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Arab News
10-07-2025
- General
- Arab News
Houses made from rice: Kyrgyzstan's eco-friendly revolution
KYZYL-KIYA, Kyrgyzstan : It may look like an ordinary building site but Akmatbek Uraimov's new house in Kyrgyzstan is being built with blocks of rice. The eco-friendly alternative to conventional construction materials is booming in the Central Asian country, which is vulnerable to global warming and grapples with water shortages. Before selecting the unorthodox material, Uraimov had researched other options, but concluded that the relatively cheap blocks made from rice husks were his best option. 'In terms of insulation, cost, as well as for builders, it turned out to be convenient,' said Uraimov, who lives in the village of Kyzyl-Kiya in southern Kyrgyzstan. 'People didn't know about it. Now they see it, they are interested, they call,' he told AFP. Nursultan Taabaldyev is one of the pioneers of the technology in Central Asia hailed as an environmentally friendly alternative to water-intensive concrete. In a workshop in his home region of Batken, rice dust was billowing into the air from the husks, the rough outer shell of rice which is normally thrown away or burned. Workers with protective masks over their faces were compressing the bricks before rushing to dry them, and helping clients load the finished blocks onto trucks. They are 'made of 60 percent rice husks. The rest is clay, cement and a chemical-free glue,' Taabaldyev told AFP. When dry, they are as strong as cement thanks to silica naturally present inside the husks. 'This idea came to me as a child, while doing carpentry with my father,' said Taabaldyev. The 27-year-old has already built '300 houses' in five years — first with sawdust, then with rice. When he started, there was little robust research into the technology. That is starting to change. Several initial studies from various countries have highlighted the potential economic and environmental benefits of using rice blocks in construction. Crucially, they require less cement, which is responsible for approximately eight percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, according to 2023 figures from the World Economic Forum. In her village in a mountainous and arid region, Ykhval Boriyeva has also opted for rice blocks, praising their insulating qualities. Her house remains 'warm in winter and cool in spring' thanks to its low thermal conductivity. 'We save on coal. The walls retain heat and coolness well,' she said. The material is also well within reach, with the Batken region producing a third of Kyrgyzstan's rice crop. 'Rice waste is thrown into the fields, slowly burns, harms the environment, and is not used as fertilizer. So we decided to recycle it,' Taabaldyev said. The problem of dealing with rice waste is even more acute in large rice producers like India. There '31.4 million tons of rice husks fill landfills and cause environmental problems,' according to a study late last year published by Springer Nature. 'Farmers are happy for us to remove rice waste because its accumulation creates a fire risk' in barns if ventilation is poor, said Taabaldyev. But as for the fire hazard to buildings made of rice, a regional official from Kyrgyzstan's emergency situations ministry said there was 'no particular danger.' Farmer Abdimamat Saparov is another who has welcomed Taabaldyev's innovative approach, pointing at the mounds of rice waste. 'After harvesting and drying the rice, about 40 percent of waste remains, which we have no way of processing,' said Saparov. Such abundance makes the blocks cheaper than ordinary building bricks — another crucial factor in southern Kyrgyzstan, where the average monthly salary is around $230. Cement is more expensive in Kyrgyzstan than anywhere else in Central Asia and the government is mulling adding it to a list of socially sensitive products, alongside bread and oil, that would allow it to dampen surging prices. Having proved the concept in the mountainous region, Taabaldyev dreams of industrialising production, expanding internationally and eyeing up even more potential materials. 'I want to go to Kazakhstan to make bricks from crushed reed and straw,' he said.
