LookAtVietnam –
Despite its environmental advantages,
non-baked bricks have yet to gain a market in Viet Nam, chairman of the Viet Nam
Association for Building Materials Tran Van Huynh says.
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Workers at a construction company in
Phu Tho Province produce concrete blocks. Non-baked environmental friendly bricks are failing to find a foothold in the domestic construction market due to their higher cost compared to traditionally baked clay bricks. (Photo: VNS) |
“Non-baked bricks account for 55-60 per cent of building materials used in China
and the UK while in Viet Nam, the figure is only 8-8.5 per cent,” Huynh said.
Made
from industrial waste such as ash and cinder from thermal power stations and red
mud from bauxite factories, non-baked bricks help save natural resources,
especially agricultural land and coal, and reduce industrial waste treatment
costs.
The
Ministry of Construction forecasts that in the next decade the country will need
about 41-43 billion bricks a year. This would require some 57-60 million cubic
metres of clay and 5.3-5.6 million tonnes of coal.
“A great
amount of non-renewable natural resources would be used and both the environment
and people’s health would be seriously affected,” said Huynh.
According to a research by the Association for Building Materials, during the
2015-20 period the country could discharge 50-60 million tonnes of waste which
potentially would pollute the environment. However, this waste could be employed
in the production of non-baked bricks. Non-baked brick weighs one third the
weight of baked brick, so it helps reduce total building weights and thereby
reducing costs for the construction of foundations.
Director
of the Ministry of Construction’s Department of Building Materials Le Van Toi
said that demand for building materials in Viet Nam had sharply increased in the
last five years.
“Demand
has increased by 10-12 per cent every year,” he said.
Toi
added that China had encouraged the use of non-baked bricks since 2001 by
banning clay bricks for new construction sites.
“By
using non-baked bricks, we can save about 1,000ha of agricultural land every
year and clear hundreds of hectares of rubbish dumps,” he said.
Foreign
investors are already aware of the benefits of using non-baked bricks, employing
them in the construction of the Bitexco Building in HCM City, and Keangnam, Ha
Noi Plaza Hotel and Habico Tower buildings in Ha Noi.
Huynh
said, “However, two difficulties deter architects and investors in Viet Nam from
using non-baked bricks.”
Firstly,
Vietnamese people have used baked brick for many generations, and non-baked
bricks often are larger in size which makes them difficult to transport
especially for high-rise construction. Using non-baked bricks also requires
higher skilled workers.
Truong
Anh Tu, a construction supervisor for the Ha Noi-based Acore 3D company, said
that his company never used non-baked bricks because of their high price.
Clay
bricks cost VND1,200 (US$0.06) each, but non-baked bricks are sold at VND1,800
($0.09) per unit.
“Although non-baked bricks are 20 per cent larger, we calculate that clay bricks
are cheaper,” he added.
Vo Lien
Huong, deputy director of the Secoin Company which produces non-baked materials,
said that a lack of consumer awareness was the biggest obstacle for his company.
“In most
consumer minds, baked bricks are the first choice,” she said.
Secondly, the State had failed to draft any policies to encourage investors to
use non-baked bricks for their projects.
In April
this year, the Prime Minister promulgated Decision 567/QD-TTg which laid out a
programme for the development of non-baked building material by 2020.
The
decision set the target that by 2012 about 20-25 per cent of building materials
would be non-baked varieties, with the figure rising to 30-40 per cent by 2020.
Under
the decision, as of next year at least 30 per cent of construction material used
in nine-storey or taller buildings would be non-baked bricks.
“I think
we should develop preferential policies to encourage investors to use non-baked
brick,” said Huynh.
Provinces are also considering increasing taxes for using clay to produce brick.
Next
year the Association for Building Materials will hold conferences to highlight
the advantages of using non-baked bricks to building management offices and
investors.
Huong
said that as of next year to 2020, Secoin would construct additional non-baked
brick manufacturing plants in Ha Noi, HCM City and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province with
capital investment of VND100 billion (US$5 million) a factory.
“If the
model is successful, it will be expanded to different cities and provinces
across the countries to serve the construction industry,” she said.
VietNamNet/Viet Nam News