The alternative bricks and blocks developed by the EU-funded SWITCH-Asia ‘Promoting Sustainable Building in Bangladesh’ (SusBuild) project has gained popularity in the areas of Bangladesh where it is introduced. The raw material and production are greener than traditional burned clay bricks. They are made of dredged river sand, stone dust and a small percentage of cement, rather than agricultural top soil and do not need coal or wood to dry.

The SusBuild project is engaged in contributing to the delivery of what Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka and other urban hubs urgently need: an option to cut air pollution and energy use from traditional brick kilns as well as reduce overall construction costs. Many people benefited from the technology transfer and capacity building activities conducted under the project. They have participated in trainings on alternative construction technologies for masons and now have ideas on how to boost the acceptability of the new material: model constructions using alternative bricks.

SusBuild aims at offering environment-friendly and affordable building material to the construction sector market. Targeting manufacturers, the project develops business models to ensure the upscaling of green brick production. When necessary, the project links businesses to financial institutions to avail of initial business support. To stimulate demand for alternative bricks, the project engages with potential house builders, real estate developers and individual homeowners. The acceptability of the new bricks is a pre-condition for market penetration.

The project targets a wide range of stakeholders, including masons, sub-contractors, civil engineers, architects, urban planners and policymakers. Through the project’s awareness raising activities, judicial experts and policymakers can gain a better understanding of existing policy gaps in both the building code and the brick manufacturing act.

Working closely with the Government, the SWITCH-Asia project is expected to contribute to the implementation of the new Brick Manufacturing and Brick Kiln Establishment (Control) (Amendment) Act, aiming at encouraging the production and use of alternative bricks.

Reference: https://ec.europa.eu/