Malay Mail
08-07-2025
- General
- Malay Mail
Houses made from rice: How Kyrgyzstan is building a sustainable future with eco-friendly rice husk blocks to tackle climate change
KYZYL-KIYA (Kyrgyzstan), July 8 — It may look like an ordinary building site but Akmatbek Uraimov's new house in Kyrgyzstan is being built with blocks of rice. The eco-friendly alternative to conventional construction materials is booming in the Central Asian country, which is vulnerable to global warming and grapples with water shortages. Before selecting the unorthodox material, Uraimov had researched other options, but concluded that the relatively cheap blocks made from rice husks were his best option. 'In terms of insulation, cost, as well as for builders, it turned out to be convenient,' said Uraimov, who lives in the village of Kyzyl-Kiya in southern Kyrgyzstan. 'People didn't know about it. Now they see it, they are interested, they call,' he told AFP. Nursultan Taabaldyev is one of the pioneers of the technology in Central Asia hailed as an environmentally friendly alternative to water-intensive concrete. In a workshop in his home region of Batken, rice dust was billowing into the air from the husks, the rough outer shell of rice which is normally thrown away or burned. Workers with protective masks over their faces were compressing the bricks before rushing to dry them, and helping clients load the finished blocks onto trucks. They are 'made of 60 percent rice husks. The rest is clay, cement and a chemical-free glue,' Taabaldyev told AFP. When dry, they are as strong as cement thanks to silica naturally present inside the husks. 'This idea came to me as a child, while doing carpentry with my father,' said Taabaldyev. The 27-year-old has already built '300 houses' in five years — first with sawdust, then with rice. 'No particular danger' When he started, there was little robust research into the technology. That is starting to change. Several initial studies from various countries have highlighted the potential economic and environmental benefits of using rice blocks in construction. Crucially, they require less cement, which is responsible for approximately eight percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, according to 2023 figures from the World Economic Forum. In her village in a mountainous and arid region, Ykhval Boriyeva has also opted for rice blocks, praising their insulating qualities. Her house remains 'warm in winter and cool in spring' thanks to its low thermal conductivity. 'We save on coal. The walls retain heat and coolness well,' she said. The material is also well within reach, with the Batken region producing a third of Kyrgyzstan's rice crop. An aerial view shows rice fields in the Batken region in southern Kyrgyzstan. — AFP pic 'Rice waste is thrown into the fields, slowly burns, harms the environment, and is not used as fertiliser. So we decided to recycle it,' Taabaldyev said. The problem of dealing with rice waste is even more acute in large rice producers like India. There '31.4 million tons of rice husks fill landfills and cause environmental problems,' according to a study late last year published by Springer Nature. 'Farmers are happy for us to remove rice waste because its accumulation creates a fire risk' in barns if ventilation is poor, said Taabaldyev. But as for the fire hazard to buildings made of rice, a regional official from Kyrgyzstan's emergency situations ministry said there was 'no particular danger'. Next up 'crushed reed' Farmer Abdimamat Saparov is another who has welcomed Taabaldyev's innovative approach, pointing at the mounds of rice waste. 'After harvesting and drying the rice, about 40 per cent of waste remains, which we have no way of processing,' said Saparov. Such abundance makes the blocks cheaper than ordinary building bricks — another crucial factor in southern Kyrgyzstan, where the average monthly salary is around US$230. Cement is more expensive in Kyrgyzstan than anywhere else in Central Asia and the government is mulling adding it to a list of socially sensitive products, alongside bread and oil, that would allow it to dampen surging prices. Having proved the concept in the mountainous region, Taabaldyev dreams of industrialising production, expanding internationally and eyeing up even more potential materials. 'I want to go to (neighbouring) Kazakhstan to make bricks from crushed reed and straw,' he said. — AFP
The Guardian
25-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
The pros and cons of Passivhaus buildings
Regarding Adrian Birch's letter (Britain should adopt the Passivhaus standard to cut energy costs in new homes, 21 May), we have been attempting to build a Passivhaus standard home. However, we cannot justify building to that standard because the cost has risen over the past two years to £3,800 per sq metre for a 165-sq-metre timber-frame build. Obviously, if the nation's housebuilding companies did try to build to Passivhaus standard, the costs would be less due to economies of scale but, given their constant complaining that they cannot afford to do so, and our government's refusal to stipulate higher environmental standards, it seems highly unlikely that they will try to future-proof their often poorly built and designed homes. As for our desperately needed social homes, if building costs remain as high, how many will be able to be built to a Passivhaus standard? After extensive revisions to our plans, we are getting closer to building an energy-efficient home that incorporates many of the Passivhaus features, but at a lower cost and, potentially, a lower energy performance certificate score. Passivhaus standard should be the future for British housebuilding, but not at current price and Jane HillPerth Over 15 years ago as one of the trustees overseeing the renovation of the Mildmay Community Centre in north London, we went for the Passivhaus standard of serious insulation, solar panels and ground-source heating. Despite considerable opposition at the time, the building was the first retrofitted Passivhaus standard community centre in England. It is warm, beautiful and efficient. Passivhaus is a long established standard in Germany, and could and should be adopted in the UK for new builds. But as anyone can see if they visit our community centre, it is also perfect and appropriate for retrofitting old LittlewoodLondon Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Britain should adopt the Passivhaus standard to cut energy costs in new homes
Regarding your article (Poor building standards add £1,000 to energy bills of new homes, analysis finds, 16 May), the solution is very simple: the government should adopt the Passivhaus standard that has been established in Germany for over 25 years. Its use there results in buildings with little or no heating requirements as the buildings are super-insulated and extremely airtight, and have mechanical ventilation and heat reclaim systems to distribute filtered air throughout the property. This can obviate the need for solar panels and heat pumps, which have a lifespan of around 25 years. However, housebuilders in the UK do not yet have the desire to build houses this way as it requires site staff be motivated to build in a way that prevents air leakage and to care about build quality, something that is sorely lacking here. The higher build cost for the fabric would be offset by the absence or reduction in the cost of heating installation. We have yet to see how the future homes standard will compare, but I for one am not holding my BirchBrockweir, Gloucestershire Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
