Finding a green project that is economical for the affordable housing sector is a rare, however the team at Use-it have been providing this since 2009.
PROJECTS
Smart bricks making our environment greener
Finding a green project that is economical for the affordable housing sector is a rare, however the team at Use-it have been providing this since 2009.
By Ntsako Khosa | All images courtesy Use-It
The Lovu Small Scale Housing Intervention in KwaZulu-Natal.
When doing the earthworks for a housing or mix-use development, two major aspects come into play, removing the waste soil and dumping in a landfill as well as supplying all the materials required for the project.
Non-Profit Organisation, Use – It, puts the waste to good use by converting it into building materials, specifically, bricks. Their flagship innovative project development is the RamBrick, a compressed earth block made from waste soil and builders’ rubble destined for the landfill.
Manufacturing of the bricks involves selecting soils that contain a minimum of 10 % clay component, into which up to 30 % crushed builder’ s rubble can be added and this is blended with only 5 % cement. No water is added. Once the right balance is found, the blended soil is inserted into a block press machine and then it mass produces the bricks.
AFFORDABLE
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