See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/342233665

Alternative Building Materials for Sustainable Development in Ethiopian

Construction

Article · June 2020

CITATIONS READS

0 4,462

4 authors, including:

Mohammad Sujayath Ali Mahaboob Patel

Wolaita Sodo University Wolaita Sodo University
5 PUBLICATIONS   0 CITATIONS    21 PUBLICATIONS   18 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Abdul Ahad
Wolaita Sodo University
1 PUBLICATION   0 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

MAJOR CAUSES OF CRACK IN BUILDINGS PROJECT ON THE WALLS AND FLOORS: IN CASE OF WOLAITA SODO TOWN IN PUBLIC BUILDINGS View project

Designing of Multispindle Attachment to Enhance Productivity View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Mahaboob Patel on 17 June 2020.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 07 Issue: 06 | June 2020 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

Alternative Building Materials for Sustainable Development in

Ethiopian Construction
Mohammad Sujayath Ali1, Saliha Shukri2, Mahaboob Patel3, Abdul Ahad4
1,2Dept. of Construction Technology and Management, 3Dept. of Mechanical Engg,
4Dept. of Architecture
1-4Wolaita Sodo University, Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------***-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ABSTRACT
The building construction industries are boosting globally and consuming huge amounts of resources.
Ethiopian government has identified construction industry as one of the three sectors of the economy to
accelerate the country’s economic development. Usually, conventional building materials such as iron, cement
and concrete are not produced in sustainable ways. The production and transport of such materials lead to
relatively high levels of greenhouse gas emission. Alternatively, there are also locally produced and used
building materials that do not cause substantial CO2 emissions. Low cost housing become must in civil
engineering. In this report some methods of low-cost housing are discuss in brief. The materials discussed in
the study are available or can be arranged easily around Ethiopia.

Keywords: Alternative building materials; Low cost construction; Ethiopian construction.

I. INTRODUCTION: II. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Housing is a basic

need of human being. But this is not affordable for low-
The construction industry in Ethiopia is an area that
income people who constitute majority of the population
opens the door for the growth of many additional
in the country. Low cost housing has become prime focus
industries. Construction industry is one of the three
in civil engineering. In this report some methods of low-
sectors of the economy identified by the Ethiopian
cost housing are discussed. [2]
Government for special consideration to accelerate the
country’s economic development. Construction projects in developing countries consume
high amount of resource during the execution of the
Now a day’s building construction industries are
work due to the improper management of the
boosting globally and consuming huge amounts of
construction resource. Like most of African countries,
resources. Usually, conventional building materials such
Ethiopia is one of developing countries, that depends on
as iron, cement and concrete are not produced in
the improper resource management on construction
sustainable ways. The production and transport of such
projects. In this system there is a barrier to achieve good
materials lead to relatively high levels of greenhouse gas
way to manage resource on construction project. There
emission. Alternatively, there are also locally produced
are many factors that lead the improper resource
and used building materials that do not cause substantial
management in construction project.
CO2 emissions. Moreover, they create local employment
and promote local craftsmanship, which can be truly The vast majority of Ethiopians live in poorly built,
sustainable. In this study, some examples of sustainable dilapidated and cramped houses which lack even the
building materials including bamboo and wood, as well basic facilities, such as toilets and ventilation. Only 30%
as earth and adobe blocks are discussed. With these of the current housing stock in country is in a fair
materials, new technologies based on traditional condition, with the remaining 70% in need of total
building methods can be developed for the construction replacement. Access to safe drinking water is 49%
of housing that at the same time is sustainable and countrywide, only 20.7% of the population has access to
affordable for the urban poor. [1] adequate sanitation according to UNICEF, 2011.

According to the Human Development Report (2014)

Ethiopia ranks number 173 of 187 countries in the

© 2020, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.529 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 2899
 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 07 Issue: 06 | June 2020 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

