NBRRI makes case for local building materials

According to The Nation, the Director-General of Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI), Professor Danladi Matawal, has said using locally-sourced building materials will not only save money for the builder, but can be more environmentally-suited to a particular locality.

Matawal, a professor of Civil Engineering, spoke at the 17th Lagos International Housing Fair, which held at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja.

It was themed: “Quality management in housing delivery.”

Matawal, who was represented by a Special Adviser to Ogun State Governor, Nureen Sulaiman, in his paper titled: “High costs of building construction: The need for alternative and sustainable building materials for housing development”, observed that by using local building materials, a builder could save as much as 30 per cent cost than using foreign materials.

“It is generally expected that locally-sourced materials and the technologies for its application in the above-mentioned areas will not only be more climatically and environmentally suited to the particular locality, but also cheaper and more affordable. It is in the light of this that there has been a call to look inwards in the sourcing of materials, especially those for construction, used in the country,” he said.

Prof Matawal recalled that at a NBRRI International Conference on housing summit in 2014, experts estimated that the country requires about 850,000 housing units annually for the next 20 years to solve her housing needs; while an estimated N120 trillion is required to fund the housing deficit.

Said he: “In response to this challenge, some individuals and organisations have ventured into the development of locally-sourced materials and technologies for construction purposes. Unfortunately, the impact of such ventures has not been felt in the country due to the harsh environment and non-acceptability of the technologies developed.”

Matawal classified locally-sourced building materials into three: conventional building materials, traditional building materials and alternative building materials.

He said NBRRI has pursued its mandate and still making significant achievements by pioneering the development of various local construction materials and the equipment required for their use.

These include: improved sun-dried bricks (adobe), cement stabilised bricks/blocks, interlocking laterite blocks, burnt clay blocks, clay roofing tiles, and NBRRI brick/block making machines.

Source: The Nation