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Out of Necessity Appears Concrete Hollow Block

Using fire-burnt clay bricks to meet the ever-rising need of homes and industries in Bangladesh has been a common phenomenon. The excessive emission of harmful pollutants from kilns has already made our environment unhealthy for living. These pollutants affect our respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Besides, making clay bricks requires top-soil, which is the most arable part of soil. So there has always been a demand for an eco-friendly replacement of red clay bricks. With the advancement in construction technology we have got hollow blocks, which are fully machine-made. Therefore, its production process does not emit pollutants or toxic gases into the environment. With a responsibility to save the environment, ‘bti Building Products’ has been producing and using Concrete Hollow Blocks for own projects of bti in Dhaka and Chattogram, and now also selling it to all real estate developers and homeowners.

Green Building Movement

To protect the environment, eco-friendly building materials have gained popularity over time. Though Green Building Movement started globally since the 1970s, it has gained momentum in Bangladesh in the last few years as well. It is praiseworthy that Bangladesh government has taken steps for the production of blocks to mitigate environmental damage and to save agricultural lands. To promote this Green Building Movement, bti has been manufacturing and using Concrete Hollow Block since 2014.

Steps Taken to Pave the Way of Concrete Hollow Block

Saving our environment from air pollution has now got significance. Environment, Forests and Climate Change Minister of Bangladesh Government, Md Shahab Uddin expressed to the media (after the 15th meeting of the executive committee of the National Environment Committee) that hollow blocks would be made mandatory step by step to prevent air pollution. He emphasized that we should protect the environment at any cost, and assured that effective measures would be taken to reduce tariffs or provide govt. initiatives for the production of environment friendly hollow bricks and blocks. The government had already issued a gazette on November 24 making provision for using blocks in its construction projects instead of bricks. To save our environment, Mallick Anwar Hossain, Additional Director General of the Department of Environment had declared, “We have decided to completely shift to blocks from fire bricks by 2025.”     

To phase out the uses of bricks by 2025, government has decided to use blocks for walls of building, herringbone bond roads, and type B village roads. Government has planned to use concrete blocks in its construction projects by 20% within 2020-2021, 30% within 2021-2022, 60% within 2022-2023, 80% within 2023-2024, and 100% by 2025.

Usefulness

Concrete Hollow Block is machine-made, eco-friendly and consistent in its finish. The void area inside Concrete Hollow Block makes it sound-proof. Being lightweight, it can be easily installed according to the desired architectural design. The low water-retention capability of Concrete Hollow Block reduces risk of dampening. Being salinity-proof and unaffected by change of weather conditions, Concrete Hollow Block is cost-effective for maintenance. By incorporating it into any installation one can reduce heating and cooling cost and other maintenance fees. Concrete Hollow Block is highly durable, and can withstand a high level of loading. Using this block is equally beneficial to construction companies and individual homeowners. The environment friendly and versatile appeal of Concrete Hollow Block has already made it popular within the developers, builders and homeowners.

Last but Not the Least

It’s high time all real estate developers and homeowners started using long-lasting eco-friendly Concrete Hollow Blocks instead of harmful fire-burnt fragile clay bricks to mark the outstanding environment-friendly progress of Bangladesh in the real estate business.

The quality of building products used during construction shapes the structure, durability and strength of a building. It is more than just an investment, it is a pathway to a safe and secure future for the residents. While bricks are largely used in construction, the innovative concrete blocks have taken the construction industry by storm thanks to its numerous advantages.

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According to research, Dhaka is highly prone to earthquakes and other natural disasters such as floods. An 8.2 on the seismic scale can easily floor the city. Fire hazards and other situations could greatly damage a building. The construction quality should be of highest reliability, and this is where bti building products step in. Being a pioneer in real estate business for almost four decades, bti continues to deliver its brand promise of quality construction and timely handover. Our target has always been to satisfy our customers and produce construction that is safe and uncompromised under all circumstances. Our journey into enhancing the quality of building materials is relatively new, but we have gained significant recognition over time thanks to our amazing line of building products and research.

Eco-friendly Hollow Concrete Blocks

Our first venture into the building products business, these blocks have gained widespread acclaim. Bti produces 6.5 million concrete hollow blocks annually in a world-class manufacturing factory located in Dhamrai. The blocks are smooth and encased into brick-shaped structures, with a hollow center that prevent heat and sound. They interlock with each other, requiring less mortar, and hence, greatly reducing construction costs. There are different types of blocks, depending on thickness, such as 110 mm, 100 mm and 90 mm.

