CAA CPD Post-Event Feedback Report | Session: Making Natural Building Materials Work (March 2024)

CAA CPD, Making Natural Building Materials Work Attendance and feedback from the event.

Date created: 27 June 2024

Contents OBJECTIVE OF THE EVENT ............................................................................................ 3 PRINCIPAL CONTRIBUTORS .......................................................................................... 3 EVENT OUTLINE .................................................................................................................. 3 PRINCIPAL LESSONS LEARNT ...................................................................................... 4 ATTENDANCE....................................................................................................................... 6 Number of Attendees ............................................................................................. 6 Background* ............................................................................................................... 6 Regions Represented* ............................................................................................ 6 Country’s Represented .......................................................................................... 6 FEEDBACK ............................................................................................................................ 8 Appendix I, Certificate of Participation.................................................................. 19

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CAA CPD, Making Natural Building Materials Work OBJECTIVE OF THE EVENT With the buildings and construction sector accounting for over 34% of global energy demand and around 37% of energy and process-related CO2 emissions in 2021, decarbonising the buildings sector by 2050 is critical to delivering our climate objectives yet with 70% of the building stock in Africa by 2040 alone yet to be built, how can we achieve a sustainable built environment? The intelligent and creative use of natural building materials provides a critically important solution to so many of the challenges we face, and, in this event, we will consider some of the many benefits they provide together with obstacles to be overcome.

PRINCIPAL CONTRIBUTORS Ms Isabella Stevens, (UK) Prof Neil Thomas MBE RDI (UK) Prof Rowland Keeble, (UK) Mr Alan Chandler, (UK) Mr Christian Benimana (Rwanda)

Policy Officer, Climate & Sustainability, Royal Academy of Engineering Director and Founder, Atelier One Director, Rammed Earth Consulting Dean of Research, University of East London Principal & Managing Director, Mass Design Group

EVENT OUTLINE 1. Scene setting: Isabella Stevens provided framing for the event by positioning the subject matter in the wider global context, including the need for demand reduction, the social and environmental effects of mining, the urgent need to decarbonise construction and respect planetary boundaries.

2. Bamboo: Neil Thomas described the properties of bamboo in both its natural, and engineered forms together with a range of case studies highlighting the diverse ways in which it can be used.

3. Earth Construction: Rowland Keeble described the variety of easy in which earth can be used as a construction material, together with a variety of standards and codes of practice that have been developed to support its use.

4. ‘Sugarcrete’: Alan Chandler described the background to the development of sugarcrete together with its properties and the efforts to encourage its adoption

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5. Case Studies: Christian Benimana presented a series of short case studies to illustrate the way in which the Mass Design Group has used natural building materials in its work, together with lessons learnt.

6. Panel Discussion and Q&A: Following a series of short framing presentations, the panel responded to a series of questions from the moderator and participants.

PRINCIPAL LESSONS LEARNT The following are among an extensive list of lessons learnt during the course of the event: 1. We must quickly reduce our reliance on concrete and steel if we are to meet our climate objectives, while making the most of the existing building stock through adaptation and re-use.

2. We need to better understand the social and environmental impact of mining and mineral extraction and accelerate the transition from a linear to a circular economy 3. The appropriate use of natural building materials when combined with effective planning and passive design principles can not only reduce embodied carbon but can also reduce operational energy use 4. We need to accelerate the adoption of natural building materials through advocacy, training and skills development.

5. The successful use of natural building materials relies upon a better understanding of building physics and requires a more integrated approach among members of the design team.

6. Regulatory systems need to be updated to recognise and encourage the use of such materials, and standards calibrated appropriately; noting that opportunities for the responsible use of such materials also exist in countries where the regulatory system may currently be weak!

7. The adoption of natural building materials provides an opportunity to rethink and recalibrate standards around what is necessary and not simply what has become customary.

8. Academia is failing to teach students the importance of natural building materials and how to use them in practice.

9. Built environment professionals need to be educated to better understand the impact of their work in the context of climate change and planetary boundaries.

10. Public sector and clients should be encouraged to show leadership by leveraging public procurement to promote circularity and the adoption of natural building materials, capitalising on the opportunity for public buildings to showcase the way in which such materials can be used.

11. It is important to both understand and demonstrate the social and economic benefits to be achieved through the use of natural building materials, including the benefits for health and well-being.

