13c - ashes to bricks
TRANSCRIPT
Ashes to Bricks Devikulam Industry Development Plan
2011
Team 4, The University of Sydney
Martin Cheung 311183999
Samuel Hamid 311211771
Max Cordony 310210240
Todd Jeffrey 311199909
Engineers Without Borders Challenge, 2011
Devikulam Village
Acknowledgements
We at Team 4 from the 2011 Engineers Without Borders Challenge for the development of
the impoverished Devikulam community, would like to formally extend our thanks and
gratitude to our lecturer Professor Ron Johnston and our tutor Jonathan Bruck for their
ongoing assistance and feedback throughout this project.
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Executive Summary
Our ultimate goal in this Engineers Without Borders challenge is to improve the standard of
living of the people in the Devikulam community. Above all, we aim to achieve this in a
sustainable way; that is culturally approved, technically feasible and economically
reasonable. Chiefly, we have chosen to attack the human development areas of poverty and
housing, for two main reasons. First, these problems undermine the fundamental human
rights of villagers to relative wealth and shelter in their lives, and second, we see these as
the first liberating steps to greater humanitarian development.
Our aim is to implement a locally run brick making industry in Devikulam that will produce
at least 500 bricks per day, with the overarching goal of empowering the community
economically. The village will then have the potential to sell the bricks for extra income, or
to use them in future community building projects. Our project will include the preliminary
plans for future business, as well as construction projects. We aim to encourage and foster
both of these possibilities through the initial organisation of the brick business and dialogue
on the opportunity for future building development, especially within the sector of housing
improvement.
Thus, we firmly believe in the capacity of our project to increase community income and to
empower the community to be more self-reliant in future humanitarian development.
The principal innovation of the project is that the villagers will make interlocking bricks,
using rice husk ash waste from local rice farms as the main aggregate. The bricks will not be
cooked, but cured with cement and water. The brick manufacturing process will involve
batch mixing, mould-filling, machine pressing, curing and transportation.
The crux of the project is that at the same time as providing steady employment to many
villagers, the “Ashes to Bricks” project will become a source of income and building materials
for Devikulam villagers, as well as a small-scale waste management program too. The main
strengths of the project are that it will initially be small scale, dealing specifically with the
Devikulam community and the technical manufacturing process is simple. In addition, the
most significant consideration that we have made regards the sustainability of the project.
It is sustainable…
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Economically: Bricks will generate a source of income or provide building materials for the
Devikulam community.
Environmentally: Use of rice husk ash as the primary aggregate will solve many waste
management issues.
Socially: Developing an industry in Devikulam and the source of income will empower the
villagers to improve all facets of their lifestyle, such as housing, water quality, sanitation and
transport.
The project will provide the opportunity to Devikulam residents to undertake stable part or
full time employment, while still ensuring that they are not overworked. The creation of an
industry is the first step in any humanitarian building development. The benefits of which
can be taken advantage of in the future to improve Devikulam’s living standards and provide
villagers with fundamental human needs of relative comfort and shelter.
We have considered many possible risks or unintended consequences of our project on the
community and the environment, and our design and implementation steps clearly reflect
these considerations. However we concede that it will not be possible to foresee every
difficulty that may be encountered and many assumptions had to be made.
As detailed in the Implementation Section, we are committed to making sure the project is
endorsed, or even championed, by the community. Community eagerness and contentment
will be the key factors in making the project sustainable. Success in this community
consultation will be the vital key to success of the entire “Ashes to Bricks” project. It is with
these considerations in mind that we propose our project, “Ashes to Bricks”.
