Building Pioneers

Building Pioneers promotes non-fired brick solutions to make safe, affordable and eco-friendly housing a reality in Bangladesh.

The only widely available solid building materials in Bangladesh are fired clay bricks and concrete. Both are unaffordable for lower income groups who are forced to build with corrugated iron, adobe (sun-dried soil) or even plastic sheet. Non-solid building materials are less durable and require frequent repair and maintenance, which creates a financial burden for lower income families and negatively affects their resilience.

Building Pioneers promotes a building block which has better properties than conventional bricks and reduces construction cost by 25%. This makes solid housing affordable for millions of people.

Bangladesh is home to 160 million people and ranks as one of the most densely populated countries in the world. It is prone to cyclones, floods and earthquakes. Most houses in Bangladesh, especially in rural areas, are non-engineered and poorly constructed. They fail to provide sufficient protection against natural hazards for millions of people.

Building Pioneers develops easy-to-adopt construction methods for solid housing in rural areas to increase disaster resilience and reduce construction costs. Masonry training is a key component to ensure their widespread application.

Bangladesh counts more than 6000 fired clay brick kilns with a yearly output of 15 billion bricks. The kiln technology is outdated and energy inefficient. It consumes 3.5 million tonnes of coal and 2 million tonnes of firewood every year. This causes 10 million tonnes of CO2 emissions, air pollution, severe deforestation and top soil depletion, which threatens the food security of Bangladesh. 1 million people in the brick industry endure harsh working conditions.

Building Pioneers aims to transform fired clay brick kilns into modern block factories. Together with key stakeholders, we create a transformation package for brick kilns that can be rolled out on a national level.