world. This low ranking reflects poverty and harsh living aforesaid statement. He says bamboo in Ethiopia
conditions of the vast majority of the people in the is not well utilized beyond construction of a
country. To improve this situation, a number of houses, boats, fencing, house furniture and
important measures must be taken. One is to give the equipment. Thus, its huge economic
Ethiopian people the opportunity to get better housing. contribution is underestimated and unable to
The need for this can be identified over large parts of the play its stake in generating foreign currency
country; both rural and urban. This need has to be accordingly. [8]
addressed in relation to the large, general problems
which country is facing. Of these problems, a high Bamboo, a grass, is widely available in tropical
population growth, an increasing deforestation and an climates and has been used by generations for
uncontrolled urbanization process can be regarded as construction purposes and as artefacts.
the most serious. [10] However, until lately, it has been considered a
Constructional material for ‘poor’ settlements.
III. SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY: The goal is to aware Bamboo is a superior construction material as
all Ethiopian population, specifically the stratum with Compared to timber because it has excellent
very low incomes, the possibility to get affordable and mechanical (tension and bending) and
decent housing. In addition to this, the houses must have anatomical properties for its low weight. [4]
a healthy indoor climate by using types of alternative
material without polluting the environment, that must be
B) Manufactured Sand: The consumption of
safe, durable and sustainable.
natural river sand is very much high, because of
IV. SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTIONS: The more usage of concrete. As Ethiopia is one of the
construction involves reducing the environmental under developing countries, rapid construction
impact of the building over lifetime, while optimizing its is going is on around the country, and the
economic viability. Some of the factors which are shortage of first-class concrete is the problem.
considered in sustainable design are Energy efficient Due to more construction, river sand is
buildings, re-use existing structure, efficient using of becoming very much expensive and
land, the most important using of renewable products or demanding.[7]
materials, and reduce or eliminate pollution. [6]
Manufactured sand is one of the good
V. REASONS FOR NEED OF SUSTAINABLE alternative materials to replace natural river
CONSTRUCTION sand. The term Manufactured sand is nothing
but the aggregate material whose size is less
 Sustainable construction used in social progress than 5.0mm. The supply of m-sand is from
i.e. which recognizes the needs of everyone. crushing plant, where the hard rocks and over
 Used for environmental protection effectively. size stone used to crush in smaller particles. [9]
 Extensive use of natural resources. Manufactured sand offers important economic
 Maintenance of high and stable levels of advantages in regions where the availability of
economic growth. natural sand is scarce or in cities where
 Reducing the overall cost.[6] transportation cost is high as in the case of
VI. COMMON SUSTAINABLE MATERIAL Addis Ababa and Jimma. To minimize cost of
manufactured sand transportation, more
AVAILABLE AROUND ETHIOPIA
advanced mobile plants might be a solution.[5]
A) Bamboo: Ethiopia has an estimated one million
hectares of natural bamboo forest, the largest in The use of manufactured sand in the
the African continent. Despite the versatile construction industry helps to prevent
resource base and advanced bamboo utilization unnecessary damages to the environment and
at a global scale, its great potential to enhance provide optimum exploitation of the resources.
socio-economic and ecological development [5]
remains unrealized in Ethiopia. [3]
According to, Bamboo Senior Expert and
Technologist, Mulatu Teshale agrees upon the
© 2020, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.529 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 2900
 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 07 Issue: 06 | June 2020 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

C) Straw Bales: Agriculture is the mainstay of the processes and silica from ground up glass. The
Ethiopian economy, contributing 41.4% of the iron within the steel dust reacts with CO2 and
country’s gross domestic product (GDP), 83.9% water to form iron carbonate. It is this that is
of the total exports, and 80% of all employment fused into the matrix of Ferrock and, like
in the country.[12] concrete, after it is dried, it cannot be melted
back into a liquid form but retains its hard, rock-
Straw is the dead, dried stems of cereals. It is left like qualities. [14]
over after the grain is removed in the harvesting
process. Wheat, sorghum, sesame, rice, and Currently, there are around 241 small, medium
some herbalists are the most commonly grown and large factories involved in steel and iron
cereal crops around the country. Some of their production. After looking at the high demand
straw is currently used for animal. A certain and supply gap in the steel market, a South
amount would still be required for these Korean based company, Ekos Steel Plc. came
purposes. The straw when bundled together here and built a steel factory in Dukem. By the
into a bale with various shapes and sizes, it Ethiopian new year, they should begin
becomes a solid block that is highly resistant to manufacturing steel. Capital’s Tesfaye Getnet
decomposition beside it is flexible and easy to went to Dukem and talked with Shell H. Choo
work with. [11] CEO of the company to learn about the plan of
Straw bale is a rectangular compressed block of the factory, according to capital Ethiopia (august
straw, bounded by ties after harvesting using 2018).
mechanical baling equipment, at moisture
contents of less than 20%. [11] The study found that the strength of Ferrock
concrete is twice that of conventional concrete.
Straw bales have a good insulation property i.e Since Ferrock, being Environmentally friendly
energy efficient, which helps in reducing cost of and all the raw materials used are from waste
cooling in summer and heating in winter, good metal powder, by using these to make concrete
sound insulation property, and provides high is an efficient concreting technology both in
fire resistance when combined with plaster. It terms of strength and environmental efficiency.
also has ability to withstand the vertical and [14]
lateral load in addition to seismic loads. Finally,
it’s a low-cost material with relative to its E) C & D Waste: “Sustainable building” has
availability. It is considered as recycled become a national catchphrase. In architects’
materials from remnants of the harvest, this offices and on construction sites around the
contribute to the conservation of the country there is increasing emphasis on
environment. [11] reducing the environmental impacts of
renovation and new construction. Ranking
D) Ferrock Cement: Cement in concrete, the systems like the U.S. Green Building Council’s
second most used entity after water in the world Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design
today, is the fourth largest source of (LEED) and Green Guidelines for Healthcare
anthropogenic carbon emissions. It’s been called gain momentum from month to month. [16]
the foundation of modern civilization. For each
ton of cement produced more or less eight ton of Demolition waste is waste debris from
CO2 is released. It is terrifyingly polluting the destruction of a construction. Construction
environment. [13] industry generates about min 10-12 million
Tons of waste annually country wise. While
In recent times this problem is addressed by the Retrievable items like bricks, wood, metal, tiles
use of Ferrock. The name Ferrock is a reflection etc. can be recycle. [15]
of its composition – largely iron-rich ferrous
rock. It’s actually created from waste steel dust  Why recycle C & D?
which is normally discarded from industrial