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Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS 3
LIST OF FIGURES 6
LIST OF TABLES 6
1. PROBLEM DEFINITION 7
1.1. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION 7
1.2. EVALUATION CRITERIA 8
1.3. LITERATURE REVIEW 11
2. DESIGN OPTIONS 13
2.1. DESIGN CRITERIA 13
2.2. DESIGN OPTIONS 13
2.3. DESIGN SELECTION 16
3. DESIGN DESCRIPTION 18
3.1. SUMMARY OF THE DESIGN 18
3.2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION 18
3.2.1. MATERIALS REQUIRED 18
3.2.2. AGGREGATE ALTERNATIVES 20
3.2.3. MANUFACTURING PROCESS 21
3.2.4. INTERLOCKING BRICK DIMENSIONS 24
3.2.5. MANUFACTURING FLOW DIAGRAM 25
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4. IMPLEMENTATION 26
4.1. THE DEVIKULAM NEW BUILDERS PROGRAM 26
4.1.1. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 26
4.1.2. EDUCATION 33
4.1.3. TRAINING 34
4.1.4. DEVELOPING A BUSINESS 35
4.1.5. STRUCTURE OF THE ORGANISATION 36
4.1.6. INCOME GENERATION 38
4.1.7. MARKETING AND SELLING 39
4.1.8. HUMAN RESOURCES 41
4.1.9. DIFFICULTIES ASSOCIATED WITH IMPLEMENTATION 43
4.2. ADDITIONAL APPLICATIONS 48
5. SUPPORTING ANALYSIS 54
5.1. PROTOTYPE 54
5.2. COST ANALYSIS 56
5.3. OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY 60
5.4. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 62
5.5. FINAL DESIGN ASSESSMENT 66
5.5.1. APPLICATION OF EVALUATION CRITERIA 66
5.5.2. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES 68
5.5.3. CONCLUSION 70
6. REFLECTION 72
6.1. TEAM REFLECTION 72
6.2. INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIONS 74
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APPENDIX A: CONTEXT OF DEVIKULAM I
APPENDIX B: RISK ASSESSMENT MATRIX IV
APPENDIX C: SAMPLE FLYER FOR DISTRIBUTION IN DEVIKULAM V
APPENDIX D: ADDITIONAL APPLICATIONS IX
REFERENCES XIII
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List of Figures
Figure 1.3: Soil Stabilised Bricks in Ugandan Communities ......................................................... 12
Figure 3.2.3: Interlocking Brick .................................................................................................. 22
Figure 3.2.4: Interlocking Brick Design ....................................................................................... 24
Figure 3.2.5: Manufacturing Process Flowchart ......................................................................... 25
Figure 4.1.1a: Implementation Flowchart .................................................................................. 27
Figure 4.1.1b: Implementation Gantt Chart ............................................................................... 32
Figure 4.1.5: Organisational Chart ............................................................................................. 37
Figure 4.1.7: Unique Selling Point .............................................................................................. 40
Figure 4.1.8: Graph Devikulam Employment Status ................................................................... 42
Figure 5.1: Making the Prototype .............................................................................................. 54
Figure A: Caste System ................................................................................................................ ii
Figure D.1: House design ground floor plan ................................................................................. x
Figure D.2: House design north elevation ................................................................................... xi
Figure D.3: House design 3D view .............................................................................................. xii
List of Tables
Table 2.3: Trade off Table .......................................................................................................... 16
Table 4.1.9: Issues and Risks Associated with Implementation................................................... 43
Table 5.2a: Mix Proportions ...................................................................................................... 56
Table 5.2b: Equipment Costs ..................................................................................................... 57
Table 5.2c: Cost Analysis ........................................................................................................... 58
Table 5.3: Risk Assessment ........................................................................................................ 60
Table B: Risk Assessment Matrix................................................................................................. iv
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1. Problem definition
1.1. Problem Identification
The problems we are directly addressing are the abject poverty of villagers in Devikulam,
and on a smaller scale, waste management. In transforming the use of rice husk ash, which
currently damages farmers’ soils, “Ashes to Bricks” will create an income and thus directly
alleviate the severe poverty faced by villagers.
In particular, we are addressing these specific problems of waste and poverty because we
believe it is the most practical way to initiate genuine humanitarian development in
Devikulam that is not only sustainable, but which grows and develops after our departure.
This is for four very important reasons:
1. As a source of extra income, “Ashes to Bricks” has the potential to empower the
community economically, allowing them more freedom to develop in other areas.
