Alternative binders for blocks used im residential building in Sub Saharan Africa - opportunities for reduced climate footprint, lower costs and increased employment

Concrete it the most produced material in the world and is essential for moderna societal development. Currenlty there are no realistitic alternatives for substituting concrete. The glue in concrete is Portland Cement (PC) or ordinary cement. PC is responsible for some 7-9% of global carbon emissions and for the major part of emissions from concrete.

It should be possible to substiute PC in certain applications.

Especially this should be doable in the low strength applications such as the cement based blocks that often are used for building in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA).

This work focuses on finding new solutions for cheaper, locally availow carbon binders and blocks in SSA using manully intensive building processes in SSA. Most houses are built with blocks and many of them with cement based materials.

There is plenty of available labour that could be used for local production of both alternative binders and blocks using local technology.

This network aims to create opportunities for low cost, low carbon and labour intensive block production  through two joint grant applications and a compilation of a state-of-knowledge in locally available binders.

By connecting researchers, practitioners and NGO from Europe, Tanzania, Nigeria, Kenya and India an exchange of knowledge is created across both disciplinary and national borders.

The network activities aim in the long run to lead to action to achieve the UN Sustainability Goals (SDGs), focusing on goals 1, 8, 9, 11, 12,13 and 17.