Sustainable construction is built this way
Environment — di Ilaria D’Ambrosi
An Indian girl finds the recipe for making bricks from rice waste, giving a boost to the agricultural economy under the banner of sustainable construction.
Sustainable construction is built this way
An Indian girl finds the recipe for making bricks from rice waste, giving a boost to the agricultural economy under the banner of sustainable construction.
The economic and environmental benefits of ecological materials and innovative low-impact construction techniques have enabled the rapid spread of sustainable construction worldwide and have drawn the attention of researchers in this field. Green building is a driving force for experimenting with technologies for environmental protection and for the revival of certain local economies.
One important example is the experience of Bisman Deu, the sixteen-year-old Indian girl who invented a system for easily producing ecological bricks from rice straw. A green innovation recognised with the Unicef Junior Achievement award for the benefits it can bring to entire communities. As part of a school initiative supported by the Social Innovation Relay, Bisman, together with two other students, found the solution to one of the most deep-rooted problems in their country: the lack of healthy and durable housing.
Sustainable construction and agriculture
In India, a large number of people live in villages built with mud bricks — cheap, easy to source and to make, but with a very short lifespan. India's monsoon rains and the blazing sun crumble these dwellings within a few years, after which they must be rebuilt. In a nation where 47 per cent of the population is engaged in agriculture and whose staple food is rice, Bisman Deu developed a system for making bricks from the waste of this widespread cereal. The ecological bricks are a recycled product, as cheap as mud but far more durable because they are mixed with resin. This system generates profit for farmers, who are no longer forced to burn the waste material from the rice harvest — roughly a quarter of the total crop — releasing toxic substances into the environment.
Villages around the world are the ideal environment in which to experiment with research in the field of sustainable construction. Ecological bricks, like the technique of straw houses, offer advanced technology, even if it cannot be fully exploited in large cities. By contrast, in rural settings characterised by lower and simpler buildings, sustainable construction establishes itself as a solution that is respectful of the environment and has a low impact on the building traditions of local communities.