This is due as much to the fact that villagers will be self-employed (rather than in
inflexible, uncertain employment on farms), as it is to the income they will generate.
2. “Ashes to Bricks” will facilitate future building development in Devikulam by
providing a source of cheap, easy-to-use building material. Also, having learnt the
skills and process of making bricks will in itself encourage the villagers to make use
of the bricks.
3. Due to its benefits in waste management, the project has the potential to become
large and widespread as it is likely to be endorsed by the Indian government, NGOs
and local farmers.
4. Creating a business for which the villagers will be responsible will instil a sense of
independence in the villagers, as well as increase their self-confidence for future,
even village-run, humanitarian development.
Thus while “Ashes to Bricks” does not itself directly address the most important
humanitarian issues of sanitation and housing development, successful implementation of
the “Ashes to Bricks” plan will lead directly to increased wealth, a stock of building materials
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and increased village independence and self-confidence. Moreover, it will lead indirectly to
housing development and humanitarian development in other crucial areas. Most
importantly, it is a sustainable way of achieving these goals that is sensitive and inspiring to
the community.
1.2. Evaluation Criteria
The success and appropriateness of the design will be evaluated by the following criteria,
related to the economic, environmental and social contexts.
Economic
A large proportion of India’s population live below the international poverty line, and
although the definition is lower for the state of Tamil Nadu, there is still a significant amount
of people in the Devikulam community living in poverty, see Appendix A for more detailed
information. Therefore the proposed solution must adhere to the following criteria:
• The solution must create an effective source of income to improve the standard of
living of the Devikulam residents.
• It must be economically sustainable, taking into account the upkeep and running
costs of the solution and allowing for unforeseen expenses;
• It must realise the poverty of the community and take into consideration the set up
costs and how this would impact upon the community;
• The solution must bring in enough capital to cover the costs of labour, in addition to
the above mentioned costs;
The ideal solution in an economical context would build up a stable and thriving economy
within the community that could assist in bringing families above the poverty line and also
provide a secure income for Devikulam residents.
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Social
There is all throughout India a sense of social discrimination even today, despite efforts by
the Indian government to remove this from society. There is a class distinction evident in all
communities and this is also the case in Devikulam (more detailed information regarding this
is available in Appendix A. Thus, the proposed solution must also consider the social
implications it may have according to the following criteria:
• It must have equal benefits for all parts of the community and not provide better or
different benefits between classes. It must not discriminate using social class
distinctions by only allowing certain classes to work on specific areas, as this will
only perpetuate the caste system.
• It must provide an equal opportunity for everyone in the community and allow for
community wide involvement.
• The solution must maintain the cultural integrity of Devikulam and in no way have
any adverse impacts on it.
• The procedure of building the solution must be simple and easy to learn, even by
illiterate villagers.
In this case, the ideal solution is one which would allow all classes of the community to
work together on the project and help to remove this sort of discrimination from the
community.
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Environmental
Devikulam has significant environmental issues regarding waste in addition to other
problems such as open defecation as outlined in Appendix A. Environmental impacts of
proposed solutions must be taken into account as any solution that would add to the
existing problems in this area can be considered as an impractical solution. This sets up the
criteria for proposed solutions in this area:
• The solution must not add to the existing waste issues of the community and if
possible, reduce the amount of waste in the community;
• The design solution must incorporate affordable, locally available materials.
The ideal solution in this context would utilise waste that the community has generated to
create a practical and useful material. This would result in constructive outcomes for the
community and the environment.
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1.3. Literature Review
Throughout history humans have developed various methods of construction and
materials. Before the introduction of cement, soils and mud were the main materials used in
construction. Cement blocks and iron sheets are now signs of the modern era and are
existent even in the most remote, rural communities. The main problem a community like
Devikulam faces is the inability to acquire these materials due to their relatively high cost. So
the locals of Devikulam, like so many others around the world, are in need of a cost effective
material which can be used to build quality houses and structures. To date there exist a
number of alternative solutions to this problem, many of which incorporate the use of an
industrial waste as a main component of the construction material. Here is a brief list of
some of the existing solutions to the problem:
• The company Encos Ltd has been able to create a fully sustainable rice husk ash brick
model using 80% rice husk ash and vegetable oil as a binder.
