Build up Nepal

Solution Pitch 

The Problem

Nepal is one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries. Its population, along with millions living in the South Asian plains, faces severe flooding due to climate change. Poor and low-income families urgently need disaster-resilient, affordable housing. Fired bricks are preferred but are responsible for significant CO2 emissions and air pollution.

The Solution

Build up Nepal is a social enterprise working to replace fired bricks with climate-friendly bricks and make safe houses affordable for all. Its ECO2Bricks are interlocking and made from construction and industrial waste, mixed with stabilizers and compressed in a machine, that reduce the cost of safe housing for low-income families in disaster-prone areas. It has developed an innovative, last-mile delivery model to bring the technology to scale and create self-sustaining enterprises that build affordable homes, generate jobs and save CO2 emissions year-on-year, without external funding.

Stats

60,365 lives affected as a result of 8,656 houses built and 3,417 jobs created by Build Up Nepal’s enterprises

Market Opportunity

Build Up Nepal’s chosen market segment is poor and low-income families in disaster-prone areas of Nepal. Its cost-effective, disaster-resilient technology is well-suited to this, with potential to scale to other disaster-affected countries in South Asia. It estimates Nepal’s market size at $500 million (50,000 houses per year between $5,000-20,000 each).

Organization Highlights

Build Up Nepal partnerships include:

• USAID Building Green: Private sector support co-financing Build Up Nepal’s growth efforts and eco-brick enterprises with the aim of replacing fired bricks. This partnership also includes R&D towards developing carbon-neutral bricks.
• DFAT
• CRS Nepal
• Tuki Nepal Society: Build Up Nepals worked with Tuki Nepal Society to reconstruct schools that were destroyed in recent earthquakes and/or floods. Over the past seven years, the duo has rebuilt nine schools and one health post.

Partnership Goals

Build up Nepal seeks:

• Expertise on green concrete and use of waste materials in construction as it works towards producing carbon neutral bricks and researching the mix of industrial ashes, fibers and limestone in its brick mix.  
• Build Up Nepal is seeking to build an advisory board to strengthen oversight, bring diverse professional experience to the table, and expand its international network to increase access to funding opportunities and expertise.