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12. Networks, such as EBUKI, can be very successful in advocating for the use of natural building materials, breaking down barriers between architects, engineers, constructors and other stakeholders 13. Architects should be encouraged to consider the impacts on the entire supply/value chain which arise from using natural building materials.

EVENT RECORDING A recording of the event has been published on the CAA’s website and can be accessed here.

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ATTENDANCE Number of Attendees • • •

Total number of registered participants Total number of unique views Maximum number of concurrent views

: 527 : 236 : 202

Background* What is your background?

Practitioner Professional Association Teaching Faculty Student Central Government Local Government Total

Count Percent 45 49% 16 18% 15 16% 11 12% 4 4% 0 0% 91 100%

Regions Represented* Which region are you from?

Africa Asia Europe Pacific Caribbean and Americas Total

Count Percent 45 47% 14 15% 14 15% 3 3% 20 21% 96 100%

*at commencement of the event

Country’s Represented Region Africa

Country Botswana Cameroon Egypt Ghana Kenya

Count 11 1 1 1 34

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Asia

Caribbean & Americas

Eastern Europe Europe

Middle East Pacific

Total

Malawi Namibia Nigeria Rwanda South Africa South Sudan Tanzania Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe Afghanistan Bangladesh China Hong Kong SAR Pakistan Sri Lanka Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Canada Grenada Jamaica Trinidad and Tobago United States Russia Denmark Germany Italy Malta Spain United Kingdom Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Fiji New Zealand 41

1 1 13 10 1 1 1 23 12 18 1 7 3 4 21 3 4 9 3 1 3 6 9 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 16 2 1 3 2 1 236

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FEEDBACK The following feedback was obtained from participants upon completion of the event.

Did you find the event of interest?

Yes No Total

Percent 100% 0% 100%

Was it well organised?

Yes No Total

Percent 96% 4% 100%

Were the speakers engaging?

Yes No Total

Percent 97% 3% 100%

Was the length of the session...

Just right Too long Too short Total

Percent 74% 4% 22% 100%

Would you like more time for engagement with the speakers?

No Yes

Percent 22% 78%

Total Would you like the CAA to continue to offer events of this kind?

Yes No Total

100%

Percent 100% 0% 100%

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What was your key takeaway from the event?

1. More research on natural building materials should be encouraged 2. The durability discussion and commentary about appropriate lifespans but ultimately designing for deconstruction is key.

3. The Smart use of Natural Materials 4. Architects must find was to navigate bureaucracy stemming from regulations and policies that slow down the uptake of green alternative building materials and sustainable practices.

5. Building multi-storey buildings using bamboo 6. Use of bamboo and soil 7. The versatility of bamboo as a natural building material.

8. All the materials discussed in various presentations were my key takeaway that I will study and convey to others. Moreover, the series of trainings offered for bamboo in coming months were also a noticeable key takeaway for me.

9. The negative impact made materials have to the planet and why we need to switch to using natural building materials on saving 10. Got me thinking about the use of natural building materials and interested to learn a lot more 11. There is still a lot of urbanisation that would take place in Africa and it is important that the resultant carbon footprint is checked to avoid depletion of the environment. There is great satisfaction in the use of natural materials in that apart of the in being environmentally friendly with limited embodied energy the resultant buildings are incredibly beautiful.

12. Follow standard practices of vernacular material 13. We need to adopt local natural materials to achieve carbon neutrality.

14. Bamboo for construction.

15. Every speaker and every presentation was a key takeaway. But I keep in mind mostly the presentation for the Bamboo and the flexibility of this material.

16. The potential wider application of the new emerging materials 17. The versality of the use of various alternative building materials 18. Green building materials càn work well if people are educated on their sustainability.

19. To begin to use more sustainable building materials 20. Need for more accessible information & training on how to use the green building materials 21. The benefits of using sugarcrete as a cheaper alternative to concrete

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22. Although the natural materials presented was quite fascinating, they may not be practical in a small island environment where the material are scarce. It may also take a lot of convincing of Governments and insurance companies to get insurance for nontraditional materials like steel and concrete.

23. I would say my main takeaway was the many materials used in built environment and the sustainable materials used to create them.

24. Locally available material should be considered when selecting material for construction. Not only that can reduce the building material importation costs, with will create jobs for the locals.

Moreover, those local available materials often best response to the local climate.

25. Importance of understanding diversity of emergent building materials and their positive impact upon the construction industry.

