webinar on "Affordable Housing for Bangladesh in Considering Climate Change, Disaster, Building Materials, Strategies and Related Aspects"

The Department of Architecture, World University of Bangladesh (WUB) organized a webinar titled "Affordable Housing for Bangladesh in Considering Climate Change, Disaster, Building Materials, Strategies and Related Aspects" on September 1, 2021.

Engineer Mohammad Abu Sadeque participated in the webinar as a guest speaker. Engineer Mohammad Abu Sadeque is currently the Executive Director of the Center for Housing Research and the General Secretary of the Bangladesh Earthquake Society. For a long time, he served in various government organizations, including the CEO of the Housing and Building Research Institute. The event was hosted by Zenat Islam, Acting Head of the Department of Architecture, World University of Bangladesh (WUB).

 In the light of his 40 years of working life experience and research, Mohammad Abu Sadeque gave a comprehensive discussion on various types of disasters and housing system in disaster prone Bangladesh. Due to its geographical location, Bangladesh is prone to more disasters. He highlighted the regional effects of various disasters, including cyclones, floods and earthquakes, the salinity of coastal areas and the effects on buildings.

He showed in his presentation the most common bricks used as construction materials in Bangladesh, the negative aspects of aluminum and the amount of their carbon emissions in the environment.

Various proposals for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals came up in the discussion. He also mentioned the instructions of the Hon'ble Prime Minister in this regard. The speaker emphasized on the use of alternative construction materials including eco-friendly construction materials such as blocks made from river sand, hollow blocks, ferro cement.

Ensuring sustainability of rural and urban housing in Bangladesh and being able to afford affordable housing based on the socio-economic status of the people of Bangladesh is important for the disaster prone to climate change. Building materials, construction costs and at the same time sustainability are very important in ensuring affordable housing in our country.

Engineer Mohammad Abu Sadeque said that now is the time for engineers and architects to use different construction materials and apply new methods, keeping in mind the climate change and disasters.