Haileybury Youth Trust

Haileybury Youth Trust

INTERLOCKING STABILISED SOIL BLOCKS

Location: Uganda

Developer: The late Dr Moses Musaazi

Support Secured: $50,000.

Needed: $118,000 

Website: https://hytuganda.com/

HYT Uganda is an award-winning NGO with a track record in construction and training using a compressed earth technology, the Interlocking Stabilised Soil Block (ISSB) as an alternative to the environmentally damaging fired brick. HYT trains young men and women in this innovative, carbon-saving building technology, giving construction skills that improve opportunity and livelihoods.

HYT partners with NGOs in Uganda to  encourage the wider adoption of environmentally-friendly construction practices. HYT is a registered charity in the UK and Uganda and uses its own funds to implement construction and training projects.  

The Challenge

“Fired/burned bricks have negatively affected the local environment contributing to issues such as deforestation, desertification, air pollution, excessive soil extraction and fuel crisis. Uganda’s forests could be vanished during the next few decades.” Hashemi, Arman & Cruickshank, Heather (2015). Embodied Energy of Fired Bricks: The Case of Uganda and Tanzania.

The Solution

Interlocking Stabilised Soil Blocks are a mix of sub-soil, cement and sand with a little water, manually pressed and left to cure (harden) for 28 days. No firewood is needed in production. This environmentally-friendly material dramatically reduces the construction industry's carbon footprint.

The Impact

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WORK TO DATE (2006 to JULY 2021):

ISSB BUILDINGS:

·   HYT has trained 472 young men and women from all over Uganda in all aspects of construction with a special focus on ISSB technology

• HYT has constructed 164 ISSB buildings of total floor area 11,131 sq metres, including classrooms, staff accommodation, kitchens with energy saving cook stoves, perimeter walls, dormitories and latrines

• Using Interlocking Stabilised Soil Blocks, a typical three classroom block of floor area 175.5 sq metres will save 16 tons of carbon dioxide. 

·   HYT has been working in the refugee settlements of Bidibidi and Kyaka II since 2019 with 57% of the refugee trainees finding further employment in construction. For instance, in partnership with Children On The Edge, HYT has constructed 14 early childhood development centres and 6 latrines in Kyaka II refugee settlement. All structures are made using climate-friendly ISSB and 56 refugees have been trained in all aspects of construction.

·   In 2017, HYT won the prestigious International Ashden Award for Sustainable Buildings

·   In 2021, HYT was chosen by the British High Commission as a COP26 showcase in sustainable, climate-friendly development.

ISSB RAINWATER HARVESTING:

• HYT's ISSB rainwater harvesting tanks are more affordable than the steel alternatives and are more durable than plastic tanks. Plastic tanks cost Ugx. 400,000/ litre of capacity (but plastic tanks are banned in Bidi Bidi); Steel tanks cost Ugx. 800,000/ litre while ISSB tanks cost Ugx. 400,000/ litre. Their 170mm thick walling is near impossible to penetrate and is easily repaired and maintained 

• HYT has constructed 124 ISSB rainwater harvesting tanks since 2006

Next Stage: One Million Litres of Water

HYT’s next project aims to continue promoting ISSB rainwater harvesting tanks in Bidi Bidi refugee settlements. 

Access to clean, safe water is a serious issue in most refugee settlements. Rainwater harvesting can significantly improve water security in marginalized populations. Every year in Uganda’s refugee settlements, large NGOs install hundreds of expensive and environmentally damaging steel tanks. HYT aims to help trained refugees win contracts with those NGOs and install ISSB tanks, providing employment for teams of refugees and keeping money in the settlement.

The project, One Million Litres, will install a million litres of rainwater harvesting capacity for 67,000 children by building 50 rainwater harvesting tanks in 50 Bidi Bidi schools, train an additional 30 refugees and plant 25,000 trees in the process. The project is summarised here.