Table 6.1. These goals are based on
specific actions identified in the “Context and Way-Forward” section. They are descriptive
rather than prescriptive and open to interpretive adaptation by the policymakers.

A potential timeline for achieving these goals are presented visually in Fig.7.1. “Roadmap
towards 2050”. Table 7.1 gives how the specific actions proposed under each Action Area
relates to Sri Lanka’s NDCs (as per 2021 update)92 and SDGs.

Vision 2050 for Sustainable Building Construction in Sri Lanka

“By 2050, housing and construction in Sri Lanka are socially inclusive,
environmentally sustainable and carbon neutral”

92
Updated Nationally Determined Contributions 2021 – Ministry of Environment Available at
http://www.climatechange.lk/CCS2021/UpdatedNDCsSriLanka2021.pdf

40
Table 6.1: Policy, Planning and Management goals to achieve Vision 2050 for SBC in Sri Lanka

Enabling Domain Recommendation


Institutional Establish a National Alliance for SBC (NA-SBC) led by apex state agency such
arrangements as CIDA and represented by national agencies, private sector, local governments,
NGOs/Civil Society, professional organizations and educators. Objectives of the
NA-SBC:
1. Assess the baselines and set national SBC goals (including achieving
relevant NDCs)
2. Coordinate among stakeholders to mainstream SBC in building construction
3. Streamline policies/regulations/standards pertaining to construction to
achieve SBC goals
4. Develop a 2050 Circular Economy plan for the Construction Industry

Process Formally mandate the apex state agency leading the National Alliance for SBC
to monitor the progress of SBC goals and coordinate with other related agencies,
along with financial provisions for monitoring, data management and coordination.
Include specific Construction Industry targets to NDC targeting the next
revision of NDCs and upcoming National Communications. Meet all construction
NDC targets by 2050.
Policies and Incorporate SBC goals based on the specific Actions/Goals identified in this
Regulations report into the existing “National Policy on Construction”, “Construction Industry
Act” and other relevant Acts and Policies.
All building specifications and standards to include sustainability and climate
criteria by 2050
Ministry of Construction or CIDA to conduct a national level assessment of
regulatory barriers for implementing SBC, achieving NDCs and mainstreaming
sustainable materials. Remove all barriers by 2050.
Stakeholder Strengthen the Community Engagement, and Gender and Social Inclusion
engagement provisions within the existing National Policy for Construction and Construction
Industry Act in consultation with relevant government agencies and civil society
groups.
Build capacity in construction related state agencies and LGAs to expand
Community Engagement
Financial resources NA-SBC to prepare a Financing Plan for SBC, including proposals for the
national budget, international funding agencies and highlighting areas with
opportunities for Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
Knowledge and Formulate a National Action Plan for improving awareness, skills
Technical development and capacity building for SBC and Climate resilience in the
resources construction industry (through NA-SBC).
Data management, Establish a central database under CIDA/ Ministry of Construction to collate and
Monitoring and manage data on all aspects of construction – supported by the NA-SBC partners.
Reporting CEA and Climate Change Secretariat to develop a mechanism to monitor
construction related sustainability parameters and NDCs.

41
Activity Current Status 2020 Short Term 2030 Medium Term 2040 Long Term 2050

Figure 6.2: SBC Roadmap towards 2050

42
Table 6.2: Proposed Actions/ Goals relevant to NDCs and SDGs

Relevant NDC Sectors – 1. Energy (electricity), 2. Energy (transport), 3. Industry, 4. Waste management, 5. Forestry, 6. Urban Planning and Settlements
SDGS – 1: No Poverty 2: Zero Hunger 3: Good Health and Well-being 4: Quality Education 5: Gender Equality 6: Clean Water and Sanitation 7: Affordable and Clean
Energy 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure 10: Reduced Inequality 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities 12:
Responsible Consumption and Production 13: Climate Action 14: Life Below Water 15: Life on Land 16: Peace and Justice Strong Institutions 17: Partnerships to
achieve the Goal
Action Specific Actions / Goals Relevant NDC Sectors Relevant
Area (2021 Update) SDGs
Action 1.1. National Planning Department to check all development projects for their compliance with the NPP 6 11
Action 1.2. Establish an Independent National Planning Commission to assure the compliance of all major 6 11
development projects at their implementation
Urban Planning

Action 1.3. Develop institutional, planning capabilities and the core competencies of the LGAs and UDA. 6 11
Action 1.4. Establish a dedicated Strategic Planning Division in all LGAs, with community engagement. 6 5,10,11
Action 1.5. Extend the UDA’s web-based development application processing and clearing into LGAs as a common N/A 9, 10
platform.
Action 1.6. Provide Local Authorities with necessary capacity to effectively manage data with the on-going 6 9, 11
National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) development project.
Action 1.7. Provide necessary support to the Department of Census & Statistics to reformulate the definition. N/A 11
Action 2.1. CIDA to develop simpler contract documents / codes / guidelines for smaller projects. N/A 9
Action 2.2. SBC communication and dissemination campaigns for small builders and individual house owners. 6 5,9,10,11,12,13
Action 2.3. Review the existing regulatory process and simplify them, with community consultation. N/A 5,9,10
Action 2.4. Integrate the data on new building permits and CoCs (collected and managed by LGAs) into a central 6 9
data base at the Ministry of Construction or CIDA.
Action 2.5. Combine data from utility provision agencies e.g. CEB, NWS&DB and other building related data to 6 6,7,9,10
New Buildings

the central database.


Action 2.6. Revise CIDA Building Specifications and Conditions of Contract documents to adequately include 3,4,5 9,11,12,13
SBC/Low Carbon provisions.
Action 2.7. Include SBC/Low Carbon provisions to LGA by-laws related construction, with community 3,4,5 5,9,10,11,12,13
engagement (especially women and underrepresented groups)
Action 2.8. Setting a 2050 vision for incorporating SBC and Low-carbon provisions to the existing policy and 3,4,5 9,11,12,13
regulations, with community consultation (especially women and underrepresented groups)
Action 2.9. Develop a Green Financing process for housing and construction 3,4,5,6 9,11,12,13
Action 2.10. Explore the feasibility of providing tax rebates for individual house and apartment projects with 3,4,5 9,11,12,13
sustainable and low-carbon features.

