Building greener homes with coconuts and sugarcane
CategoriesSustainable News

Building greener homes with coconuts and sugarcane

Spotted: By 2050, Africa is expected to be home to an additional 1.1 billion people, which is almost 75 per cent of the world’s projected population growth of 1.5 billion people. Analysts believe that 80 per cent of the buildings that will be needed to accommodate that growth have yet to be built. This opens up vast and varied opportunities to develop circularity in urban planning and development, and construction practices.  

Ghanian company Ecovon is already working towards more sustainable building practices by upcycling a common agriwaste product into an all-natural, compostable building material. Ghana is one of the world’s largest coconut producers, something the Ecovon founders wanted to take advantage of. The industry produces upwards of 750,000 tonnes of coconut waste each year. 

Using coconut husks as the basis for wooden building panels allows farmers and processors to earn additional income while also reducing the amount of organic waste needing disposal. Husks are dried, milled, combined with sugarcane, and then pressed into shape. The production process is carbon neutral and the boards can come in a mix of colours and sizes. 

In tests, the resulting panels proved stronger than traditional wood, as well as being much less expensive to produce. They’re also naturally antifungal, flame retardant, and do not use any chemical binding agents. Without those toxins, the boards are fully compostable. 

Using the material reduces demand for hardwood, which helps reduce deforestation. Following decades of deforestation in Asia and South America, attention has shifted to include African forests. They are now in serious danger as deforestation across the continent is happening at twice the global average.  

From seaweed bricks to invisible solar panels that blend in with historic buildings, innovations in Springwise’s library are finding ways to improve many of the most common construction materials.

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference

Construction blocks made from sugarcane 
CategoriesSustainable News

Construction blocks made from sugarcane 

Spotted: Sugarcane is the world’s most produced crop as of 2021 and is grown mostly for use as sugar and ethanol. Bagasse is the waste product left behind after the sugarcane is crushed to harvest the juice. Some of the leftover material is used for biofuel, but much is left to go to waste. Many of the world’s developing countries are key sugarcane producers, so finding a way to turn the bagasse waste into a valuable new product would provide significant support in further developing local economies. 

A collaborative project based in the University of East London has brought together researchers, commercial partners, sustainability experts, and architects to create Sugarcrete, a concrete brick replacement. According to the team, if only 30 per cent of the world’s bagasse waste was used for Sugarcrete production, the global brick industry could be completely replaced. 

Sugarcrete bricks are ultra-low carbon and are made by mixing bagasse with mineral binders. A fast-growing crop, sugarcane is an extremely efficient carbon sink. When combined with the low-emission manufacturing process, the final product becomes a particularly sustainable building option. 

The polyhedral bricks are designed to lock together to create strength without the need for additional supplies. Square slabs of the bricks are held together with only perimeter ties, and the team is working on strengthening the bricks further.  

The bricks meet industry standards for strength, durability, fire resistance, and thermal properties, and are four times lighter than traditional bricks with only 15 per cent of the carbon footprint. The team has made its research open source in order to support communities in developing new industries to replace the need to import expensive building supplies.  

The usefulness of sugarcane biowaste is being recognised by various innovators, who are transforming it into a range of new products. Springwise has also spotted electronics packaging and takeaway cups with a built-in lid.

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference