ABSTRACT
A rigorous damage assessment would define the reparability of the affected housing stock and the number of houses damaged beyond repair. The housing designs and building technologies used in reconstruction should be selected by taking into consideration local building practices and cultural, economic, and climatic conditions. The building sector has a severe environmental impact; it globally contributes to about half of the total energy consumption of high-income countries and is responsible for a major share of greenhouse gas emissions in low- and middle-income countries—with a contribution of 22% in the case of India. The heterogeneity, functionality, and beauty of traditional housing and habitats disappear behind official statistics, which indicate that 87% of the houses in coastal Tamil Nadu are so-called kachcha dwellings. In coastal Tamil Nadu, the thousands of families belonging to the castes traditionally involved in construction have been ignored and marginalized in the reconstruction process.
