Swiss Partners
Local Partner
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Swiss Contribution
The ETH (Polytechnical School Zurich) spin-off Oxara has developed a process to transform clay-containing excavated material into an alternative concrete without adding cement. The earth concrete can be poured when fresh, hardens quickly and is suitable for use in floors and non-load-bearing walls.
In addition to the production and certification of building blocks, the construction of a pilot house and the Swiss know-how transfer to local partners are central elements of the project.
Description
Oxara Earth Concrete has all the advantages of concrete, but is cheaper and significantly more environmentally friendly. It is expected to provide a sustainable solution for the construction of affordable housing worldwide in the future and contribute to the reduction of global CO₂ emissions, construction waste and sand consumption.
As part of this project, Oxara will work with a network of building materials producers, contractors, architects, government agencies and NGOs to:
- provide proof of concept for the new building blocks and earth concrete,
- verify market and volume assumptions;
- develop an adapted business model and prepare for market entry.
Results
After promising initial results with extruded bricks, technical problems meant that CEB (Compressed Earth Bricks) could not be produced in sufficient strength in Rwanda. In the meantime, a producer in Cameroon has produced the first CEB bricks, which are achieving very good technical values. The project is now continuing in Cameroon.