© 2020, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.529 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 2901
 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 07 Issue: 06 | June 2020 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

1. Construction and demolition wastes are one manufacturing (low strength and less durable)
of the largest waste streams in the country. plain mud-straw utilized sundried brick. But the
2. Almost all job site wastes are recyclable. modern construction materials are quite energy-
3. It costs less – usually much less – to recycle intensive as they involve burning of fossil fuels
job site wastes than to throw them away. which are rapidly depleting.[17]
[16]
Compressed soil block, is a building material
 Embodied Energy: - made mainly from damp soil compressed at high
pressure to form blocks. Compressed earth
The embodied energy of a material refers to the blocks use a mechanical press to form blocks out
total energy required to produce that material, of an appropriate mix of fairly dry inorganic
including the collection of raw materials. This subsoil, non-expansive clay and aggregate. If the
also includes the energy of the fuel used to blocks are stabilized with a chemical binder
power the harvesting or mining equipment, the such as Portland cement, they are called
processing equipment, and the transportation compressed stabilized earth block (CSEB) or
devices that move raw material to a processing stabilized earth block (SEB). [18]
facility. This energy typically comes from the
burning of fossil fuels, which are a limited, non- The advantages of the CEB: On-site materials
renewable resource. The combustion of fossil can be used, which cuts cost, reduces transport
fuels also has severe environmental costs for materials, and rises efficiency and
consequences, from localized smog to acid rain. sustainability. [17]
The greater a material’s embodied energy, the
greater the amount of energy required to VII. CONCLUSIONS:
produce it, implying more severe ecological  The materials discussed above are available
consequences. For example, the processing of or can be arranged easily around Ethiopia.
wood (harvested in a sustainable fashion)
 These materials can be a good alternative
involves far less energy and releases less
for low cost construction in Ethiopia.
pollution than the processing of iron, which
 If practically implemented, it would
must be extracted from mined ores.
transform the construction industry by
A revision of a manufacturing process that saves addressing all the environmental concerns
energy will reduce the embodied energy of the of sustainability.
material. Conventional materials with a high  Study concludes sustainable building
embodied energy can often be replaced by a materials are locally formed and sourced
material with low embodied energy, while using which drops transportation costs and CO2
conventional design and construction emissions.
techniques. Following table compares the  Materials like bamboo, manufactured sand,
embodied energies (MJ/kg) of virgin and earth blocks, c & d waste are abundantly
recycled materials [19]. available around country that could be a
replacement of conventional material.
Material Virgin Recycled  The use of these materials not only reduces
Aluminium 196 27 transport costs, carbon emissions, materials
Polyethylene 98 56 costs, it also offers employment and skills
PVC 65 29 development opportunities around
Steel 40 18 Ethiopia.
All figures are for MJ/kg
REFERENCES
F) Compressed Earth Blocks: Soil being readily 1. Bredenoord J, “Sustainable Housing and Building
available, represents the earliest construction Materials for Low-income Households” Journal
material to be used by mankind. Earthen of Architectural Engineering Technology
construction technologies have evolved from (IJAET), Volume 5, 2016.

