The Pasig River system runs through five cities and four municipalities and it connects two large, important bodies of water; Manila Bay in the west and Laguna de Bay in the east (the largest freshwater lake in the country and connects 30 suburban towns to the metropolitan center). Before the colonial period, the Pasig River was the main point of entry for international trade into what is now the City of Manila. Advancements in land transportation have changed the landscape considerably.
Traditionally, the municipalities upstream were fishing communities relying mostly on the Pasig River and Laguna de Bay, while the settlements downstream experienced rapid urbanization with the influx of trade from other provinces and countries. Before pollution virtually extinguished aquatic life, the whole 25km of the Pasig River between Laguna de Bay served as a habitat for 25 varieties of fish and 13 different types of aquatic plant. Today, there are only six species of fish and two types of plants left that can tolerate the polluted water. The situation, however, is not irreversible. During the rainy months of June to December each year, fish from Laguna de Bay are carried by floodwaters to the Pasig River. The flushing effect of the increased water levels in Laguna de Bay increase the dissolved oxygen content of the river to a level that increases its potential for some aquaculture activities. Unfortunately, during dry summer months of March to May, the river is virtually dead because the water becomes stagnant with the much reduced flow.
The banks of Pasig River are lined by squatter colonies consisting of approximately 12, 000 households. About 2, 000 live in houses on stilts or under bridges, in sub- human conditions, where they present a danger to themselves and to the vessels using the river. The settlements have no sanitary facilities and their liquid and solid wastes are discharged straight into the river.
The various subcultures existing in Metro Manily result in many problems that reflect the socio economic characteristics of the city. With the continuous dumpin of wastes, the river beds has become more and more silted with organic matter and non- biodegradable rubbish. This results in serious flooding along the river, affecting nearby communities and carrying polluted water the the households living close to the river.
Increasing urban migration and economic difficulties
From 1988 to 1990, the rate of migration into the squatter colonies along the riverbank was estimated at 73 per cent. A steady influx of migration into the metropolis has resulted in the congestion and exploitation of land and, ultimately, the Pasig River. Increasing poverty in the rural areas has driven rural people to migrate to Metro Manila to seek better income opportunities. The river banks are the most logical areas for new settlements because many of the other squatter colonies in the metropolis are already overpopulated.
The economic problems experienced by the government have prevented it from providing better housing facilities for the poor. Similarly they have been unable to address the deficient infrastructure or to introduce anti- pollution measure and this has resulted in the present state of the river and its environment.
Measuring the environmental impact of building materials
When choosing materials, several factors have to be considered, and it is unlikely that absolute rules can be given for all situations.
*energy required to produce material;
*CO2 emissions resulting from the material's manufacture;
*impact on local environment resulting from the extration of the material
*toxicity of the material
*transportation of the material at the end of its useful life
Factors affected by material choice and design decisions include
*location and detailing of an architectural element;
*maintenance required and the materials necessary for that maintenance;
*contribution that the material makes to reducing the building's environmental impact (e.g insulation)
*flexibility of a design to accommodate changing uses over time;
*lifetime of the material and its potential for reuse if the building is demolished
The following headings for comparing the environmental impact of materials, used in the Green Building Handbook (Woolley et al., 1997)
*Environmental impact owing to production:
*energy use;
*resource depletion
*global warming
*acid rain;
*toxins
*Environmental impact owing to use
*potential for reuse
*health hazard
notes:
1. Jez, the entire book SHOULD be in APA format.
2. Sustainable solar housing (strategies and solutions) - Edited by Robert Hastings and Maria Wall ---
Sustainable Architecture is more than energy efficient or zero- emission architecture. it must adapt to and respect its environment in the broader context of "milieu". This encompasses tha natural, ecological, bio- economic, cultural and social setting. A successful solution must address the following principles, taken from the 1992, (WCED 1992)
* Shared but differentiated responsibilities: This shared responsibilities is shared among individuals, institutions and countries, and the ecosystems that surround them. These responsibilities inevitably bind all people.
* Intra and inter generated energy
* Integration of the componenets of sustainable development (environment, society, economy and politics): to achieve sustainable development, protection of ther environment must be an integral part of the development process and cannot be considered on its own; it is important to have a cross sector approach. Rethinking the ties between the environment, society, politics and sectors. This successful approach is both timely and effective.
* Precaution acknowledgement of scientific uncertainty: we must limit hypothetical or potential risks. A cooperative, integrated approach is a tool that helps to balance the various components of development without risking a loss for future generations.
Applying principles to planning
Shared responsibilty
All spaces are collective good for which society, and particularly architects, are responsible. The architecture must responsible respond to the various scales of the public space.
Intra and intergenerational equity
A certain type of architecture need to be able to provide housing to all, with respect to bith individual and collective well- being. A minimal density is necessary to ensure access for everyone to health facilities, schools, the work place, cultural events, trade, points oftransportation, etc. The built environment need to be articulated to solve this in the both dimensions of space and time. The heritage, both natural and cultural handed down from generation must be respected in this process.
