Selection of Building Materials towards Sustainable Building Construction in Urban Tanzania

Building materials are essential components of building construction. In urban Tanzania, sustainable building construction process has been a problem for the low-income households for years. The trend to prioritise the desire for application of innovative materials without a professional analysis contributes to this major setback. On the other hand, technically uninformed people with minimum knowledge on building construction are indirectly convinced to adopt building designs and approaches which are not sustainable, and in the long run they become economically not viable. Meanwhile, professionals dealing with housing issues are not taking serious consideration to this trend. Construction industry experts involved in housing production process use design solutions and building materials that are not appropriate for local use, thus, leading to an undesired situation. In view of this, there is a need for Tanzania to consider revising different issues and factors related to sustainable building, including materials, standards and guidelines. This paper discusses the issues on proper selection and use of building materials towards sustainable building construction in a developing country like Tanzania.