Burnt clay bricks can be readily manufactured in Ghana as all ten regions have significant clay deposits with the Ashanti region having the highest estimated deposit of 37.1 million metric tonnes. In recent times, burnt clay bricks have been regarded as old fashioned and replaced by other perceived modern walling units within Kumasi, the metropolitan capital of Ashanti Region, despite its availability, unique advantages (aesthetics, low maintenance cost, etc.), and structural and nonstructural properties. This study involved a questionnaire survey of 85 respondents made up of architects, brick manufacturing firms, and brick house owners or occupants in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana and sought to examine their perceptions on barriers to the use of burnt clay bricks for housing construction. The findings revealed that the key factors inhibiting the use of burnt clay bricks for housing construction are low material demand, excessive cost implications, inappropriate use in construction, noncompatibility of burnt clay bricks with other materials, unreliable production, and transportation problems. The findings however provide a platform for stakeholders to address the barriers to enable the extensive use of clay bricks in housing constructions. 1. Introduction The construction industry is very vital to the socioeconomic development and, in many countries, the yardstick for the measurement of national progress is hinged on the degree of contributions of the construction industry. The building materials sector is also a major contributor to the construction industry of every nation because materials constitute the single largest input in construction often accounting for about half of the total cost of most or any construction products [1–5]. Furthermore, Adedeji [6] noted that about 60% of the total house construction cost goes towards the purchase of construction materials. According to Abanda et al. [7] the share of materials often used in construction is huge and most other factors depend on them. A report by the United Nations revealed that the building materials sector was split into three production groups [8]: modern or conventional building materials which are based on modern conventional production methods like concrete, steel, and glass; traditional materials which include those materials that have been in local production from ancient times using small-scale rudimentary technologies, for example, laterite, gravel, thatch, straw, stabilised mud, Azara, and raphia palm; and innovative materials which are materials developed through research efforts
References
[1]
K. Kern, “The owner built home and homestead,” Mother Earth News, no. 15, pp. 8–11, 2004.
[2]
P. A. Okereke, Construction Materials: Testing and Quality Control in Tropical Climate, Crown, Oweri, Nigeria, 2003.
[3]
T. C. Mogbo, “The construction sector and the economic growth of Nigeria, 1981–95,” The Quantity Surveyor, vol. 35, pp. 8–11, 2001.
[4]
Y. A. Sanusi, “Strategies for the development and use of indigenous building materials for low cost housing in Nigeria,” in Proceedings of the International Conference on Nigerian Indigenous Building Materials, E. C. Ike, Ed., pp. 7–17, Zaria, Nigeria, July 1993.
[5]
R. F. Fellows, D. A. Langford, R. Newcombe, and S. A. Urry, Construction Management in Practice, vol. 177, Longman, Harlow, UK, 1983.
[6]
Y. M. D. Adedeji, “Technology and standardised composite cement fibres for housing in Nigeria,” Nigerian Institution of Architects, vol. 1, pp. 19–24, 2010.
[7]
F. H. Abanda, G. E. Nkeng, J. H. M. Tah, E. N. F. Ohanjah, and M. B. Manjia, “Embodied energy and CO2 analysis of Mud-brick and Cement-block Houses,” Aims Energy, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 18–40, 2014.
[8]
K. J. Adogbo and B. A. Kolo, The perceptions on the use of indigenous building materials by professionals by Professionals in the Nigerian Building Industry Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, 2009.
[9]
UNCHS, Earth Construction Technology, Edited by A. Ramachandran, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), Nairobi, Kenya, 1992.
[10]
UNCHS, The Use of Selected Indigenous Building Materials with Potential for Wide Applications in Developing Countries, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), Nairobi, Kenya, 1985.
[11]
Ghana Statistical Service, “2010 Population and Housing Census: Ghana Statistical Service,” 2012, http://www.statsghana.gov.gh/.
[12]
R. O. Abiola, “Management implications of trends in the construction costs in Nigeria from 1989–1999,” The Quantity Surveyor, vol. 30, pp. 35–40, 2000.
[13]
Building and Roads Research Institute, “Communique issue at the Sensitisation and Social Advocacy Seminars on the use of local building materials in the Construction Industry in Ghana,” 2012, http://www.brri.org/index.php/2013-10-02-17.../109-communique-issued.
[14]
Peakstoprairies, “Sustainable design and construction,” in Greening Your Ski Area: A Pollution Prevention Handbook, chapter 14, Peakstoprairies, 2005, http://www.peakstoprairies.org/p2bande/skigreen/.