43
Action Specific Actions / Goals Relevant NDC Sectors Relevant
Area (2021 Update) SDGs
Action 3.1. Introduce and enforce regulations for demolition of buildings and disposal of construction waste 4 11,12,13,15
Action 3.2, Introduce a Green Building certification scheme for building maintenance, renovation and demolition 3,4,5 11,12,13
Building Renovation and

Action 3.3. Physical and technical capacity building of LGAs to enforce regulations for building renovation, N/A 11,12,13,15
demolition and disposal.
Demolition

Action 3.4. Develop community awareness and training programs for planning and execution of sustainable and 4 10, 11,12,13,15
safe demolition and debris, including targeted programs for women and underrepresented groups.
Action 3.5. Introduce standards for materials produced from recycled C&D waste (SLSI) and a grading system for 3,4,5 11,12,13,15
demolition companies (CIDA).
Action 3.6. Financial support to LGAs to establish C&D waste recycling plants at their waste management facilities 3,4,5 11,12,13,15
Action 3.7. Public Private Partnerships for C&D waste recycling, including non-profit and community 3,4,5 5,10,11,12,13,1
organisations (representing women and underrepresented groups) 5
Action 4.1. Conduct continuous awareness creation on the building operations at different levels and platforms 1,3 6,7,12,13
Action 4.2. Develop simple regulations indicating the involvement of service providers at the design stage (LGA 1 10,6,7,12,13
level guidelines).
Building Operations

Action 4.3.All houses/residential buildings in urban/peri urban areas to be built following SBGs.(UDA, MCs, UCs) 1,3 6,7,12,13
Action 4.4. Develop guidelines and standards for building operations and operations plans for all types of 1 6,7,12,13
residential buildings and provide training to non-formal sector service providers
Action 4.5. Upgrade the sustainable building guidelines (SGB) to be smart taking in to account different types of 1 6,7,12,13
residential buildings
Action 4.5. Train sufficient actors/service providers with required knowledge and skill at LGA level to serve 1 10,6,7,12,13
building owners
Action 4.7. Awareness and capacity building programs for occupants on sustainable end efficient practices of 1 5,10,6,7,12,13
building operations, including targeted programs for women and underrepresented groups.
Action 5.1. Conduct research and detailed studies using data specifically from buildings that have practiced SBDG 1 7,12,13
Appliances and Systems

and measure the impact.


Action 5.2. Train and build capacities on improving housing design in order to reduce future appliance 1 7,12,13
requirements and energy usage
Action 5.3. Increase the number of appliances that need to be energy related and standardized based on 1 7,12,13
importance.
Action 5.4. Increase awareness among stakeholders on using energy efficient standard appliances, including 1 7,12,13
targeted programs for women and underrepresented groups.
Action 5.5. Develop tools and methods to identify and optimize energy efficient appliances based on the type and 1 7,12,13
cluster of building.

44
Action Specific Actions / Goals Relevant NDC Sectors Relevant
Area (2021 Update) SDGs
Action 6.1. Establish a central database to collate building material related data 3,4,5 9,11,12,13,15
Action 6.2. Review material demand, availability, price and environmental issues of building materials annually 3,4,5,6 9,11,12,13,15
by a Construction Ministry led committee and develop an annual plan for building materials management.
Building Materials

Action 6.3. Develop or adapt a carbon calculator for construction work in Sri Lanka 3,4,5 9,11,12,13
Action 6.4. Review the existing building specifications and incorporate sustainability/ low carbon criteria by CIDA 3,4,5 9,11,12,13,15
Action 6.5. Review the existing building material standards and incorporate sustainability/ low carbon criteria by 3,4,5 9,11,12,13,15
SLSI , .
Action 6.6. Explore Government budgetary allocation, external funding sources (including climate finance) and 3,4,5 9,11,12,13,15
Public Private Partnerships for research and piloting sustainable material.
Action 6.7. Explore the possibility of providing tax-rebates for local manufacturers of sustainable materials 3,4,5 9,11,12,13,15
Action 6.8. Conduct communication and awareness campaigns on sustainable / low carbon materials, including 3,4,5 5,9,10,11,12,13,
targeted programs for women and underrepresented groups. 15
Action 7.1. Assess climate threats to the built-environment in Sri Lanka through a multi-stakeholder initiative and 3,4,5,6 5,10,11,13
Built-environment

develop an action plan for built-environment disaster resilience, with community consultation (especially women
and underrepresented groups)
Action 7.2. Update urban development and construction regulations to integrate built environment resilience by 6 5,10,11,13
Resilience

CIDA and UDA, with community consultation (especially women and underrepresented groups)
Action 7.3. Develop a regular training program under CIDA/CHPB to improve awareness and skills to ensure built- 6 5,10,11,13
environment resilience, including targeted programs for women and underrepresented groups.
Action 8.1. Educate stakeholders on the benefits of using SBDG, provide financial and other incentives for using 1 5,9,10,11,12,13
SBDG’s , enforce guidelines provided by SLSEA, including targeted programs for women and underrepresented
Clean Energy

groups.
Action 8.2. Provide regulatory support to allow using roofs of different buildings under same meter (power 1 9,11,12,13
wheeling) CEB/ PUCSL
Action 8.3. Make available financial and other tools such as loans, easy payment schemes, tax concessions to 1 9,11,12,13
house owners for setting up RE based energy

