Green gold of Africa – Can growing native bamboo in Ethiopia become a commercially viable business?

2014 ◽  
Vol 90 (05) ◽  
pp. 628-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Böck

With concerns about climate change and the search for sustainable construction materials, significant attention is now being paid to Africa's natural resources. Ethiopia, known as Africa's political capital, has a rapidly expanding economy with increasing demand for new construction materials. Through public private partnerships projects the country is developing a sustainable business model to promote bamboo as a raw material. The subtropical zone of Ethiopia is home to approximately 65% of Africa's bamboo resources, an area of over 1 million hectares. Bamboo is potentially an ideal source of local, sustainable purpose-engineered building materials for growing cities not only in Ethiopia but across Africa. Production of conventional construction materials such as steel and concrete is expensive, highly energy intensive and unsustainable, requiring large quantities of water and is strongly dependent on imported raw materials. Bamboo is a renewable building material widely cultivated in Ethiopia but not yet utilized in modern construction. Structural Bamboo Products (SBP), similar to engineered wood products, have excellent potential to partially replace the use of more energy-intensive materials. Projects such as African Bamboo are taking steps in managing, cultivating and using Ethiopian bamboo species to help mitigate rapid deforestation in East Africa by creating alternative “wood” sources and sustainable business opportunities.

2019 ◽  
pp. 658-687 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. V. Ralegaonkar ◽  
M. V. Madurwar ◽  
V. V. Sakhare

Due to ever increasing demand for the conventional construction materials as well as an increase in agro-industrial by-products it is essential to reuse these materials. As a smart city solution this chapter briefs an overview for the application of alternate raw materials as a principal source for the development of sustainable construction materials. The potential application of the discussed raw materials is elaborated as cementitious material, the aggregates as well as alternative reinforcement material. To understand the process of application, sustainable masonry product development is discussed in detail. In order to evaluate the feasibility of the raw material, the necessary physico-chemical test evaluation methods are also briefed. The developed end product performance evaluation is also discussed by desired tests as recommended by standards. The chapter concludes with a positive note that reuse of agro-industrial by-products is a feasible solution for the smart city development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (08) ◽  
pp. 28-36
Author(s):  
Martina Zbašnik-Senegačnik ◽  
Ljudmila Koprivec

The built environment requires ever-increasing amounts of raw material resources and at the same time bears the responsibility for the resulting waste. Waste is generated throughout the life cycle. In the initial phases it is referred to as industrial waste, while during construction, reconstruction, and demolition it is called construction waste. Construction waste is most voluminous but it also has a great potential in circular economy that aims at the closed loop cycle where already used construction materials and components are recovered as raw materials. Sustainable building principles include four basic strategies, waste avoidance, construction materials and components re-use, continued use, and recycling. The possibility of construction waste treatment and its possible recovery in the building process depends on the type of prevailing materials that are contained in building elements as well as on detachability, separability and inseparability of structural joints and components. The architect plays a responsible role in decreasing the volume of construction waste as the conception of a building represents the key factor in sustainable construction waste management. Planning a construction with a good dismantling potential at the end of the building’s life cycle includes a number of factors such as the choice of building materials with a low environmental impact, the design of detachable composite materials and structures as well as the design of mono material structures. This article focuses on waste resulting from the built environment and discusses architectural concepts with a potential of reducing the volume of construction waste and its potential recovery as a construction resource.


Author(s):  
R. V. Ralegaonkar ◽  
M. V. Madurwar ◽  
V. V. Sakhare

Due to ever increasing demand for the conventional construction materials as well as an increase in agro-industrial by-products it is essential to reuse these materials. As a smart city solution this chapter briefs an overview for the application of alternate raw materials as a principal source for the development of sustainable construction materials. The potential application of the discussed raw materials is elaborated as cementitious material, the aggregates as well as alternative reinforcement material. To understand the process of application, sustainable masonry product development is discussed in detail. In order to evaluate the feasibility of the raw material, the necessary physico-chemical test evaluation methods are also briefed. The developed end product performance evaluation is also discussed by desired tests as recommended by standards. The chapter concludes with a positive note that reuse of agro-industrial by-products is a feasible solution for the smart city development.


