Geo-Building Technologies (GBT) Introduces Green Building Technology to Afghanistan

March 18, 2008 – Vol. 12 No. 52

Geo-Building Technologies (GBT) Introduces Green Building Technology to Afghanistan.

The GreenMachine, a portable, self-powered system designed to manufacture structural, precision-engineered tongue and groove compressed earth blocks, may revolutionize the construction industry in Afghanistan and developing countries around the world.

Manufactured by TerraBuilt Corporation International (TerraBuilt) of Middleburg, Virginia, the GreenMachine makes blocks on site, nicknamed “TerraBricks,” that are made from subsoil and small amounts of either cement or lime, requiring no mortar for construction. TerraBricks are 92 percent subsoil and 8 percent cement with a compressive strength of 2,240 psi.

TerraBricks cost less than half the price to produce as conventional kiln-fired bricks (currently the most popular building material in the region). TerraBricks also exceed all US Code Standards and are far more energy efficient to produce than concrete or kiln-fired bricks. In buildings TerraBricks also add energy efficiency benefits of a thermal mass to help heat or cool a building.

The affordable building materials may prove key to region’s redevelopment. “Attracting foreign direct investment is critical to the reconstruction efforts and sustainable long-term economic growth of Afghanistan,” says Yukiko Omura, Executive Vice President of the World Bank Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency

GBT will begin introducing the technology to the region in March 2008, and will gradually expand training and availability of the portable units in coming months.

In the United States, several large construction materials companies are showing an interest in the largely carbon neutral TerraBricks as a cost effective, energy saving means of building green wall systems for housing or commercial buildings, landscaping and farm outbuildings. To supply the huge potential demand for this kind of product in the US market, TerraBuilt’s patented process technology would be utilized in high volume production plants, turning out millions of TerraBricks weekly for distribution to builders, contractors, developers and DYI people. And, says TerraBuit’s CEO Stephen Keiley, “Not only do TerraBricks provide a cost effective solution for green building worldwide but it also appears that TerraBricks could provide the basis for packaging and selling carbon credits”.

Geo-Building Technologies, LLC is a licensee of TerraBuilt Corporation International (3/17/08)

Links:

TerraBuilt Corporation International
http://www.terrabuilt.com

REVIEW: BUILDING WITH AWARENESS, The Construction of a Hybrid Home.

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