© 2020, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.529 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 2902
 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 07 Issue: 06 | June 2020 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

2. Shaikh Ajim, Badhe Ajinkya, Rashinkar Sandip, International Journal of Agricultural

Sarode Laluprasad, “Low Cost Housing” Sustainability, Volume 11, 2013.
International Research Journal of Engineering 13. D.S vijayan, Dineshkumar, S.Arvindhan, Thattil
and Technology (IRJET), volume 4, march 2017. Shreekumar janarthanan, “Evaluation of
3. Zenebe Mekonnen, Adefires Worku, Temesgen Ferrock: A Greener Substitute to Cement”
Yohannes, Mehari Alebachew, Demel Teketay, Elsevier, October 2019.
and Habtemariam Kassa, “Bamboo Resources in 14. Mouli Prashanth P, Gokul V and Dr.
Ethiopia: Their Value Chain and Contribution to Shanmugasundaram M, “Investigation on
Livelihoods” Ethnobotany Research and Ferrock Based Mortar an Environment Friendly
Applications, volume 12, November 2014. Concrete” International Research Journal of
4. K. A. Solomon-Ayeh, “Use of Bamboo for Engineering and Technology (IRJET), Volume
Buildings – A Sustainable, Strong, Versatile and 06, Sep 2019.
Economic Option for the Preservation of Timber 15. Markandeya Raju Ponnada, Kameswari P,
in Ghana” Building and Road Research Institute “Construction and Demolition Waste
(BRRI). Management – A Review” International Journal
5. Shewaferaw Dinku Belay, “The Use of of Advanced Science and Technology Vol.84,
Manufactured Sand in Concrete Production: Test 2015.
Results and Cost Comparison” July 2006. 16. Mark Lennon, “Recycling Construction and
6. Milena Medineckienė, Zenonas Turskis, Demolition Wastes” A Guide for Architects and
Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas, “Sustainable Contractors, April 2005.
Construction Taking into Account the Building 17. Ayan Anil Garg, Amit Yalawar, Anuradha
Impact on the Environment” Journal of Kamath, Jagannath Vinay, “Effect Of Varying
Environmental Engineering and Landscape Cement Proportions On Properties Of
Management, Mar 2010. Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEB) - A
7. G.Balamurugan, Dr.P.Perumal, “Use of Quarry Sustainable Low-Cost Housing Material” ICSCI
Dust to Replace Sand in Concrete – An 2014 © ASCE India Section, Oct 17 – 18, 2014,
Experimental Study” International Journal of Hitex, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 3, 18. Thomas Bowen, “A Best Practices Manual for
Issue 12, December 2013. Using Compressed Earth Blocks in Sustainable
8. Girmachew Gashaw, “Ethiopia: Bamboo - Home Construction in Indian Country” U.S.
Untapped Green Gold” The Ethiopian Herald Department of Housing and Urban Development
(Addis Ababa), 20 December 2017. Office of Policy, Development and Research, May
9. M.Adams Joe, A.Maria Rajesh, P.Brightson, 2017.
M.Prem Anand, “Experimental Investigation on 19. J. L. Sullivan and J. Hu, “Life Cycle Energy
The Effect Of M-Sand In High Performance Analysis for Automobiles,” Society of
Concrete” American Journal of Engineering Automotive Engineers, SAE Paper No. 951829,
Research (AJER), volume 02, 2013. SAE Total Life Cycle Analysis Conference,
10. Bengt Hjort* and Kristian Widén, “Introduction Vienna, Austria; October 16, 1995.
of Sustainable Low-Cost Housing in Ethiopia –
An Innovation Diffusion Perspective” 8th Nordic
Conference on Construction Economics and
Organization, 2015.
11. Fathelrahman M Adam, Salah Ahmed Ali,
“Suitability of Using Straw Bale as a Building
Material in Sudan” UKIERI Concrete Congress -
Concrete Research Driving Profit and
Sustainability, November 2015.
12. Petr Matous, Yasuyuki Todob and Dagne Mojoc,
“Roles of Extension and Ethno-Religious
Networks in Acceptance of Resource Conserving
Agriculture Among Ethiopian Farmers”

© 2020, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.529 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 2903

View publication stats