2019 ◽  
Vol 802 ◽  
pp. 113-124
Author(s):  
Ruslan Aharonovich Abramov ◽  
Maksim Sergeevich Sokolov ◽  
Svetlana Vyacheslavovna Derevianko

Material consumption of production of building materials is determined by the amount of raw materials used for their production, to the total output. One of the ways to reduce material consumption is the use of industrial waste as the main raw material for the production of new construction products. Most of the waste generated as a result of the activities of enterprises are man-made raw materials for the production of products such as brick, lime, cement, etc.Given that man-made raw materials are similar to the natural composition and physical properties and even has a number of advantages (heat treatment, increased dispersion, etc.), the manufacture of building materials from it is usually profitable and justified [4, 5].


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 9938
Author(s):  
Nuno Cristelo ◽  
Fernando Castro ◽  
Tiago Miranda ◽  
Zahra Abdollahnejad ◽  
Ana Fernández-Jiménez

The sustainability of resources is becoming a worldwide concern, including construction and building materials, especially with the alarming increase rate in global population. Alternative solutions to ordinary Portland cement (OPC) as a concrete binder are being studied, namely the so-called alkali-activated cements (AAC). These are less harmful to the environment, as lower CO2 emissions are associated with their fabrication, and their mechanical properties can be similar to those of the OPC. The aim of developing alkali-activated materials (AAM) is the maximization of the incorporated recycled materials, which minimises the CO2 emissions and cost, while also achieving acceptable properties for construction applications. Therefore, various efforts are being made to produce sustainable construction materials based on different sources and raw materials. Recently, significant attention has been raised from the by-products of the steelmaking industry, mostly due to their widespread availability. In this paper, ladle slag (LS) resulting from steelmaking operations was studied as the main precursor to produce AAC, combined with phosphating bath sludge—or phosphate sludge (PS)—and aluminium anodising sludge (AS), two by-products of the surface treatment of metals, in replacement rates of 10 and 20 wt.%. The precursors were activated by two different alkaline solutions: a combination of commercial sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate (COM), and a disposed solution from the cleaning of aluminium extrusion steel dies (CLE). This study assesses the influence of these by-products from the steelmaking industry (PS, AS and CLE) on the performance of the alkali-activated LS, and specifically on its fresh and hardened state properties, including rheology, heat of hydration, compressive strength and microstructure and mineralogy (X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy and Fourier transform infra-red. The results showed that the CLE had no negative impact on the strength of the AAM incorporating PS or/and AS, while increasing the strength of the LS alone by 2×. Additionally, regardless of the precursor combination, the use of a commercial activator (COM) led to more fluid pastes, compared with the CLE.


2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Snezana Nenadovic ◽  
Gabor Mucsi ◽  
Ljiljana Kljajevic ◽  
Miljana Mirkovic ◽  
Milos Nenadovic ◽  
...  

The main goal of the presented research was the preliminary investigation of possibility of red mud - Hungarian dump sites Almasfuzito (sample A) and Ajka (sample B) - application as a pigment or as a raw material for use in the construction materials industry. Also, the aim of this work was the characterization of red mud as industrial waste generated by the Bayer process in the aluminum industry - which may cause environmental problems if appropriate treatment is not carried out. The main mineral phases of both red mud are hematite (Fe2O3), calcite (CaCO3), gibbsite (Al(OH)3) and they consists of particles of median particle size 2.1 mm (sample A) and 2.5 mm (sample B) and have a characteristic red color, which was the reason for its testing for use in the industry of building materials as a pigment for standard concrete mixtures. The radionuclides content in the samples was determined by gamma spectrometry, and the radiological hazards originating from 238U, 232Th, 40K in the samples, were assessed through the radium equivalent activity, and the external radiation hazard index. The absorbed dose rate and the annual effective dose were calculated in accordance with the UNSCEAR 2010 report and the results are presented in this paper.