These blocks are better than the traditionally used red clay bricks in Bangladesh for a number of reasons. Concrete hollow blocks have lower salinity compared to bricks, which means higher durability and resistance to humidity. During the monsoon season, often bricks are unavailable because of damage due to humidity, but since these blocks are humidity resistant they can be found all year round, which reduces construction costs and saves a lot of time! While bricks cannot be strengthened further, hollow blocks can be further developed with cement or other materials. So it is safe to say that concrete blocks are much stronger, time-saving and cost-effective. Electric cables can pass through the cavities very easily. Bricks are affected by their chemical composition and deteriorate over time. Manufacturing them produces large levels of toxic fumes, but not our machine-made concrete blocks! Also, five bricks can be replaced by one concrete block, which will still cost less than five bricks. The blocks also help to reduce the overall weight of the building, making the foundation and superstructure more earthquake resistant and stable.

Finally, these blocks are highly multifunctional. You can use them to build residential buildings, commercial spaces, internal partition walls, architectural decorations, and interior designing. For a developing country like Bangladesh, concrete hollow blocks solve most construction problems.

Versatile Unipavers

Our next product in line, unipavers are actually flooring materials for outdoor purposes, such as driveways, footpaths, walkways, and pavements. Depending on the size, style, and preferences of the customer, the unipavers can be customized. The cost also relies on these factors. Our unipavers have been used to build factories, internal roads, fuel stations, industrial yards, parking lots, basements, etc. The unipavers are also durable. After years of usage, they can be taken out via sand filling and the road can be widened further. In remote areas where carpeting is damaged, unipavers can effectively solve the problem. Unipavers are also machine-made, and hence, ensure eco-friendliness as much as possible during construction.

Aesthetically Pleasing Pavement Tiles

The pavement tiles are our next product in the collection. They come in various colors and designs, and can withstand up to 1200 PSA compressing stress. The pavement tiles can be custom-made as well, but the general size is 8×4 inches, with varying thicknesses of 60 mm, 70 mm, 80 mm, and 90 mm. Not only will your constructed structure be completely functional, it will also look aesthetically pleasing and retain high quality for the years to come. The tiles are environmentally friendly with negligible salinity of course. It can absorb high amounts of rain water and still remain durable. Hence, they can be used in footpaths and garden walkways. All of bti’s building products, including pavement tiles are rigorously tested in BUET.

Bti produces a range of building products designed to enhance construction quality and durability, even under dangerous circumstances. Our building products are a true testament to our commitment towards construction quality and efforts to create sustainable housing solutions. The products are tested in full-proof methods, so our customers can rest assured about what we deliver to them. We hold our customer in the highest regard and want to provide them the best.

Concrete hollow blocks are innovative building products that are used as substitutes for traditional bricks in building construction. They have an inner void area which is greater than 25% of their gross area and are available in various sizes and shapes. Concrete hollow blocks are machine-made and unaffected by weather conditions unlike the red bricks. They are used extensively in several Asian countries and worldwide, but in Bangladesh, the use of hollow blocks is still limited due to lack of awareness about the product. Concrete hollow blocks are mainly used for their durability, low cost, speed of construction, and eco-friendliness besides others.

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Among the many benefits of hollow concrete blocks are the facts that they can reduce the air conducting load up to 50% and absorb 3 to 4% less water than traditional blocks, according to Ecologic. These building blocks, becoming increasingly more popular for both construction companies and homeowners feature simplicity in their use as building elements, strength factors when compared to other conventional blocks such as bricks, adaptability in respect to achieving the desired architectural shape, and even beauty in their economy in construction.

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As time passes, we strive to innovate and make our lives a little easier. That stands true for our industry as well. As we move forward, we need to change the way we work, in pursuit of excellence, in pursuit of a better future. That is exactly what bti has done. bti Building Products has come up with concrete blocks, an innovative solution to increase the speed of construction as well as making it more sustainable.

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The demand for clay bricks rose due to the ever-rising need for homes resulting in unprecedented progress of the real estate industry in Bangladesh. This would’ve been wonderful news for us if it wasn’t so harmful to the environment. The Government of Bangladesh has been tirelessly working to combat this problem for a long time and has successfully able to shut down 349 illegal brickfields.

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