45
Acronyms
CAA - Consumer Affairs Authority
CBD - Convention of Bio-diversity
CCISL - Chamber of Construction Industry of Sri Lanka
CEA - Central Environmental Authority
CEB - Ceylon Electricity Board
CIDA - Construction Industry Development Authority
CIOB - Ceylon Institute of Builders
CoC - Certificate of Conformity
CPD - Continuing Professional Development
CSEB – Compressed Stabilised Earth Blocks
DMC - Disaster Management Centre
DS - Divisional Secretariats
EEBC - Energy Efficiency Building Code
GBCSL - Green Building Council of Sri Lanka
GDP - Gross Domestic Product – GDP
GHG - Green House Gas
GII - Gender Inequality Index
GIS RS – Geographic Information Systems Remote Sensing
Global ABC - Global Alliance for Building Construction
GN - Grama Niladhari
GSMB - Geological Survey and Mines Bureau
HDI - Human Development Index
ICC - International Construction Consortium (Pvt) Ltd
LEED - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
LGA - Local Government Agencies
NBRO - National Building Research Organisation
NCCAS - National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy
NCP - National Construction Policy
NDC - Nationally Determined Contributions
NERD Center – National Engineering Research and Development Center
NHDA - National Housing Development Authority
O&M - Operation and Maintenance
PBR - Planning and Building Regulations
RE-CCAT - Resource Efficiency Country Construction Assessment Tool
RE - Renewable Energy
EE - Energy Efficiency
SBC-CA - Sustainable Building Country Assessment Sri Lanka
SBDG - Sustainable Building Design Guidelines
SCP - Sustainable Consumption and Production
SDG - Sustainable Development Goals
SL - Sri Lanka
SLSEA - Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority
SLSI - Sri Lanka Standards Institute
TPCCS - Two Pot Clay Cook Stoves
UDA - Urban Development Authority
UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme
UNOPS - United Nations Office for Project Services
USD - U.S. Dollar
WWF - World Wildlife Fund

46
Annexure
Table A1: Institutions and Roles

Institution
No Description Responsibilities
name
• Recommend strategies for the development of the Construction Industry
and assist in their implementation.
• Regulate registration and grading of construction contractors.
• Promote professionalism of consultants and coordinate activities of
professional bodies and assist in the formation of similar bodies in the
Construction Industry.
• Promote/Facilitate export of construction industrial services by undertaking
Construction Industry Development Authority (CIDA) is the leading overseas contracts.
organisation in the construction sector of Sri Lanka, whose • Provide advisory services to the Construction Industry.
Construction
mission is to provide strategic leadership to the sector by ensuring • Review human resource requirements of the industry and assist in the
Industry
1 dynamic and professional industry services through national provision of training facilities.
Development
construction policies, regulations, capacity building, industry • Promote the advancement of the skills and expertise of personnel and
Authority (CIDA)
development, and promotion of quality standards to meet the professional bodies in the Construction Industry.
requirements of sustainable national development. • Promote/undertake research on matters related to the Construction
Industry.
• Promote Quality Assurance and productivity in the Construction Industry.
• Promote and grant assistance to the development of industries related to
the Construction Industry.
• Undertake or assist any other activity for the promotion of the Construction
Industry.

Sri Lanka Land Development Corporation (SLLDC) was


• To reclaim and develop every development area declared by order under
established under the Colombo District (Low Lying Areas)
section 2 of the amendment to the SLLDC Act No. 15 of 1968.
Development Board Act No. 15 of 1968, mandated with low land
• To ensure flood free habitat and improve the environment by rehabilitating,
areas and other lands declared under the Act. SLLDC is supported
Sri Lanka Land creating and maintaining pollution free inland water bodies
by staff of engineers in a variety of engineering specialties,
2 Development • To undertake consultancy work on drainage design, land filling and other
including civil, mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineering,
Corporation related areas and establishing a Bench Mark of high standard for the
architects, quantity surveyors and related specialists in the legal
industry.
and financial fields. The Corporation has the tools, machines, and
• To improve and maintain the quality of services and add value to
resources connected to the construction, drainage, and
customer’s needs in particular and to the community at large"
reclamation sectors.

47
Institution
No Description Responsibilities
name
• Carrying out integrated planning and physical development within declared
areas and coordinating and implementing related programs of development
activities and services.
• Formulating and Implementing capital investment promotion programs
The Urban Development Authority (UDA) was established under
• Formulating and implementing an urban land use policy
UDA Act of 1978 to promote integrated planning and
• Developing environmental standards and prepare schemes for
implementation of economic, social and physical development of
environmental improvements
certain areas declared as urban development areas. At present,
• Carrying out buildings, engineering and consultancy operations in
the Urban Development Authority is committed to achieve the
connection with the development of urban areas
vision ‘Towards a Planned, Sustained and Adored Urbanization’
Urban • Planning and executing projects in pursuance of development plans
and the mission to ‘Promote integrated planning and
3 Development • Completing approved development projects
implementation for the economic, social, environmental and
Authority • Acquiring and disposing immovable or movable property for urban
physical development of the declared Urban Development Areas.
development of the country
The Urban Development Authority is equipped with necessary
• Preparing, implementing housing improvement projects and removing
systems and tools, modern technology and efficient and effective
undeserved settlements and development of the land which undertake
strategies as well as proficient and contented human resources
resettlement of the said settlements in declared urban areas
with an emphasis to provide improved services and key
• Preparing, coordinating, implementing and monitoring development
development outcomes into the future.
planning proposals and projects for the government institutions and
government representing agencies.
• Providing technical planning service for other government institutions

• To prevent or minimize the release of discharges and emissions into the


environment from prescribed (industrial) activities in compliance with
national discharge and emission standards.
• To develop an approach to pollution control that considers discharges from
The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) was established on
prescribed (industrial) processes to all media (air, water, land) in the context
12th August 1981, under the provision of the National
of the effect on the environment.
Environmental Act No. 47 of 1980, with the objective of integrating
The Central • To contain the burden on industry, in particular by providing guidance on
environmental considerations into the development process of the
5 Environmental pollution control for polluting processes.
country. The CEA was given wider regulatory powers to maintain
Authority • To ensure that the system responds flexibly both to changing pollution
environmental quality, control pollution and protect sensitive
abatement technology and to new knowledge such as cleaner production,
ecosystems under the National Environment (Amendment) Acts
waste minimization
No. 56 of 1988 and No. 53 of 2000.
• Conduct Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
• Provide Environmental Recommendations
• Scheduled Waste Management Licensing