Integration of components of sustainable development
Sustainable architecture entails, environmental, social, economic and political dimensions. Sustainable architecture must ensure individual comfort, while also preserving ecosystems in natural areas. The architecture must operate at individual levels (functionalism) and community levels (mixed functions).
Precaution and acknowledgement of scientific uncertainty
The design should be adaptable and designed to meet the needs of future occupants. Buildings should incorporate natural materials, daylighting, passive cooling techniques and a rational use of passive sources of energy. These existing buildings can often be utilized to offset the impact of new structures.
Participation and good governance
The idea is to improve public awareness of environmental, social, economic and political problems at the scales of neighborhood, town, territory, country or the planet. At issue is the articulation between the individual and the community. The challenge is to develop viable public infrastructures (housing, schools, hospitals, shops, cultural areas, etc) to promote individual development, participation, and an enhanced community life.
IN CHAPTER 1, FIX YOUR OBJECTIVES, REORGANIZE THE FLOW, DEFINITION OF TERMS MUST BE THROUGH A DICTIONARY BOOK OR AN ARCHITECTURAL BOOK---- NOT IN INTERNET.
IN CHAPTER 2, FINISH THE RESEARCH REGARDING REQUIREMENTS,AND TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES.
IN CHAPTER 3, ANALYZE THE METHODOLOGIES, AND THE FOCUS. YOU NEED TO HAVE A FOCUS BY THIS TIME. PLEASE FOCUS.
JEZ, YOU HAVE TO GO TO PASIG, FIND ENGR. CAPARAS. PLEASE, MAKE AN OUTLINE OF YOUR QUESTION SO THAT YOU'RE ALREADY PREPARED WHEN YOU INQUIRE.
The whole building design and procurement process is very complex and encompasses development and construction from the urban and regional scale down to that of the individual dwelling. The involvement of local communities in formulating a criteria against which development is judged, and in approval access can be fragmented at the present time and this means that single emotive issues can sometimes dominate to the exclusion of an overall understanding.
According to the book sustainability and profit, series of actions that should be included in strategic planning activities:
*coordination of environmental, economic, and social requirements
*embodiment of approaches to issue which can operate over time scales set at short, medium and long term (up to 30 years); and formulation of range of overall objectives linking different scales of development and influences
*involvement of a wide group of stakeholders, particularly including local communities
*inclusion of assessment of performance, targets and goal setting, and feeding back of results
*ensuring that the over searching issues of: built environment, energy, transport, water and wastes are addresses in a coherent manner to avoid conflicts
A. Coordination of environmental, economic and social requirements
Environmental Requirements.
Economic Requirements. Ensuring that the housing solutions of the informal settlers are sustainable is important. On the part of the re- settlers, sustainability means that their new homes must be affordable, income adequate is maintained, and access to essential services like transport, education and health care is adequate. For the government, sustainability means, to the extent possible, costs are recovered. The government has to recoup its initial investment so that it can then make use of these resources to build more homes for other informal settlers.
Social Requirements.
B. Embodiment of approaches
Short term
Medium term
Long term
C. Performance, Targets and Goal Settings
D. Housing
A design quality has to be pursued through:
1. At individual level everyone must be prepared to assume more responsibility for the quality of both housing and the environment;
2. Suppliers of housing and housing services should adopt a far more consumer- oriented attitude and improve the information supply to the public via quality marks and certificates;
3. Governmental authorities must ensure that the public is duly involved in the plan development phase
Economic functionalities, cultural diversity and social equality
The environment needs to attract a certain number of businesses and jobs into the area. Employers and entrepreneurs stated that the quality of housing is an important reason in choosing to invest a business. The second is the quality of build environment and the third reason is the urban structure and the architectural design.
E. Public Market
F. Day Care Center
G. Health Center
H. Multipurpose Hall
I. Schools and Colleges
J. Water
The location of water in relation to the surface of land is a determining factor in type of water supply, building location, surface drainage, vegetation, and so on. The quantity of water affects seasonal allocation, conservation techniques, waste water treatment, population and the like.
K. Energy
Each year, over three and a half times the energy needed to satisfy all the power requirements of an energy efficient household falls on the roof of practically every dwelling.
Solar power, with its democratic distribution though out the world, is for the people to consume. The quality and quantity of solar energy is sufficient for human life support in most life zones.
The passive solar concept is to allow nature to operate the systems with a minimum of mechanical interference. The potential for heating, cooling, and powering dwellings, factories, and office buildings by non mechanical means exists.
Passive acceptability requires insight into what makes people comfortable. Usually people associate comfort with relative loss or gain of body heat. However, the sense of comforting involves many factors besides temperature alone.
Solar heating systems, whether active or passive, act in much the same way. The sun’s heat is gathered by solar collectors of the structure, transmitted to the heat storage mass, held until needed, and then distributed to the spaces for warmth.
