Title: Promoting burnt clay brick as an affordable housing material in developing economy: building professionals' perspective

Authors: Richard Oduro Asamoah; Kofi Offei-Nyako; Deborah Ama Duker; Safowaa Osei-Tutu

Addresses: Built Environment Division, Building and Road Research Institute, CSIR, P.O. Box UP40, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana ' Built Environment Division, Building and Road Research Institute, CSIR, P.O. Box UP40, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana ' Built Environment Division, Building and Road Research Institute, CSIR, P.O. Box UP40, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana ' Built Environment Division, Building and Road Research Institute, CSIR, P.O. Box UP40, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana

Abstract: Governments in developing economies continue to find solutions for accommodation shortfalls by using indigenous local materials like burnt clay brick. This paper seeks to help promote the use of burnt clay brick from the building professionals' perspective. Purposive sampling and questionnaires were administered to gather data. Ranking of the properties influencing the selection of brick was done using relative important index. Fire resistance, thermal stability and durability were the main influential properties. Kendall's coefficient of concordance indicated high level of agreement amongst built professionals. Using burnt clay bricks are less expensive than sandcrete block by at least 18%. The study recommends that built environment professionals should recommend and advise their clients about the economic and structural properties of burnt clay bricks. Government as a matter of policy should strictly enforce the use of burnt clay brick for all educational levels and social housing projects.

Keywords: structural properties; economic advantages; burnt clay bricks; sandcrete block; comparative cost analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEAM.2023.130532

International Journal of the Built Environment and Asset Management, 2023 Vol.2 No.3, pp.230 - 245

Received: 28 Jun 2022
Accepted: 31 Aug 2022
Published online: 26 Apr 2023 *

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