Kajal Pradhan Banepali, Civil Engineer & Impact Officer at Build up Nepal, explains that compressed stabilized earth bricks has a proven record for its strength and also produces less air pollution than conventional bricks. “More people are starting to seek an alternative to fired bricks, they’re starting to understand the benefits of our eco-bricks for their specific context, living in a disaster prone country or a rural area, where the cost of building a safe home can be high,” she says, adding that this technology cuts construction costs by up to 25 percent.
“Local people from a rural community set up a CSEB-producing enterprise and we help them with quality control, construction supervision, guidance and overall business strategies,” she says, “The biggest opportunity of the technology is its sustainability: it is produced using local materials by local entrepreneurs and brick-makers.”
Banepali explains that the entrepreneurship model is effective in building a resilient community, by creating employment and opportunities for those of different gender, race and caste to collaborate.
Ashish Maharjan, a research and development engineer at Build up Nepal, says that the aim is to reducing the current cement content from 10 percent to 5 percent. “A successful reduction holds the promise of significant environmental and economic benefits,” he says.
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