• Materials with high silica content have been used as a cement substitute in various
block and brick designs. These are called pozzolanic materials and have been used in
the construction industry for many years. Many industrial wastes have been used as
substitutes such as fly ash and pulverized fuel ash. They are used as cement
extenders and are all made up of calcium silicates.
• An entrepreneurial method of mixing rice husk ash with sand, quarry dust and a
small amount of cement exists yet it does not exhibit optimal compressive strength.
• In particular, the development of an interlocking stabilised soil brick in rural
Ugandan communities proved to be a beneficial precedent to our solution. The
United Nations Habitat Organisation has produced a document outlining the
implementation of a brick making process in Ugandan communities. This document
discussed similar issues to those we expect to encounter in Devikulam such as
limited access to modern construction materials. From studying this precedent we
were able to gain a better understanding of the conditions in a poor rural
community and the importance of utilizing locally available resources. The main
aggregate material in these interlocking bricks is locally sourced soil which is then
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stabilised with lime and then pressed with an interlocking brick press (UN-Habitat
2009). This project also introduced us to the idea of interlocking bricks and their
numerous advantages such as less mortar use and extra strength. So far this project
has been implemented successfully in several Ugandan communities. We aim to
create a similar process in India using rice husk ash as an aggregate alternative. This
will hopefully encourage the development of similar operations in the future.
(Figure 1.3: Soil Stabilised Bricks in Ugandan Communities (UN-Habitat 2009))
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2. Design Options
2.1. Design Criteria
After we came upon the idea of implementing a brick industry in the Devikulam community
we researched multiple design options, mindful of the precedent as shown in Section 1.3:
Literature Review. The main factors considered were:
• Compressive strength of the brick
• Cost of materials
• Insulation properties
• Use of waste as a major component
• Energy consumption in manufacturing process
• Resistance to water
2.2. Design Options
After extensive research we decided on five different design options:
• Interlocking rice husk ash, sand, cement brick
• Standard rice husk ash, sand, cement brick
• Traditional mud brick
• Fired clay brick
• Fully sustainable rice husk ash brick with vegetable oil binder
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Interlocking rice husk ash, sand, cement brick
This brick is composed 6 parts aggregate to 1 part cement. The aggregate is half river sand
and half rice husk ash. The aggregate and sand is mixed and then cured with water over 28
days. A special interlocking mould is placed on the brick machine so when the mix is
compacted a unique interlocking brick shape is formed. Initial materials will cost more than
conventional mud bricks, as well as the cost of the brick making machine, but in the long
term, money will be saved on maintenance and repair.
Standard rice husk ash, sand, cement brick
This brick contains the same materials as the previous model and exhibits the same physical
properties however it is in the shape of a conventional 230x110x76 mm brick. Initial
materials will cost more than conventional mud bricks, as well as the cost of the brick
making machine, but in the long term, money will be saved on maintenance and repair.
Traditional mud brick
These bricks are a mixture of clay, sand, mud and water mixed with a rice husk binder.
These are sun dried for 28 days as well. These are the cheapest options for making bricks,
which is one of the main reasons why they are so widely used in rural communities.
Fired clay brick
These contain a mix of raw clay and sand. The clay is first ground and mixed with water to
the desired consistency and then pressed into moulds. The shaped clay must be fired at 900-
1000 °C to achieve strength, thus it requires a kiln or oven.
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Rice husk ash brick with vegetable oil binder
This innovative design contains 80% rice husk ash and uses standard vegetable oil as a
binder. Once the required mix achieved, the shaped bricks are fired at much lower
temperatures of around 150 degrees for 1-2 days. However, vegetable oil can be expensive
and will be difficult to acquire in rural India.
