Woodless Construction : 3
Helping female potters to develop new products
Since May 2004, DW has been working alongside female potters in the two provinces of Soum and Oudalan, with the following aims :
- increasing their involvement in improving housing;
- developing production of ceramic building components (gutters, tripod ovens, etc.);
- improving the firing process i.e. reducing consumption of wood and improving the quality of the fired products.
An initial activity with some thirty female potters in several villages developed and tested different kinds of gutters needed for woodless construction buildings (bearing in mind that traditional, tubular ceramic gutters are not recommended for woodless construction buildings, because they very easily get blocked, allowing water to collect on the roof and damage it).
By early 2005, two types of gutters were available on the open market, being sold by the women for 500 CFA francs each, i.e. ten times cheaper than the metal equivalent. These products are now recommended to woodless construction builders being trained in 2005.
In Djibo (Soum province), the production of tripod ovens using less wood for cooking has also started
Protect the environment – save wood
Woodless construction and associated activities, such as improved pottery production, contribute to saving wood and and through this, help protect the environment of the Sahel Region of West Africa.
Over the past 30 years the region has seen massive destruction of forests as a result of over-consumption. Some species have gone completely. People have to travel further to find wood for building, and pay more for it.
The amount of wood used in construction is one major problem, as nearly all traditional types of shelter use timber and branches in the construction
A typical house with a flat roof measuring 31m² uses:
- At least 56 linear metres of beams
- 12 m³ of branches , equivalent to 8 cartloads of wood
Woodless construction allows you to save at least that amount of wood in each house !
In 2004 -05, DW saved 1500 m³ of branches and 6800 linear metres of beams in Burkina Faso
Burkina
Faso | 1998 World Habitat Award | download : "Woodless Construction: Using unstabilised earth bricks and vault and dome roofing in West Africa, DW, 1998-2002" (.pdf)
