Appraisal of Burnt Bricks As A Building Material in Ghana

2015

english

Bricks have been touted as one of the most durable and sustainable building materials ever present according to research dating back its usage as far back as 10,000 BC. Despite its superior advantages over the conventional cement based products, patronage in Ghana remains at less than 2%. About 85% of brick construction in the country is of the single leaf (a standard 102.5mm thick wall normally referred to as half brick thick wall).This study assesses the performance of some of these brick houses constructed to promote the material and occupied over the past fifteen years within the Kumasi metropolis.it also assesses the satisfaction levels of residents living in these houses. The case study approach was primarily used together with the multi-stage sampling procedure which was employed to solicit and gather information from three resettlement towns through a semi-structured questionnaire. A five Likert scale was used in determining the satisfaction levels with 5 being highly satisfied and 1 being highly dissatisfied Analytical statistical tools in SPSS were used in extracting data and analysis through simple frequencies and bar graphs. The study revealed that most residents were satisfied with the brick dwellings though they had reservations in the monotony of the brick colour. Again the condition of the house was very good in terms of construction, thermal insulation, maintenance and appearance. The study also revealed that major transformation occurred within the interior either to break the brick color monotony or introduce bright color to enhance day lighting. The study thus recommends that in view of the potential benefits of its usage government should devote more resources to make it available to the public building more public buildings with this material. Again artisans should be trained in their execution through the National Artisan Training Centre at Building And Road Research Institute, Kumasi.

Danquah, J. A.; Abrokwah, P. O.; Twumasi-Ampofo, K.; Ankrah, J. S.