Home ›› 13 Aug 2022 ›› Front
Despite a mammoth demand for traditionally burnt clay bricks, its alternative construction material eco-friendly concrete blocks are gaining more popularity nowadays because of their low cost, modern structure and easy application.
But the sector is developing at a snail’s pace due to a lack of ample support from the government, say industry people.
Researchers have said that building construction expenditure could be brought down by 25-30 per cent with the use of eco-friendly materials.
To ensure the sector’s sustainable development, entrepreneurs have urged the government to provide policy support, facilities and incentives to purchase the machines to manufacture the eco-friendly blocks from soil dredged from the bottom of rivers, sand, cement and stone.
“There is a huge potential for eco-friendly blocks in the country. I am setting up a big factory in the Birulia area of Savar. At least 20,000 blocks would be manufactured here per day. Production will start within September this year,” said AZM Obaidur Rahman, the managing director of Rockvill Construction and Developments Ltd.
He said this sector will get a boost soon for being an environment-friendly and low-cost one. Now, awareness should be created among the people.
Concord Group Managing Director Shahriar Kamal said they started privately producing the blocks first in Bangladesh in 1998. “We have already used the blocks in over 200 buildings. We are yet to get any complaints from clients or face any problems.
“In three of our factories, around 80,000 blocks are produced every day. We plan to use some modern technology in the factories soon and increase our production to meet the clients’ demands,” he added.
Shahriar said the durability of eco-friendly concrete blocks and traditional bricks is almost the same. The top 20 real estate companies are now using eco-friendly blocks for construction around the country.
Building Technology & Ideas Ltd (bti) has been producing and using the concrete hollow blocks since 2016, Engineer Md Kawsar Hossen, a senior executive at the company’s Building Products Department, told The Business Post.
“We produce about 25,000 blocks on average per day at our Dhamrai factory. From October this year, the figure will rise to 45,000 per day as we have set up new machines to meet the growing demand,” he said.
One of the country’s top realtors, bti produces hollow blocks weighing between 9-10 kg per piece and solid ones weighing between 9-14 kg.
“We produce the blocks based on clients’ demand. We are now selling 100mm blocks at Tk 42 per piece and 110mm ones at Tk 44. All products are tested in our lab and by BUET engineers. So, our product’s quality and its longevity are good,” Kawsar added.
Saying bti is using the blocks in 70 of its projects, he mentioned that the demand for concrete hollow blocks is increasing among clients since they are more durable and modern structured, environment-friendly and easily applicable, heat and soundproof, adaptable to climate change, salinity free and absorbs less water.
Less construction costs
Talking to The Business Post, Housing and Building Research Institute’s (HBRI) Research Officer Md Ismail Hossain said the expenditure on building construction could be brought down by 25-30 per cent with the use of such eco-friendly materials instead of traditional burnt bricks.
“During construction, it takes less number of blocks compared to bricks and there is also no need to plaster the building wall if you use the blocks,” he added.
He said that 10 types of blocks are currently produced in the country based on design and weight. Of them, solid, hollow and pavement blocks are being used mostly in construction.
The actual size of a solid block is 200x190x60 mm, hollow is 390x190x190, and pavement is 200x160x60. Their durability is around 100 years.
Ismail said, “We generally make blocks for research purposes. We also sell it if someone places an order with us. The price of per piece solid block is Tk 10, hollow Tk 35, and pavement Tk 15.
“We have made around 2 lakh pieces of solid blocks, 1 lakh hollow ones and 50,000 pavement blocks at HBRI between 2015 and May this year.”
He also informed that there are around 500 factories that manufacture eco-friendly blocks across the country. Of them, bti, Concord, Mir Concrete Block, Meghna, and Rupshi Concrete Products Ltd are the major producers and suppliers.
More than 5,000 people currently work or/and are directly involved in this industry, which has seen an annual growth of 10 per cent, he added.
“We use 700 grams cement and 2.8 kg sand to make a 1:4 ratio solid brick. HBRI’s production capacity is around 60,000 blocks every day. But, based on demand, we make 10,000 blocks per day at a factory,” said HBRI Research Fellow Sajjad Hossain.
Incentives necessary
Bangladesh Brick Manufacturing Owners Association Secretary General Asadur Rahman Khan said there are around 8,000 brick kilns around the country where 82,000 crore bricks are manufactured each year.
“We will divert to eco-friendly blocks from existing burnt clay bricks business if the government provides facilities and incentives, especially long term loan facility to purchase the manufacturing machines, one of which costs around Tk50 lakh to Tk1 crore.
“The government will also have to help the entrepreneurs to create a big block market,” he said.
According to a Department of Environment (DoE) report of 2015, around 22.71 billion burnt bricks are made of topsoil at 6,893 brick fields in Bangladesh every year. Around 284 crore cubic foot soil, 5 million tonnes of coal and 3 million tonnes of wood are required to make these bricks.
On average, around 15 million tonnes of harmful greenhouse gases are emitted every year by the kilns during the manufacturing process.
Environmentalists, however, claim the number of brick kilns across the country is around 10,000, and half of them are located around Dhaka city.
HBRI’s Ismail said, “As Bangladesh is going for faster industrialisation, we may see a soil crisis soon. Around 40 lakh housing is required each year around the country. Over 6.5 crore tonnes of soil from farmlands are used to make the bricks every year, which is a very alarming issue.”
Former Bangladesh Institute of Planners general secretary Dr Adil Mohammed Khan said the government has a roadmap but there is no proper implementation of it in the projects.
“The government should work on creating awareness and maintaining product quality and promote the private sector that’s manufacturing the blocks. This will help achieve the SDGs by 2030,” he added.
Govt to go green by 2025
“Even though various countries started using eco-friendly blocks many years ago, their use in Bangladesh officially started in 2015. But the government has planned to use the blocks in all of its projects within 2025,” said Ahsan Habib, the senior research officer of HBRI which operates under the Housing and Public Works Ministry.
According to a DoE gazette issued in November 2019, the use of concrete blocks in government projects has been made mandatory as the burnt clay bricks pollute the environment and destroy a huge amount of farmlands.
The gazette stated that the government had aimed to use 10 per cent of eco-friendly blocks in the 2019-20 financial year. The share of blocks’ use will rise to 20 per cent in FY2020-21, 30 per cent in FY2021-22, 60 per cent in 2022-23, 80 per cent in 2023-24, and 100 per cent in 2024-25.
“Currently, we use 100 per cent concrete blocks in all HBRI projects. But we don’t know the percentage of blocks being used in projects under other departments or ministries,” Ahsan added.
Environment, Forest and Climate Change minister Md Shahab Uddin recently said that all government establishments will ensure 100 per cent use of eco-friendly blocks within 2025 as per the new directive and all brick kilns that produce clay bricks will close gradually.