The use of materials reflects another facet of the passive attitude. It takes over three hundred times more commercial energy to produce a concrete block equal in volume to a sun dried adobe block.
It is conceivable to create a structure of integral thermal storage mass with an adaptable transmittive/ insulative weather skin that will accept or reject and automatically store all externally incedent heat energy or internally generated energy.
A building that passively utilizes the energy of the sun for year- round space conditioning involves three basic principles:
-it must be designed to accept or reject solar heat when called for
-it must have the thermal integrity to maintain internal comfort despite the range of climatic forces acting on its weather skin
It must incorporate the ability to retain the presence or absence of heat within. With passive solar design the approach is different. Conventional heating is relegated to the status of back up or auxiliary. The first concern is to design a structure that minimizes heat loss to the outside and eliminates wasted heat loss. After the natural potential has been optimized, back up heating of active solar storage, wood stoves or conventional heating can be sized for full tilt.
The way in which a building intrudes upon the landscape and atmosphere will determine its thermal integrity. Each structure presents a profile to the world and the weather. Generally, the simpler the profile, the less its exposure. A well insulated building with excessive profile can lose more heat per volume than a poorly insulated structure with a simple profile.
Profile is a combination of style, logic, structure, ego, function, and volume. Each building that is to have thermal integrity should reflect the climatic foces working n the land where it is sited. If a building is well designed, its profile will blen with the landscape and accommodate the weather.
Minimizing heat loss is one reason, and an important one, for simplifying exterior form. Minimum exposure to north side where the sun never shines, burrowing into the surface of the earth to reduce outside surface area, orienting away from strong, and clustering structures—all of these help reduce heat loss and satisfy an intuitive, yet often neglected, need for graceful repose on the land.
Shading
Shading the exterior, interior, and surrounding areas of a structure is the first line of action to reduce the temperature build- up due to ambient air and solar incidence. By limiting the amount of heat buildup in the thermal mass of a building, the job of cooling is reduced.
Planting of trees
The planting of trees, bushes, or vines in appropriate places can adequately shade structures in many climates. When attempting to cut solar gain into a building, it is important to interrupt the sun’s energy before it strikes the glass or walls. Once the heat has penetrated the envelope of a structure, it must be removed from the interior which may require additional unnecessary steps.
Evergreens planted to the north of the buildings act as buffers. Further, they act as evaporative coolers, lowering the temperature of air passing through branches and needles. They also shade the ground around the buildings, preventing heat buildup in the earth thus modifying the microclimate.
Low shrubs, bushes, and grasses are advantageously planted around building where a view is desired. They reduce reflection of solar energy form roadways, walks, patios, sand, or bodies of water. These shrubs, when watered in the morning, will cool air passing by, evaporatively cooling the area around a structure and reducing secondary heating effects.
L. Transport
M. Wastes
N. Involvement of a wide group stakeholder
1. Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC)
PRRC Facilitated the relocation of informal settlers along the banks of the Pasig River to secure and affordable socialized housing project in:
Project Area : Approx. Php 288,888,888.00
Standard housing and lot package : Php 225,000.00
Average Lot Size : 36 - 40 square meters
with the following community facilities:
Public Market, Day Care Center, Health Center, Multi-purpose Hall, 20 classroom for Elementary, additional 6 classrooms for High School and 24 for College, School Buildings.
Riverbanks Development
After relocation of informal settlers comes from the development of the riverbanks into linear parks, river walks and promenades that are accessible to the public and serves as buffer zone and protection between the river and adjacent communities. A total of 24.6 kilometers of linear parks have been completed in the cities of Manila, Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig and taguig.
Government has to recoup its initial investment so that it can then make use of these resources to build more homes for informal settlers.
A. Local
Resettlement Action Plan
The following principles were adopted by PRRC/HRC for the planning and implementation of the RAP:
* Stakeholders Participation
The primary stake holders are the informal settlers, national government, and the local governments. Other stake holders include the private sector, NGOs and financial institutions. Multi stake holder participation ensures that the interest and contribution of each are recognized and efforts are exerted to identify common denominators and achievable goals.
*Long- Term Solutions
The primary stake holders are for long term solutions rather than those of immediate impact but with short lasting effects. Due to the high cost of land, in- city relocation would be more expensive than put of the city, but in- city relocation has the advantage of keeping people close to the source of income and studies have shown that, unless alternative livelihood opportunities are available at or near the relocation site, up to 30% of those relocated far from livelihood sources return to the city.
*Sustainability
Ensuring that the housing solutions of the informal settlers are sustainable is important. On the part of the re- settlers, sustainability means that their new homes must be affordable, income adequate is maintained, and access to essential services like transport, education and health care is adequate. For the government, sustainability means, to the extent possible, costs are recovered. The government has to recoup its initial investment so that it can then make use of these resources to build more homes for other informal settlers.