Author(s):  
V. V. Tytok

Trends in housing development should be based on the geographical location and climatic conditions of the region, national characteristics and culture, natural resources, transport links, density and living standards. Construction significantly affects the socio-economic development of the region. In this regard, increasing the sustainability of the regional construction complex, which is based on the building materials industry and the construction industry is a relevant and promising area of research.Demand in the building materials market continues to stimulate increased interest in the development of new types of efficient and inexpensive building materials. Since construction is one of the most material-intensive sectors of the economy, which consumes a large number of construction materials and products, various measures are taken to reduce their cost.In this regard, recently in the construction seek to make greater use of local building materials. This allows you to unload transport from long-distance transportation and significantly reduces the cost of construction. However, the building materials industry cannot develop by focusing only on natural sources of raw materials, as the costs of their extraction and processing are constantly growing. The use of man-made waste provides production with a rich source of cheap and often already prepared raw materials, which reduces the cost of manufacturing building materials.One of the promising areas in the construction of affordable housing is the maximum use of building materials and products that can be obtained from local raw materials and industrial waste. As local building materials are offered: clay, sand, soil, straw, reeds, flax. The use of industrial waste solves both environmental, fuel and energy problems and expands the raw material base of building materials.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paalo Moreno ◽  
Nicole Villamizar ◽  
Jefferson Perez ◽  
Angelica Bayona ◽  
Jesús Roman ◽  
...  

Abstract Housing construction consumes more materials than any other economic activity, with a total of 40.6 Gt/year. Boards are placed between construction materials to serve as non-load-bearing partitions. Studies have been performed to find alternatives to conventional materials using recycled fibers, agro-industrial waste, and protein binders as raw materials. Here, fire-resistant cellulose boards with low density and adequate flexural strength were produced for use as non-load-bearing partitions using waste newspapers, soy protein, boric acid, and borax. A central composite design (CCD) was employed to study the influence of the board component percentage on flame retardancy (UL 94 horizontal burning test), density (ASTM D1037-12) and flexural strength (ISO 178–2010). The cellulose boards were characterized by thermal analysis (ASTM E1131-14) and scanning electron microscopy. Fire-resistant cellulose boards were successfully made with low densities (120–170 kg/m3) and flexural strength (0.06–0.64 MPa). The mechanical performance and fire resistance of cellulose boards suggest their suitability for use as building materials. A useful and sustainable construction material with great potential is produced with the valorization of waste materials.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 31-35
Author(s):  
M.S. Saydumov ◽  
S.-A.Y. Murtazaev ◽  
A.Kh. Alaskhanov ◽  
I.S. Dagin ◽  
M.R. Nakhayev

The results of tests of secondary construction materials derived from man-made materials are presented. The granulometric and chemical compositions of secondary products from technogenic raw materials are investigated. The analysis of local natural and man-made raw materials base of the Chechen Republic. The possibilities of using local natural raw materials (crushed stone from gravel, natural sand, gravel, gypsum, cement, etc.) in the technology of building composite materials are shown. The suitability and efficiency of the use of technogenic raw materials in concrete and mortar technology, justified by the complex economic and environmental effect of its use in the practice of building materials science, have been experimentally proved. It has been established that with the introduction of advanced innovations in the field of concrete science it is possible to produce competitive products that are not inferior to foreign analogues.


2017 ◽  
Vol 265 ◽  
pp. 352-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.S. Lupandina ◽  
N.Yu. Kiryushina ◽  
E.V. Porozhnyuk

The purpose of the paper is to determine the possibility of using water purification slime as a raw material in the production of ceramic building brick. The spectrophotometric, power dispersing, atomic and absorption methods of research and biotesting were used. The possibility of using the water purifying slime as a pore-forming component is proved by the production of ceramsite brick. The optimum amount of the component of water purification slime to the main raw materials has been established. The small level of heavy metals leaching from the received construction material has been experimentally proved. The article can be of interest to the experts in the field of creating new construction materials using the production wastes and sewage purifying.


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