| Popis: |
There is a widespread believe that policy instruments can help scale the uptake of non-conventional building materials. Kenya’s 2017 “Big Four Agenda” for food security, affordable health, manufacturing, and affordable housing provided an opportunity for proponents of non-conventional building materials to scale their uptake. The high-level Presidential pointed out that alternatives were necessary because conventional materials had failed to deliver the desired outcomes with respect to providing affordable housing at scale. The discussion in this paper examines the impact of this Presidential endorsement from the perspective of real estate developers. The study adopts a desk review and open-ended surveys. We focus specifically on engineered earthen masonry. It has emerged that despite the endorsement, alternative building materials are yet to claim a sizeable share of the market. Key barriers include insufficient structural performance data and regulations. Proponents of non-conventional building materials still need to generate empirical data that can underpin the development of standards, codes, performance, cost data and structure the supply chain that directly address existing concerns. |
