Comfortable, financially-accessible bioclimatic buildings (COCLICO)

With the growing Senegalese population, the need for more housing is becoming increasingly important. Over coming years, the building sector will have to increase by 3.9% each year. Senegal - and particularly the municipality of Ndiob - faces a shortage of construction.

Furthermore, the region is affected by global warming with temperatures rising one-and-a-half times faster than in the rest of the world; a phenomenon that can only be worsened by increased construction and the resulting demand for energy.

The CoCliCo project looks into low-tech cooling solutions which align with people’s economic means, without forcing them to compromise on their comfort or resorting to fossil energy and refrigerants.

The project has 3 components:

• Co-construction of a model simulating the behaviour of bioclimatic buildings. This component draws on local data and low-tech low-cost solutions such as natural cooling systems, porous materials with good hygrothermal poten-tial, and greening.
• Constructing 3 types of building: a town hall, housing, and a market (food conservation). These types are part of a neighbourhood project seeking to take into account a bioclimatic approach suited to this scale.
• Measuring and evaluating the different performances of the buildings and initiating a quality and environmental certification approach to encourage the roll-out of these solutions.

• Placing on the market decent homes that are compatible with high temperatures and accessible to people lacking the necessary means to install conventional air conditioning.
• Use of local biosourced materials.
• Raising awareness among, and training local communities on the benefits and principles of bioclimatic buildings.
• Making available a simple and accessible approach that allows bioclimatic buildings to be designed appropriate to local conditions.
• Developing jobs for young people and creating sustainable jobs in the bioclimatic construction sector.

This project is innovative on a number of levels. The innovation is firstly technological: although the project rests on low-tech solutions, it relies on the mastery of the physical phenomena involved. An innovative simplified model for simulating the behav-iour of bioclimatic buildings in hot regions has therefore been developed. As results are obtained, this modelling tool allows for the optimisation of future bioclimatic designs. In addition, rather than seeking to transpose technical solutions imported from other countries, the project combines existing materials and traditional techniques.

The innovation is also social. The project has a community-based approach, involving those living in the local area. It brings a solution tailored to local needs and lifestyles, proposing building types appropriate to Senegalese social and cultural norms.