26. The use of the left over from the Sugarcane 27. Seminar has a cross-continent perspective that is highly inspiring.

28. Reworking/ Addressing the Political Economy of Building Materials.

Local is good enough for Local 29. Designers should spend more time understanding how to design and build using natural materials 30. New natural building material Sugarcrete, codes for natural building materials.

31. Use of natural materials for construction 32. Sustainable movements 33. Variety types of sustainable building materials for low rise building 34. We need to always think 'out of the box' on construction materials 35. The effectiveness and affordability of making aesthetically pleasing spaces at affordable costs 36. There are materials out there whose potential is not being explored to great lengths and it is up to us as an upcoming generation of architects to explore these avenues and share the found knowledge with the world.

37. explore and be open to sustainable building solutions 38. The progress of Rwanda's built environment in adopting these systems/ materials. It's all about policy and commitment by the governments and their agencies.

39. A lot of information can be distributed in a short time.

40. Natural and new materials 41. The use of bamboo to create interesting structures 42. A good initiative to focus on alternate form of building materials. unaware so much research taking place

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43. Contributions of natural materials to the Chain Supply and economies 44. i loved when they went to the details about the various materials and how they used them in the projects handled 45. Innovative materials such as Sugarcrete I hadn't heard of them.

46.It’s amazing how local vegetation such as bamboo has been used in storey building.

47. It is great to see alternative materials being promoted, make the regulation fit the material not the material fit the regulations. How do we get governments on board?

48. Architects have to do more for natural building materials to be embraced by both the public and governments 49.Picked great interest in sugacrete and its potential impact in the built environment 50. We need to engage local communities and improved local materials, methods and techniques to create a sustainable future.

51. Explore natural materials for building in my area and apply them in my projects.

52. The opportunity to speak with each other rather than at each other.

53. Encouraged to pursue use of natural materials again as an architect, it’s possible, it’s a planet saver, creates structures that are more in tune with the environment: Business as usual has to be questioned.

54. Use of natural building materials for providing solution to the climate change is very important. The application of sugarcrete was a highlight to me 55. that natural building materials can be used for safe, durable and aesthetically appealing public buildings.

56. Natural materials use still a long way to go for daily use. Maybe not enough trains in that area for architects and engineers.

57. Natural building materials are an untapped solution to providing sustainable developments and overall reduction of the carbon footprint globally. While a lot of research has already gone into "the advantages that Natural building materials provide" a very sluggish progress remains on the adaptation of the research. How to propel this agenda in policy making, branding and general acceptance still remains a challenge.

58. Sugarcrete was a new information for me.

59. The importance of Natural materials to ensure we take care of environment through our designs and its implementation on site.

60.Natural materials can replace conventional structural materials 61. We need to adopt the use of natural building materials

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62. The different building materials available in lieu or concrete or less use of.

63. the innovations in the use of natural materials with low carbon footprint.

64.question why? Like why are global concrete industries impacting value and mortgages in India?!?

65. What needs to be altered to motivate practitioners to embrace the extensive use of natural building materials 66. As captioned in the Event Title 67. I can play my part in lowering of carbon emissions.

68. Change of the mindset of persons starting with their childhood 69. Technological development for use of natural materials 70. diversity 71. Local and natural materials are as equally if not superior to what we may consider conventional building materials.

72. Materials 73. Actually none.

74. The average building is not designed/constructed to last as long as the Colosseum. We must continue to find affordable, accessible natural building materials that work.

75. That the humble 'mud hut' can actually be quite large and impressive structures 76. The need to review Architecture Curriculum in tertiary institutions to promote the use of locally available materials 77. Informing 78. We all have a duty to work at changing the average mindset and move from the "We have always done it this way and it works" attitude.

79. How to Motivate owners, NGOs, to use such methods of construction, Time frame required, intervention in Building Code for such building type.

80. Natural building materials are as good as cement if not better 81. A very refreshing approach and content to reflect on elements around natural materials and what other colleagues are applying/researching.

82. The different innovative, alternative building materials that are being research, introduced and implemented. The importance of adapting new building materials and how using this material can affect the built environment.

83. I am encouraged to keep working with and improve engagement with natural building materials.

84. Need to consciously explore materials based on nature and location.

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Are there any other subjects you would like us to cover?

1. If there are any other subjects you would like us to cover, please enter them below: 2. Relation between Sociology & Architecture.

