Twenty years ago, proposing to use fecal matter as building material would have gotten you laughed out of town. Nowadays, it’s just another wacky – yet brilliant – green building solution. And, once inside a building made from EcoFaeBrick, you probably wouldn’t even be able to tell that the bricks were made from cow dung instead of clay.
EcoFaeBrick is 20% lighter, 20% stronger and far more earth-friendly than clay brick, which damages the environment during the production process – yet it costs the same. It’s meant for use in developing areas of Indonesia, where traditional brick-making materials are hard to come by but cow dung is available in copious quantities.
From EcoFaeBrick, via Treehugger:
EcoFaeBrick, in conjunction with Faerumnesia, produces high quality and low price bricks by utilizing the abundant cow dung in Godean and Sayegan, Jogjakarta. The utilization of the cow dung will not only solve the hygiene problem but also reduce the exploitation of the un-renewable clay. The replacement of firewood with the cow dung methane biogas in the combustion process brings a lower production cost with a more environmental friendly process. EcoFaeBrick also empowers rural people through close partnership with local communities.
Using business model which involves the housing developers, NGOs, and local communities, EcoFaeBrick builds a sustainable market demand to ensure an interesting financial return to the investors. The EcoFaeBrick’s expansion plan focuses on areas with rapid development and high concentration of cattle farm. EcoFaeBrick offers a feasible solution for rapidly developing areas not only in Indonesia but also in other emerging countries.
EcoFaeBrick was invented by a team of students at Prasetiya Mulya Business School in Indonesia, and won the $25,000 top prize at the University of California, Berkeley’s Global Social Venture Competition.
Well, it’s a great way to get rid of all that cow shit. You’d have to come to terms with the idea of living in a brick shithouse – er, shit brick house – but it seems like a great alternative to conventional bricks.
Link [Treehugger] + [EcoFaeBrick]