48
Institution
No Description Responsibilities
name

The Green Building Council of Sri Lanka is a consensus-based not


for profit organization with diverse and integrated representation
from all sectors of the property industry, environment and
academia. This was established with a joint effort by the
professional institutions of architects, engineers, structural • Rate Buildings based on the Sustainable Features via Green Rating
Green Building engineers, town planners, quantity surveyors, university System
6
Council academics, construction industry leaders, environmentalists and • Rate materials and Products based on the sustainable and eco-friendly
business leaders. Their aim is to transform the Sri Lanka manufacturing and features via Green Labelling System
construction industry with green building practices and to fully
adopt sustainability as the means by which their environment
thrives, economy prospers and society grows to ensure the future
wellbeing of Sri Lanka

The Buildings Department was established in 1969 after the


abolition of the then Public Works Department. From the very
inception, this department was considered as the sole authority
and the advisory body in the field of building works. It was called
upon to provide expert advice on building works to the government • Life time Technically / Financially Accountable.
and semi-government institutions in the implementation of their • Designs for complete building needs by accredited professionals.
building programs. The functions of the Department were broadly • Adhere to all rules, regulations, quality, and safety standards.
set out in the financial regulations and various Treasury Circulars. • Highly accurate scope specially developed utilizing past experience.
Department of However, these functions have taken different forms with time, and • Assure quality, safety by scrutiny, concur designs, documents of other
7
Buildings were modified to suit the requirements of client organizations, service providers.
changes in the Building Industry, and also to be in keeping with • Manage contracts.
government policies, which were introduced from time to time. The • Ensure value by experienced professional project management services,
role played by the Department in the national development and in • Assistance in hassles of management audit.
the preservation of the public building assets is commendable. • Assistance in contractual litigations.
The execution of work was handled by the 27 District Engineer’s
offices, which were coordinated by 9 Superintending Engineer’s
office extended throughout the Island. The total permanent staff
was over 5000.

49
Table A2: Construction Related Governance Processes

Processes Descriptions Actors

Authorization of Construction of new buildings of any scale have to be approved by the relevant Local Government LGAs
construction work. Agency (LGA): Building Permit issued to commence construction and a Certificate of Conformity (CoC) UDA
issued at the completion of construction. The Building Permits and CoCs should adhere to the Planning
and Building Regulations (PBR) formulated by UDA or the relevant LGA. Historic buildings require Historic buildings
approval from the Department of Archaeology. Department of Archaeology

Environmental As per the provisions of “National Environment Act (of 1980)” larger building projects deemed a CEA
Impact Assessment Prescribed Project under the “Gazette No. 772/22 of 24.06.1993” should go through EIA (or Initial Relevant PAA
(EIA) Environmental Examination – IEE) process. Project Approval is carried out by authorized Project Approval
Agency (PAA) under the concurrence of the Central Environmental Authority (CEA). A developer or
building owner is in doubt whether their proposed project would be a Prescribed Project and about the
relevant PAA , can forward the application to CEA.

Regulation of All mineral extractions are regulated by the Geological Survey of Mines Bureau under the “Mines and GSMB
building material Minerals Act (of 1992)” which issues permits for extraction and transport of minerals. Some mineral DS
extraction extraction permits require concurrence of other relevant agencies (eg. Irrigation Department FD
concurrence for sand mining). Timber felling and transport are permitted by the Divisional Secretariats
(DS) under concurrence of Forest Department (FD).

Regulating social Environmental impacts at site are regulated by the relevant environmental regulations for air pollution, CEA
environmental water pollution, noise and vibration declared under the provisions of the National Environmental Act (of Police
impacts at 1980) operated by CEA. Any other inconvenience or damage caused neighbours or public due a to a
construction sites construction project can be addressed under Public Nuisance Regulations, if a complaint is lodged to the
CEA or the Police.

Building Materials Building material manufacturing is governed by the provisions of the “Factories Ordinance” operated by Ministry of Labour
Manufacturing the Ministry of Labour and the environmental regulations (declared under the National Environment Act f Labour Department
1980) and the Environmental Protection Licence (EPL) process operated by the CEA and LGAs (Gazette CEA
Notification No.1533/16 dated 25.01.2008 ). All factories should be registered under The Commissioner LGAs
of Labour and periodically inspected for industrial safety by District Factory Inspecting Engineers. All
manufacturing facilities should also periodically obtain an EPL issue by CEA or the relevant LGA based on
their scale.

50
Processes Descriptions Actors

Registration and Construction Industry Development Authority (CIDA) registers all businesses, professionals and trades- CIDA
grading of persons involved in the construction industry. However CIDA registration is not mandatory to operate in
construction the industry. CIDA also grades construction companies according to their capacity, finances and scale of
companies and operations and monitors the performance of construction contractors.
consulting firms

Accreditation of Accreditation of construction professionals (engineers, architects, surveyors, quantity surveyors, valuers) The Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka
Professionals comes under the purview of relevant professional organisations (eg. The Institution of Engineers, Sri Sri Lanka Institute of Architects
Lanka -IESL). Professional organisation review and accredit the courses of study that would be recognised Institute of Quantity Surveyors Sri
in the country, and also certify individuals as “Chartered” professionals. It is mandatory by law to have Lanka
the Chattered status to perform certain functions as construction professional in the industry. The Surveyors Institute Sri Lanka
Institute of Valuers of Sri Lanka

Certification of crafts Trades/Crafts persons are certified by multiple agencies in Sri Lanka including Technical College network, CIDA
persons Univotech University, Construction Equipment Training Centre (CETRAC). CIDA registers crafts person and Technical College Network
maintains a database. However, CIDA registration or any certification is not mandatory to work as a CETRAC
trade/crafts person in the construction industry.

