Swiss agency funds 'green' brick making project

As the first country in Africa, South Africa will adopt environmentally friendly brick making technology. The Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln Project (VSBK), funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), is being launched in November 2009. VSBK is a method of firing clay bricks that lowers energy requirements and drastically reduces emissions from coal in the brick making process. Since the early 1990s, SDC has been instrumental in facilitating the spread of this technology in Asia. South Africa is the first country outside Asia to adopt this technology.

During the preparation phase of the project an initial group of five clay brick producers have been identified to adopt the VSBK technology. It is estimated that over the next five to ten years up to 80 enterprises will adopt this technology in South Africa. In the first three-year phase the aim is to construct 180 to 200 shafts with an annual production capacity of more than 300 million bricks. This will reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by 114 000 tons of CO2 per year.

In 2009 the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) developed a Climate Change Mitigation Programme for South Africa which focuses on the building sector. The objective of this Energy Efficient Building Programme is to significantly reduce the energy consumption in the building sector through improved energy efficiency in the full lifecycle of buildings. This includes energy used for producing building materials, the energy consumption during the building's use as well as the energy needed to dispose of materials at the end of a building's lifecycle. The VSBK project forms part of this programme.

In order to profit from the experiences of VSBK projects in Asia, the long-standing partnerships with clay brick experts in India and Nepal as well as SKAT (Switzerland) will be continued. SKAT, an independent Swiss organisation working in the fields of development and humanitarian aid, formed a consortium with Swisscontact in order to facilitate the implementation of the project in South Africa. Swisscontact will give strategic advice on the business and the social aspects of the project. SKAT will be responsible for ensuring quality in the technical application and will provide strategic and technical support to stakeholders.

The project will work closely with the Clay Brick Association and other relevant organisations to promote the use of bricks in the construction sector. The Department of Environmental Affairs and other Departments will form part of this cooperative network to share information on the reduction of CO2 emissions and on improvements in occupational health in brick yards. Over the first three years SDC will support the project with a total financial contribution of CHF (ZAR 17 million).

Sapa

Posted at 10:24AM Nov 20, 2009 by Editor in Residential  |