3. Keep up with the sustainability topics, maybe some work in relation to regenerative design.

4. Architecture as a Business in Emerging Economies 5. Environmental Law and Policy from a global perspective.

6. will communicate in the future.

7. Alternative construction materials 8. Resilience in Buildings & Human Settlements, Rural Architecture & Planning 9. AI as it relates to architects 10. History and heritage 11. Efforts of commonwealth in other countries other than Rwanda 12. Cross border practice 13. Construction Law 14. Energy efficiency in Buildings and more on innovative materials 15. The future of 3D printing in housing programme 16. Hurricane Designs, Tropical Architecture 17. climate resilient adaptation techniques 18. The used of the natural material in its original state/form verse processed state. Example Sand Vs Glass.

19. Adaptive Reuse, Cultural & Intangible Heritage, Urban Renewal 20. Designing Houses to beat the Heat 21. Nature Based Solutions 22. Retrofitting of buildings 23. GIS and Navigation Planning with urban sense 24. using process of sustainable building materials in high rise building.

25. BIM and how it has been localized in various Commonwealth countries 26. Natural materials, processes 27. Social and economic sustainability and their integration into design 28. managing small architectural firms in the competitive market 29. Project performance cycles and Waste management

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30. Vernacular architecture, project management 31. Excellent 32. Low-cost housing 33. Use of local materials and their limitations in terms of maintenance and input of technology for improvement.

34. Introduction of natural materials curriculum to Architecture in institutions.

35. More on the natural materials and sustainable architecture 36. Subjects like if sustainable materials are really sustainable when we are comparing the extraction of raw materials, processing and manufacturing and transportation to sites vs conventional materials 37. The business of architecture 38. the commercialization of natural building materials for them to be embraced by the major building suppliers 39. Architecture that fosters health 40. How to deal with the Influence of Politics in Architecture 41. Compression based structures 42. Implementation of Building Maintenance Policy and Legislation is very weak in Kenya 43. Maybe we could look at the potential use of rocks to construct buildings in Africa 44. exploring traditional setup of a home i.e. standalone rooms by function as opposed to self-contained house of modern days.

45. Similar subjects on materials especially natural materials would be useful 46.Reclamation initiatives and options available for land adversely affected by the use of natural building materials for infrastructural developments.

47. Digitisation in Heritage Conservation 48. I would like to suggest the arrangement of additional events focused on the design issues in multi-story residences, particularly from the perspectives of social and environmental sustainability.

These topics are crucial as we strive to create living spaces that are both liveable and sustainable.

49.I would like to explore materials and challenges regarding sustainable design with respect to Pakistan 50. The effects of plastics on our oceans and what being done about it.

51. Green Building Practices in Architecture 52. urban regeneration and maintenance 53. Effective techniques for utilizing natural building Materials 54. Architecture for community

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55. The new age of architectural practice 56. Green water management 57. solar power 58. Integration of vernacular architecture in achieving Sustainability goals 59. The impact of the increase in strength of hurricanes on building 60.A joint program with CAP, RTPI RIBA UNCHS etc of current topics 61. not yet 62. A.I. for the Commonwealth - some African countries are getting left behind technological advances 63. Smart Buildings 64.Green buildings 65. Alternative Energy and how to make them work.

66. Times tested building methods 67. Social impact projects in relation with Climate action - Transformation and Impact.

68. Conservation of built heritage 69. Making architectural education reciprocal in the Commonwealth 70. AI in architecture Please feel free to enter any further comments here.

1. Please arrange more programs like this one.

2. The tech let you down a bit with zoom, but very engaging speakers and good format. Maybe 1 less speaker a bit more time for a speaker.

3. Making wide used natural materials affordable to the low-income earners 4. Thank you for the informative and eye-opening webinar. Looking forward to more.

5. The amount of time was just right, though it became more interesting at the Q&A session 6. Great presentation!

7. I would be very happy to conduct an elaborate in- person training course at Pakistan inviting all the presenters. Many Congratulations to Peter for organising this extremely important and productive session.

Well done 8. Perhaps the speakers could be given just a bit more time for their presentations 9. The event was amazing 10. Thumbs up

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11. Poor reception on the Rwandese presentation. Hope the recording will be better 12. Thank you for this event 13. Green building materials can be integrated i to developing countries, but they must come in at a lower cost than conventional building materials. Lower Cost and the educating of people on their benefits would boost the use of green materials.