51
Table A3: Policies and Regulations

Policy /
No Legislation / Description Sustainability features
Regulation
The National Policy on Construction applies to the construction The policy recognizes the overall importance of sustainable development
industry as a whole, including both the public and private sectors. and proper environmental management in the construction sector. In the
National Policy on The Policy outlines the Ministries' major functions and section NPC 3 the policy says – “Promote sustainable economic growth of
1
Construction responsibilities in the operational context. The Policy also the construction industry with special attention to the design and
coordinates activities with Ministries to ensure that their operations development of disaster resilient, energy efficient and environmentally
are run smoothly. sustainable buildings, structures and construction practices.”
The act is to provide strategic leadership to the stakeholders of the
Construction Industry Development Act provides for the
construction industry to stimulate sustainable growth, reform, and
development of the construction industry in Sri Lanka; to regulate,
improvement of the construction sector through the authority. In addition to
register, formalize and standardize the activities of the construction
that, the duty of authority is to promote sustainable growth of the construction
industry; to provide for the establishment of the national advisory
industry with special attention to the design and development of energy
council on construction; the establishment of the construction
efficient buildings and structures
Construction industry development authority; and the establishment of the
Industry construction industry development fund and the fund of the
2
Development Act construction industry development authority; to provide for the
no. 33 2014 - establishment of the national advisory council on construction; to
provide for the establishment of the national advisory council on
construction; to provide for the establishment of the national
advisory council on construction; to protect public safety in Sri
Lanka's construction industry; and for matters related to or
incidental thereto
UDA introduced the "Green Rating" for proposed projects to promote and
Urban Development Authority (UDA) Act 41 of 1978 established
Urban Development encourage sustainable development through construction of environmentally
UDA as the apex body of urban planning and regulating in Sri
Authority (UDA) Act friendly buildings. From year 2017 all Government and Semi Government
3 Lanka. Under the Act UDA is mandated to declare “Urban Areas”
no. 41 1978 and new buildings need to obtain “Green Building Certification” by UDA. However
and formulate urban development and building regulations to
Regulations Other buildings also can get the “Green Building Certification” from the UDA,
govern town planning, urban design and construction.
to ensure that a building is environmentally friendly.
Key Element No.3 - The National Physical Planning Policy and National
The National Physical Planning Policy and the National Physical Physical Plan have the fundamental goal of ensuring future growth and
Plan are the two main documents that encourage and regulate development which are environmentally, economically, and socially
The National integrated land planning in Sri Lanka. Further, The National sustainable and feasible. Protecting delicate environments, limiting urban
Physical Planning Physical Planning Policy and Plan's goal is to create an integrated development, fostering and preserving social cohesion, improving travel
4
Policy (Recurrent – land use and infrastructure framework that will allow Sri Lanka to efficiency, and bolstering the economy are all part of this.
every 5 years) maximize its natural resources and strategic location in South
Asia. The Act also allows provisions for UDA to undertake projects
for urban renewal and regeneration. Principle 4.8 - Ensure the sustainable management, treatment and disposal
of solid waste and sewerage.

52
Policy /
No Legislation / Description Sustainability features
Regulation
Principle 6.6 Encourage the sustainable use of offshore resources

The Ordinance authorizes the formulation and implementation of


a National Physical Planning policy; the formulation and
implementation of a National Physical Plan with the goal of
Town and Country
promoting and regulating integrated planning of economic, social,
5 Planning Ordinance No sustainability provisions
physical and environmental aspects of land in Sri Lanka; to provide

for the protection of natural amenities, the conservation of natural
environment, buildings of architectural and historic interest, and
places of natural beauty.

An act to establish a central environmental authority, to provide for


National
the authority's powers, functions, and duties, and to provide for the Encourage, co-ordinate and carry out strategic planning in environmental
6 Environment Act
protection and administration of the environment, as well as things protection and management
No. 47 1980
related to or incidental to it.

Sri Lanka An act to provide for the creation and execution of a national policy
An act to set its own national goals, guided by global ambition but taking into
Sustainable and strategy for sustainable development in Sri Lanka; the
7 account national interests and circumstances, and incorporate the
Development Act, establishment of a sustainable development council and other
seventeen Sustainable Development Goals into national planning
No. 19 of 2017 matters related to or incidental to the foregoing.
processes, policies, and strategies in ongoing economic, social, and
environmental processes.

This act is to protect the people of Sri Lanka's lives and property,
National Disaster as well as the environment, from the consequences of catastrophic
8 Management Act no disasters by preparing a national strategy and plan, as well as No sustainability provisions
13 2005 appointing centrally coordinated bodies and institutions to carry out
such policy and plan

53
Policy /
No Legislation / Description Sustainability features
Regulation
The Western Megapolis Master Plan is envisioned and
conceptualized as a sensible grand strategy for attaining two
critical interdependent transformations necessary in Sri Lanka's
Megapolis and
progress toward becoming a 'High Income Developed Country.' It
Western Province
9 discovers major regions of utilization in non-living materials such
Development
as sand to check the supply and demand of sand for building
Master-Plan
activities in the region, as well as environmental impact
assessment due to construction activities in Sri Lanka, from the
perspective of the construction sector.
It has implemented energy efficient design and/or retrofits in commercial
buildings, industrial facilities, and large-scale housing schemes to allow for
The Ceylon Electricity Board created the first Energy Efficiency
minimal energy consumption during design, construction and maintenance
Building Code (EEBC) in Sri Lanka in 2000.
without compromising the building's function or the comfort and health of
occupants.
Code of Practices
for Energy
10
Efficiency Buildings The EEBC (2000) was a significant catalyst for the Sri Lanka It has also established criteria and minimum standards for energy efficiency
Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority to design a new code for energy in commercial building design and/or retrofits, as well as criteria for
efficient buildings by analyzing and updating the existing EEBC to determining compliance.
account for evolving technologies and current society needs. It also advises on how to encourage designs that are more energy efficient
than the minimum requirements.

Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority Act established the Sri


Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority, to develop renewable energy
resources, to declare energy development areas, to implement
Sri Lanka
energy efficiency measures and conservation programs, to Provide technical and financial assistance for sustainable energy
11 Sustainable Energy
promote energy security, reliability, and cost effectiveness in consumption of the buildings and premises.
Authority Act No. 35
energy delivery and information management and to repeal the
Energy Conservation Fund Act, No. 2 of 1985 and to provide for
matters connected with or incidental to the foregoing.

54
Tables A4: Housing Programs and Best Practices

Housing Program Agent, actors


No Image and description Sustainability approaches
Example or policies.

