Innovative bricks and their economic spin-off

A part of the money we are trying to raise will be used for a small facility in the village of the Green Clinic. In this facility an innovative kind of environmentally friendly bricks will be created: the inter-locking compressed brick system. Special brick moulds and training for the local workers will come available through this separate project.

Inter-locking compressed brick system

This brick-creating facility will in the first place provide the Green Clinic with bricks for its walls. However, when the hospital is ready, the villagers can continue using this facility as an economic activity, at the same time contributing to sustainable building in this remote region.

The environmental friendly nature of this building method is in line with our objective to establish a ‘climate-smart’ facility. The advantages of this building method in bullet points:

It requires less cement (for block making, laying and plastering) and other building materials (like irons rods and beams).
These bricks regulate temperature, keeping the inside cool and thus reducing the need of energy to run a fan or AC.
Buildings constructed of these bricks are earthquake proof.
Implementing these bricks brings development of new skills to the community and possible job opportunities in the future.

This method is emerging in Ghana and offered by private construction companies as well as by the Department of Rural Housing. The desired strategy is collaborating with the Department of Rural Housing. They encourage this method for community development projects. Furthermore, partnering with the government also ensures that the project is well embedded and responsibilities are shared between the community and its partners, and the local governmental institutions.