14. Keep reaching out with more engaging sessions 15. Need for a larger unified regional voice to announce our prioritising of green strategies 16. It was a good webinar, and I am looking forward to more of these events in the future 17. One of the questions that was asked during the presentation was why we need that the building/structures to last a long time. The structures or building that last a long time often represent the way of life of many cultures that they housed. To have them last a long time is to preserve the identity of the culture through it architecture and it build environment.

18. Looking forward for future presentations like this…

19. Durability is the core issue.

20. Is it possible for CAA to help with Curriculum Review Templates that can help collaboration for capacity building??

21. NBMs need to be marketed.

22. it was a great webinar and need more like this.

23. A challenge we always have in Kenya is the perception of our clients on some building materials 24. Standards and codes should be revised to include such technologies. I appreciate the CAA team for organising this event.

25. Thank you for the opportunity to attend such enlightening sessions at no cost. It is quite encouraging for me. Hope to keep learning from you throughout my career journey as an environmental designer and hopefully soon a registered architect. Thank you once again.

26. The education syllabus really has to change for us to start adopting these technologies and alternative building materials.

27. Can we contact the presenters please? Can you provide us with the contract details? Thank you. Excellent event 28. No further comments 29. Congratulations to CAA for highlighting and initiating such useful lectures by those who are actually researching and helping in making such materials work.

30. Great program. Look forward to more of such webinars 31. thank you for organising and sharing

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32. Does CAA any exchange programs, like architects from say Zambia where i am going to see some of these building (bamboo designed) just to appreciate what these great architects have designed or worked on.

33. the presenters did an excellent job in putting across their ideas in a short space of time. i wonder if there is opportunities to allow break out rooms so more detail can be explored?

34. well done to all 35. It was a great and valuable session overall, Thanks!

36. Keep on doing the work.

37. Congratulations, keep up the great work, and thank you for having me 38. We could perhaps have follow-up sessions, which focus on just one of them in detail, for example, maybe the rammed earth, or the light earth, bamboo etc. This will enable the assessment of how feasible it is in our different regions despite circumstances.

39. Loved the session. Maybe could have been broken up into a few sessions rather than one. Say bamboo whole session, soils another etc.

So much good stuff and maybe not enough time 40. Would the CAA initiate, if it has not already done so, a certification system that acclaims projects and infrastructural initiatives that have used natural building materials?

41. I suggest including 3 topics in detail instead of 5 with brief presentation 42. i would really like to see is these natural materials can be used as nonload bearing walls in multi-story buildings instead of glass, steel and concrete.

43. Please keep it going it helps exploring sustainable ideas for mother earth 44. Good topic 45. Excellent presentation and food for thought 46.It was a good session and i would encourage CAA to continue educating practitioners 47. Thank you for organizing.

48. Keep up!

49.While the session was great, there were moments where some presenters seemed to drop off or lose sound. I know this is all rather technical but maybe next time it could be smoother in delivery. Great work though. Loved the topic and the presenters.

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50. Questions 1-4 were difficult to answer with only 2 choices as the indicated responses are not what I really would like to say if there were more response options. Therefore the responses from 1-4 are “may be " or neither yes nor No or not yes and no. I had a difficult time listening and viewing due to technical disturbances where the screen was stagnant or inaudible or blank without slides. However, as you mentioned some topics at the start, I felt those topics would be interesting as sustainable and efficient use of natural materials in the natural habitat is an important aspect of sustainable development. I thought the session was supposed to be a CPD event. The program presented mentioned several speakers, but I heard Architect Keeble and CAA President and some of the others were inaudible though some presentation material s were in tiny for almost illegible.

However, I like to participate in programs relevant to my field.

However, the Meeting Id got an invalid response from Zoom several times, 51. especially loved the presentation by Christian Benimana, with the diagrams and schematics. Architectural services are evolving.

52. Great work, thanks!

53. Commendable initiative 54. The team was well versed in their individual subject 55. Just thank you for organising.

56. Common standards and procedures for professional registration across the commonwealth

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Appendix I, Certificate of Participation Attached is a copy of the Certificate of Participation that was sent to each participant upon completion of the event.

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is hereby granted to

{{Name}} To certify their attendance at an event on the subject of

Making Natural Building Materials Work {{TotalTime}}-minute participation, 25 June 2024

Peter Oborn CAA President

For further information: info@commonwealtharchtect.org commonwelatharchitects.org

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