Middle Income • Waste Management facilities with separate service life


The overall project consists of 400 Housing Units. The Urban
Housing Project - • Proper Rain water harvesting
1 contract was awarded to Access Engineering PLC. Project Development
Elliot Residencies - • Electric Vehicle charging facilities
Duration is 2017 - 2023 Authority
Borella • Solar PV Systems for Common Area Lightning

• Central Gas System


Middle Income
The overall project consists of 256 Housing Units. The Urban • Sewer Treatment Plants
Housing Project -
2 contract was awarded to ICC (Pvt) Ltd. Project Duration is Development • Waste Management facilities with separate service life
Crescendo
2021 - 2022 Authority • Electric Vehicle charging facilities
Apartments - Malabe
• Proper Rain water harvesting

• Central Gas System


Middle Income
The overall project consists of 504 Housing Units. The Urban • Sewer Treatment Plants
Housing Project -
3 contract was awarded to Sanken Builders. Project Duration is Development • Waste Management facilities with separate service life
Central Residencies
2017-2022 Authority • Electric Vehicle charging facilities
Phase I
• Proper Rain water harvesting

• Central Gas System


Middle Income
The overall project consists of 314 Housing Units 314. The Urban • Sewer Treatment Plants
Housing Project -
4 contract was awarded to Tudawe Brothers (pvt) Ltd.. Project Development • Waste Management facilities with separate service life
Central Residencies
Duration is 2021-2023 Authority • Electric Vehicle charging facilities
Phase I
• Proper Rain water harvesting

• Central Gas System


Middle Income
The overall project consists of 135 Housing Units. The Urban • Sewer Treatment Plants
Housing Project -
5 contract was awarded to Sathuta Builders (pvt) Ltd. Project Development • Waste Management facilities with separate service life
Citadel Apartments -
Duration is 2021-2022 Authority • Electric Vehicle charging facilities
Anuradhapura
• Proper Rain water harvesting

55
Housing Program Agent, actors
No Image and description Sustainability approaches
Example or policies.

Middle Income • Central Gas System


Housing Project - The overall project consists of 210 Housing Units. The Urban • Sewer Treatment Plants
6 Urban Crescent contract was awarded to Edward and Christie. Project Development • Waste Management facilities with separate service life
Residencies - Duration 2021-2022 Authority • Electric Vehicle charging facilities
Bloemendhal • Proper Rain water harvesting

Middle Income
• Central Gas System
Housing Project - The overall project consists of 135 Housing Units. The Urban
• Daily Waste management facilities
7 Green Arcade Contract was awarded to Sathuta Builders (pvt) Ltd. Project Development
• Sewer Treatment Plants
Housing Project - Duration is 2017-2022 Authority
• Solar System for common areas
Kottawa

Funded by the European Union, jointly implemented by


• Introducing the beneficiaries to appropriate construction
Habitat for Humanity and World Vision Lanka, the ’Homes not
materials such as Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks
Houses Project’ is expected to benefit more than 215,250
(CSEB) and Earth Concrete Blocks (ECB),
internally displaced people in the Northern and Eastern
Homes not Houses Habitat for • Utilizing the land usage plans to equip homeowners to
8 Provinces of Sri Lanka. Seeking to serve the most vulnerable
Project Humanity identify and efficiently avail resources from their own land
families displaced by the civil war, the project has committed
to increase family income such as making informed
Euro 14.7 million towards providing returnee families with
decisions about placement of perennial crops, seasonal
permanent and affordable housing solutions, social
crops, home-garden and livestock rearing
infrastructure and livelihood protection.

In response to a major housing need in the Central and Uva


Provinces, the Government of India initiated the Indian
Housing Project in the Central and Uva Provinces to make a
significant contribution to the sustainable resettlement of at
Indian Housing least 4,000 plantation worker families in newly created cluster • Beneficiaries are encouraged to provide in-kind
Habitat for
9 Project – Central and villages or small townships, under the auspices of the Ministry contributions of labour and building materials towards the
Humanity
Uva Provinces of Hill Country, with new villages, Infrastructure and construction efforts in order to save costs.
community development. The Indian Housing Project in the
Central and Uva Provinces is an extension of the Government
of India’s overall commitment of constructing 50,000 houses
in Sri Lanka.

56
Housing Program Agent, actors
No Image and description Sustainability approaches
Example or policies.
The Indian Housing Project is a housing construction project
funded by the Government of India and implemented through
a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the
Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) initiated in 2012. In 2016,
Habitat for Humanity Sri Lanka successfully completed the
• The unique approach adopted encourages
construction of 3,713 new houses and repair of 46 houses for
homeowners to take ownership of the design and
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Trincomalee and
construction of their own homes, utilizing the extensive
Batticaloa as part of Phase 1 of the Indian Housing Project
orientation and training given by the implementing
Indian Housing funded by the Government of India. Consequent to the Habitat for
10 agencies on basics of construction, technical aspects
Project – East completion of Phase 1 of the Indian Housing Project, Habitat Humanity
and house lifecycle management. Habitat Sri Lanka’s
for Humanity Sri Lanka was awarded the construction of 270
Technical Officers regularly visited the construction sites
homes in Batticaloa as part of Phase II of the Indian Housing
and assisted beneficiaries to source good quality building
Project in the Eastern Province. Habitat Sri Lanka
materials and supervised skilled labour.
commenced the construction of 270 homes in Batticaloa in
September 2017 and was subsequently, awarded an
additional caseload of 131 homes in Batticaloa. Phase 11 of
the Indian Housing Project was completed by the end of
2018.
The Kalutara Housing Project was initiated in August 2017
to construct 37 homes for low-income families in Kalutara • Designed to include disaster resilient features to
Kalutara Housing District. The selected beneficiary families originally lived in Habitat for
11 minimize the risk of future disasters such as floods, in
Project small one-bedroom temporary wooden structures with Humanity
accordance with the standards of the NBRO
limited protection from adverse weather conditions, intruders
and provided minimal privacy for the girl child.
Habitat for Humanity Sri Lanka partnered with Alwaleed
Philanthropies in an initiative to rebuild the lives of families
affected by landslides caused by Cyclone Roanu, in May
2016. Together with the Government of Sri Lanka, District
Secretariat of Kegalle and Divisional Secretaries of
Aranayake, Yatiyantota and Deraniyagala, 80 families were
identified as key beneficiaries for the rebuilding initiative.
Kegalle Housing Habitat for • Designed to include disaster resilient features to
12 Alwaleed Philanthropies has supported Habitat for
Project Humanity minimize the risk of future disasters such as land slides
Humanity’s work over the past years including the
earthquakes in Ecuador, Japan and Nepal and a cyclone in
Vanuatu. Alwaleed Philanthropies has come forward to
support Habitat for Humanity Sri Lanka’s initiative by
providing a LKR 80 Million (USD 545,200) grant to construct
80 homes for victims of the landslides.