[15]
M. T. Lilly and J. J. Wai, “Development and manufacture of roofing tiles using local available raw materials,” The Quantity Surveyor, vol. 35, pp. 14–19, 2001.
[16]
M. M. Mourshed, W. M. Matipa, M. Keane, and D. Kelliher, “Towards interoperability: ICT in academic curricula for sustainable construction,” in Proceedings of the CIB W107 1st International Conference: Creating a Sustainable Construction Industry in Developing Countries, Stellenbosch, South Africa, November 2000.
[17]
Y. Mahgoub, “Sustainable architecture in the United Arab Emirates: past and present,” in Proceedings of the CAA-IIA International Conference on Urbanisation and Housing, Goa, India, October 1997.
[18]
UNCHS, “Women and construction,” in Towards a Strategy for the Participation of Women in All Phases of the United Nations Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000, A. Ramachandran, Ed., pp. 14–16, UNCHS, Nairobi, Kenya, 1990.
[19]
A. Acheampong, J. K. Hackman, J. Ayarkwa, and K. Agyekum, “Factors inhibiting the use of indigenous building materials (IBM) in the Ghanaian construction industry,” Africa Development and Resources Research Institute (ADDRI) Journal, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 1–15, 2014.
[20]
G. Ahiabor, Durable and affordable housing: the case of burnt clay bricks, National Daily Graphic, 2014, http://graphic.com.gh/.
[21]
A. A. Hammond, Small and Medium Scale Brick and Tile Production in Ghana-1 An Overview, Wall Building Case Study, Gate Publishing, 1997.
[22]
S. Gopi, Basic Civil Engineering, Pearson Education, Delhi, India, 2009.
[23]
E. A. Okunade, “Engineering properties of locally manufactured burnt brick pavers for Agrarian and rural earth roads,” American Journal of Applied Sciences, vol. 5, no. 10, pp. 1348–1351, 2008.
[24]
J. O. Adeola, A review of masonry block/brick types used for building in Nigeria [M.S. thesis], University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria, 1977.
[25]
S. Emmitt and C. A. Gorse, Barry's Introduction to Construction of Buildings, Wiley Blackwell, 2nd edition, 2005.
[26]
F. M. Fernandes, B. M. Paulo, and C. Fernando, “Ancient clay bricks: manufacture and properties,” in Materials, Technologies and Practice in Historic Heritage Structures, M. Bostenaru Dan, R. P？ikryl, and á. T？r？k, Eds., pp. 29–48, Springer, 2009.
[27]
Claybricks & Tiles, 2010, http://www.claybricks.comAvailable at Accessed 19/05/14.
[28]
G. Cultrone, E. Sebastián, K. Elert, M. J. de la Torre, O. Cazalla, and C. Rodriguez-Navarro, “Influence of mineralogy and firing temperature on the porosity of bricks,” Journal of the European Ceramic Society, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 547–564, 2004.
[29]
K. Elert, G. Cultrone, C. Rodriguez Navarro, and E. Sebastián Pardo, “Durability of bricks used in the conservation of historic buildings—influence of composition and microstructure,” Journal of Cultural Heritage, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 91–99, 2003.
[30]
D. N. Winslow, C. L. Kilgour, and R. W. Crooks, “Predicting the durability of bricks,” Journal of Testing and Evaluation, vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 527–531, 1988.
[31]
Brick, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick.
[32]
J. K. Boadi, K. Obeng, J. A. Danquah, F. W. Manu, and P. D. Baiden-Amisah, “Need to re-launch brick and tile revolution as answer to national shelter problem,” in Proceedings of the National Housing Conference, CSIR-GIA, Ed., Accra, Ghana, October 2009, http://www.brri.org/index.php/2013-10-02-17-59-24/new/119-proceedings-of-national-housing-conference.
[33]
The Brick Industry Association, Technical notes on brick construction, 2009, http://www.gobrick.com/.
[34]
“Standard terminology for sustainability relative to the performance of buildings,” Tech. Rep. ASTM E 2114-06a, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pa, USA, 2006.
[35]
M. Chusid, S. H. Miller, and J. Rapoport, “The building brick of sustainability,” The Construction Specifier, pp. 30–41, 2009.
[36]
Architects Registration Council of Ghana, List of fully registered architectural firms in Ghana, 2010, http://www.arcghana.org/.
[37]
G. D. Israel, “Sampling the evidence of extension program impact,” Program Evaluation and Organizational Development, IFAS, University of Florida, PEOD-5, 2009.