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2.3. Design Selection
Trade-off Table
To establish our chosen design we scored each brick against the weighted design criteria.
After adding up the total score for each design option we chose the one with the highest
total.
Design Option Compressive Strength (1-10)
Cost of Materials (1-8)
Insulation Properties (1-6)
Waste as a component (1-5)
Total energy consumption (1-4)
Resistance to water (1-3)
Total
Interlocking rice husk ash brick
7 5 5 4 3 3 27
Conventional rice husk ash brick
7 5 5 4 3 3 27
Mud brick
5 7 5 3 4 1 25
Fired clay brick
9 4 4 2 1 3 23
Vegetable oil bound rice husk ash brick
6 3 4 5 3 3 24
(Table 2.3:Trade-off Table)
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After examining this trade off table it is clear that rice husk ash bricks have the most
advantages according to our criteria. However, due to the easy to use and innovative design
of the interlocking bricks, we have chosen interlocking rice husk ash bricks.
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3. Design Description
3.1. Summary of the Design
We have chosen the solution of establishing a brickmaking industry development plan that
will help generate income for the Devikulam community, while minimising start-up costs.
Our brick design is unique and innovative since it incorporates rice husk ash as the main
aggregate and the bricks will be moulded into easy to use interlocking bricks. This process
does not require energy intensive kilns as the bricks are cured with the addition of water and
the cementation process that takes place. Over the course of this project it is important to
continue trial runs with different mix materials and ratios to find out the best mixes for
strength and costs. After the implementation of this initial process, there is always potential
for improvement in strength and increasing the amount of waste material contained in the
brick.
3.2. Detailed Description
3.2.1. Materials Required
There are three basic materials required for the manufacture of Rice Husk Ash Bricks: the
aggregate, consisting of rice husk ash, the cement binder and water.
Aggregate
Aggregate is the sand and ash used to compact down and bind together with the cement.
Rice Huck Ash is a good aggregate as it is high in silica, which is the material that actively
binds together with the cement and displays cementitious properties itself. Rice Husk Ash is
also free from chemicals, clay and other organic material so once the brick is formed no
further decomposition will occur. Also, rice husk ash is a relatively neutral substance, which
will bond well with the cement paste without reacting with it. Rice husk ash is a fine particle
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and a well-graded material, so the aggregate can be shaken and easily compacted by hand.
Rice husk ash is readily available and can be cheaply acquired in Devikulam. This is because
neighbouring farms treat the substance as waste. The farmers burn the rice husk in order to
decrease its volume, and then spread it over their fields (which is detrimental to the fertility
of their fields). Thus, using rice husk ash is also an effective way of helping farmers minimise
their waste. For 1000 bricks, it is estimated that 3500 kg of rice husk ash and sand will be
required for the aggregate. The costs of these materials will be elaborated on in Section 5.2
Cost Analysis.
Cement
Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) is used as the binder for our aggregate mix. Cement is the
most costly material in this process but using it eliminates the need to fire the bricks in a
kiln. By using the cement curing method instead of firing the bricks, we are cutting down on
the energy consumption in Devikulam and reducing the risk of working with temperatures
over 900 degrees. The amount of cement required is actually much less because the rice
husk ash exhibits cementitious properties. Rice husk ash is also an effective pozzolanic
material which means it has the necessary silica content to be used as a cement extender. In
the early stages of this process cement is an essential material, however over the course of
this project we aim to continually reduce the amount of cement used in the bricks. This can
be done by introducing other types of waste aggregates such as fly ash and experimenting
with different mixes to minimize cement content and decrease the cost of production
without compromising strength. The cement should always be stored in dry place, off the
floor and should be used within three months of the date of manufacture. It is estimated
that about 1100 kg of cement will be required for every 1000 bricks manufactured. The costs
of cement will be elaborated on in Section 4.2 Cost Analysis.
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Water
Only clean clear water should be used in the manufacture of the bricks. Any organic
material in the water will prevent the cement from setting. Chemicals and impurities will
also affect the strength of the end product. This may be a significant challenge to overcome
due to limited access to potable water. However over the course of this process we aim to
minimise water consumption by using materials with higher silica content.