57
Housing Program Agent, actors
No Image and description Sustainability approaches
Example or policies.

Following the severe floods caused by Tropical Storm Roanu


in Sri Lanka in May 2016, Habitat for Humanity Sri Lanka
(HFHSL) partnered with Brandix Lanka Limited to help rebuild
lives of those affected by the disaster. This collaboration
aimed at reconstructing and repairing homes of twenty-two
Brandix Housing Habitat for • Designed to include disaster resilient features to
13 employees of Brandix Lanka Ltd., that were completely or
Project Humanity minimize the risk of future disasters such as floods
partially destroyed following the floods located in various
parts of the island. HFHSL was assigned the task of
implementing the project by managing the construction and
repairs of these homes while the project was funded solely by
Brandix Lanka.

Disaster resilient National Building Research Organization (NBRO) operating


model houses - under the vision of creating a safer built environment has • Designed to include disaster resilient features to
14 NBRO
Landslide Resilient extended its studies on disaster resilient construction. As its minimize the risk of future disasters such as land slides
House at Agalawatta initial phase, the main focus of these studies was on housing
Disaster resilient sector after considering the frequency of natural disasters
model houses - Flood and severity of damages on houses caused by them. NBRO • Designed to include disaster resilient features to
15 NBRO
Resilient House at recommends incorporating disaster resilient features into minimize the risk of future disasters such as floods
Millaniya housing construction when sites are located in localities
prone to disasters such as floods, landslides, high wind, and
Disaster resilient
tsunami or in areas having expansive soil.
model houses - • Designed to include disaster resilient features to
16 NBRO
Tsunami Resilient minimize the risk of Tsunami Impacts
In this context, the Human Settlements Planning and Training
House at Beruwala
Division of NBRO initiated a program to construct disaster
Disaster resilient resilient model houses in disaster prone areas with the
model houses - Flood consent of the Ministry of Disaster Management. In this
Resilient House at project, disaster resilient features are showcased in hazard • Designed to include disaster resilient features to
17 NBRO
Bingiriya prone areas through model houses to enhance awareness minimize the risk of future disasters such as floods
within the community on disaster resilient construction.

Disaster resilient
model houses - Flood
• Designed to include disaster resilient features to
18 and High wind NBRO
minimize the risk of future disasters such as floods
Resilient House at
Mundalama

58
Housing Program Agent, actors
No Image and description Sustainability approaches
Example or policies.
Disaster resilient
model houses -
• Designed to include disaster resilient features to
19 Landslide Resilient NBRO
minimize the risk of future disasters such as land slides
House at
Bulathkohupitiya
Disaster resilient
model houses - Flood • Designed to include disaster resilient features to
20 NBRO
Resilient House at minimize the risk of future disasters such as floods
Tissamaharama
Disaster resilient
model houses - • Designed to include disaster resilient features to
21 NBRO
Landslide Resilient minimize the risk of future disasters such as land slides
House at Katuwana
Disaster resilient
model houses - Flood • Designed to include disaster resilient features to
22 NBRO
Resilient House at minimize the risk of future disasters such as floods
Baddegama

59
Tables A5: Summary of some emerging sustainable materials in Sri Lanka

No Material Name Sustainable Responsible Cost


Description Disadvantages Status
Features Organization Effective
1 Compressed Cement stabilized earth blocks are Solution for sand
Stabilized Earth used as an alternative building material crisis
Blocks for burnt clay bricks and cement sand
Environmentally Problems may
blocks. This is an appropriate and cost-
friendly green product occur if the
effective wall construction material as
and problems related method/technique is
most of the generally available sandy
to sand mining, incorrectly used
soil and gravel soil can be used for State Ministry of
defrosting and clay
manufacturing these blocks. Soil can Rural Housing
mining are not
easily be extracted and easily and
present.
processed for production of these Construction & Average
blocks. Soil is mixed in certain Higher thermal In Use
Building Effective
proportions of cement (5-10%) for comfort. Materials
producing and unlike normal clay Industries
15%-50% cost can be
bricks, burning is not necessary. Unlike Man power Promotion
saved (according to
for cement sand blocks river sand is not requirement is
availability of soil)
necessary for earth blocks. Hence, low dependent upon the
energy consumption and low type of soil
environmental pollution or degradation Creating new
occurs with the production of these employments
blocks.
2 Bamboo Bamboo is a fast-growing plant that Easy workability. Can
thrives in tropical regions like Sri Lanka. be used for both
It is frequently used in Sri Lanka for permanent and
temporary buildings, such as walls, temporary
screens, and cladding. It is not a construction.
They require
popular building material for permanent Extraordinary
preservation
structures despite its remarkable physical
structural properties, good availability characteristics, and Industrial
and ability grow quickly. One set back suitable for all types Development Very
In Use
of bamboo its quick decay compared to of structures and Board - effective
timber. However, examples worldwide constructions. lankaboo.lk
show that bamboo, when properly
Non-polluting
treated is as durable as timber, and
used for a variety of modern Carbon foot print is Bamboo shrinks
construction uses. much less compared much more than
to most other timber.
materials for similar
purposes

