The housing sector contributes significantly to the local economy but it is also becoming one of the most polluting sectors and a promoter of unsustainable living. Nepal’s population has increased to 26,494,505 over the past decade, according to a new census in 2011, with an annual growth rate of 1.35 percent. The total number of households has increased to 5,427,302 from 4,253,220 in 2001. The annual urban growth rate in Nepal is about 3.62% and about 17.7 percent of the total population currently resides in urban areas. It is estimated that 18% of total urban employment in Nepal is contributed by construction industries and there will be an additional need for 1 million urban houses from 2011-21 (UN-Habitat, 2011).

The sector imports most of its construction materials from its two big neighbors India and China, thus creating large carbon footprints. Brick one of the most used construction material in Nepal has a very high embodied energy level and to meet the need for 1 million housing, billions of bricks will be needed. Brick has been a mainstay of building construction throughout and continues to be one of the most favored building materials around the world and the urban and peri-urban centers of Nepal is not an exception. With sustainability becoming a basic requirement for all products and materials, conventional fire brick has come under increased scrutiny, in part due to the fossil fuel energy required to fire brick kilns and the associated CO2 emissions. Fertile topsoil is being used for brick making thereby lowering the earth’s surface and losing the fertile topsoil. It also has negative impacts on agricultural productivity and the national economy. Kathmandu Valley itself is losing soil at least 217,000 cubic meters of top fertile soil due to uncontrolled excavation to produce 117 million bricks per year. Cement and Steel, one of the important components of housing in the urban and peri-urban sectors have very high embodied energy. The increasing use of cement also has adverse impacts on the environment and the ecology. Cement sales have increased by 10% annually in 2013. In the modern era building of construction, bricks, cement, and steel are most common construction materials and this can be reduced by promoting low carbon construction materials such as hollow concrete blocks, soil cement blocks, etc.