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No Material Name Sustainable Responsible Cost
Description Disadvantages Status
Features Organization Effective
Bamboo should be
sufficiently treated
Can be used in against insect or
combination with fungus attack for
large variety of other durability.
material, including as
reinforcement for Structural reliability
steel. of joining bamboo is
questionable.
3 Durra Boards Durra Boards are currently regarded as Fire Resistance
one of the top Sri Lankan sustainable
building products, converting paddy
Impact Resistance
straw into an environmentally
beneficial, adaptable, and multipurpose
building panel known as DURRA. Sound Insulation
DURRA panels will aid the environment
in any project because they are green, Thermal Insulation International
light weight, sound resistant, and heat Construction Average
Strength and Self- In Use
insulated. They come in a variety of Consortium - Effective
supportive
lengths and may be rendered with a ICC
variety of designs and finishes.
Because of the various benefits a single
panel might offer, DURRA may be used Natural Non-Toxic
for many modular, acoustic, and heat Glue
insulating requirements of the project to
provide turnkey solutions for the
construction sector
4 Mud Concrete Mud concrete bricks have the least recyclable
Bricks impact on the environment and keep easily damaged State Ministry of
homes cool. They are also the non-toxic Rural Housing
cheapest and easiest to get rid of once
and
a property has been demolished. Mud healthy form of Rare in
Construction &
concrete bricks are manufactured from building construction Use, In Yes
Building
the same soil as conventional mud high weight Research
Materials
bricks, but with the addition of gravel
low embodied energy Industries
and sand for added strength. The
Promotion
researchers examined the carbon not good thermal
footprint of each of the four walling high thermal mass
insulators

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No Material Name Sustainable Responsible Cost
Description Disadvantages Status
Features Organization Effective
materials and discovered that mud
concrete bricks were the most
environmentally benign to manufacture
and dispose of. Mud concrete bricks
Good Sound Insulator
are common in other tropical countries,
although they are relatively new in Sri
Lanka. They are popular because they
are simple to produce and thus
inexpensive. Can be used for the
concrete mixes

In Sri Lanka, mining


river sand will be very
limited in the future
due to environmental
issues so this is the
only alternative for
the sand crisis

5 Manufactured Manufactured sand, produced with


Sand (M-Sand) crushing withered or had rock can Due to its smooth
serve as a substitute for River sand. It is well graded in the and angular
The use of artificial sand has increased required proportion. textures, leads to
as a result of the scarcity of good grade more water and
river sand for construction. Another cement requirement
It does not contain CA Crushing In Use Yes
benefit for using M-Sand is its to achieve the
organic and soluble expected
accessibility and low cost of compound that
transportation. Because manufactured workability, thereby
affects the setting increase in overall
sand is made from hard granite rocks, it time and properties of
can be easily obtained in a nearby costs.
cement,

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No Material Name Sustainable Responsible Cost
Description Disadvantages Status
Features Organization Effective
location, lowering the expense of M-Sand is obtained If M Sand contains
shipping from a distant watersheds. from specific hard a large number of
rock (granite) using micro fine particles,
the state-of-the-art it can affect the
technology, to obtain strength and
the required quality of workability of
sand concrete.
6 Rammed Earth In Rammed Earth construction,
compacted and stabilized earth is used a four-hour fire
to directly cast walls instead of bricks or resistance rating
Poorly installed, it
blocks. In Sri Lanka single-story
will radiate heat all
structures with adequately robust walls non-toxic nature
night
with a thickness of 160mm – 300mm
have been built using this technique, not require additional
conserving both soil and cement. waterproofing
Cement levels of 6 percent -10 percent
can be employed in laterite soils with moisture resistant NBRO In Use Yes
high sand content (40 percent - 60
percent) and even hard lumps. If steel
moulds are used in casting, smooth Materials with high
surfaces can be produced that enables thermal mass are
the removal of plaster from the walls. highly durable not good insulators
This reduces the need for cement sand
mortar as there are no bed joints,
thereby reducing sand usage, saving
money and benefiting the environment.
7 Micro concrete The most common roofing materials in Offer more value for Relatively poor
Roofing Tiles Sri Lanka are clay tiles and cement money. thermal insulation
fiber sheets. Clay tiles have Are highly durable –
environmental issues, such as clay they have the life of
mining and a lack of high-quality clay concrete.
for tile production. Indoor thermal Not air and insect
Are lighter than other Samson
proof. Higher costs In
comfort is one of the environmental roofing tiles – they Rajarata Tiles Yes
concerns with cement fibre sheets. Research
require less (Pvt) Ltd
Micro Concrete roofing tiles is an understructure.
alternative to the aforementioned two Can be easily
roof covering materials (MCR tiles). Leakage cannot be
installed.
These are made with 1:2 or 1:3 cement easily detected from
Can be colored to
and aggregate mixtures, with 3-6 mm the inside
user’s preference.

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No Material Name Sustainable Responsible Cost
Description Disadvantages Status
Features Organization Effective
chips included in addition to sand. Changing tiles from
Reduce heat gain.
These tiles can even be hand moulded the inside is difficult
for low-income construction. A Do not make noise
commercial producer provided raw Unmanageable
during rains.
material quantities for tile production. space between tiles
Do not contain
and ceiling
asbestos fibres.
8 Precast Concrete Reinforced concrete slabs and walls Wastage of material
Panels (Slabs and are popular in Sri Lanka, due to a is less High Initial
Walls) paucity of excellent quality timber. Investment
Energy usage is less
Traditional solid slabs and concrete
walls built to BS 8110: Part 1: 1997 Installation time is Transportation
have various flaws, including inefficient very low Issues
concrete use, the need for formwork Sensitive
and falsework, and reinforcement Resistance to noise
Connection Works
requirements based on crack control
rather than flexural behavior when Mitigating the urban
sustaining mild loads. In order to heat-island effect Difficult to modify International
reduce labor and material costs, an Indoor environmental the structure Construction Very
In Use
innovative pre-cast reinforced concrete quality Consortium - Effective
panel (slabs and walls) technique was ICC
created. This technique uses pre-cast Air infiltration
beams spaced at 1.5 m intervals to
support 75 mm thick pre-cast slabs,
reducing the need for formwork and
falsework. The use of less concrete and Handling Difficulties
Fire and natural
steel reduces embodied energy and disaster resistant
saves 40–50% on costs. The embodied
energy is calculated for a 3.6 m x 3.0 m
panel that will require 24 pre-cast slab
panels.

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