3.2.2. Aggregate Alternatives
There are a number of types of aggregates that can be used for brick making. These
aggregates may need to be blended or mixed with various proportions of rice husk ash to
suit the quality of the final product. Aggregates with clay, organic matter or excessive salts in
it should never be used.
Sand
There are many different types of sand. Some types are more suitable than others for use
in brick. Some types of sand may need to be blended with other aggregates to get the
correct consistency and suitability. Some possible aggregate sands include river sand and
crusher sand as they have an appropriate mix of particle size which can be compacted and
bound with cement.
Stone
Stone ranging from 5mm to 9mm can be used to blend in with finer aggregates. Stone used
on its own will not work however as the particles are too large to effectively combine with
the cement. Adding stone will add strength to the cured product but could make the surface
of the bricks more rough and porous.
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Ash
Ash and slag by-products from power stations, metal works and other industries can be
used in brick production. These materials are also usually obtainable for very low costs. It is
important to test the ash for its suitability for use with cement and other aggregates. Ash
may also contain high quantities of unsuitable chemicals.
3.2.3. Manufacturing Process
1. Batch Mixing
The first step of the process involves placing the measured quantities of sand, ash and
cement onto the concrete slab. We will start the mix with 1 part cement to 6 parts
aggregate. Initially the aggregate will be a mix of 1 part rice husk ash to 1 part river sand.
This translates to one bag of cement to 3 level wheelbarrows of aggregate. Higher quality
bricks will be produced with a pan mixer, however because of the rice husk ash composition
hand mixing will also be sufficient.
In the short term the mix will be combined by hand although with additional funding we
plan to install a mechanical mixer to increase the productivity of the process. After
production starts a series of trials will be run with different mix proportions. By evaluating
these results we can adapt the mix to be more cost effective.
2. Mixing By Hand
The aggregate needs to be spread evenly out over a concrete surface. Then the cement is
added by spreading it over the aggregate evenly. The aggregate is then shoveled up into a
pile. The pile is spread out again and built up into a second pile. Then the second pile is
spread out again and an even sprinkle of water is added to coat the surface of the mix. The
water is mixed into the aggregate and then the mixture is piled up for a third time. The
mixed batch cannot be allowed to stand for more than half an hour to prevent the
lubricating water from drying out. This method adequately mixes the batch. However, hand
mixing is labour intensive and time consuming and also tends to be more wasteful.
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3. Pan Mixer
Half of the aggregate is placed into the pan mixer and then the cement is added followed
by the remaining aggregate. The cement and aggregate is allowed to mix until a consistent
even colour is produced. Then water is added slowly until a workable mix is reached.
4. Brick Moulding
A manual brick moulding machine will be used in order
to create uniform and well-compressed bricks. According
to UN-Habitat’s report on Interlocking Soil-Stabilised
bricks (2009), a manual brick making machine is able to
apply 80-100 N of compressive force on each brick, which
will cause the bricks to be stronger and more uniform
than regular mud bricks or burnt clay bricks. 2-4 people
working an 8-hour day can produce 400-600 blocks using
this machine. Furthermore, the brick making machine has
the option of different shapes of mould. We have decided
to manufacture interlocking bricks, which do not require
the use of mortar.
Once the required mix of ash, sand, cement and water is achieved a shovel is used to place
a small portion of the mix into the cavity of the machine. A scraper is used to wipe off any
excess and then the lever is pulled down to compress the mix.
(Figure 3.2.3: UN-Habitat 2009)
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5. Curing of Bricks
Curing is one of the most essential parts of the brick production. Correct curing has a big
effect on the quality of the end product and also the cost of the end product. With good
curing the cement content of the bricks can be reduced drastically. The freshly made bricks
should be covered immediately with a black plastic sheet and cured by keeping the plastic
over the bricks for a minimum of 7 days. The plastic needs to be removed briefly to sprinkle
the bricks with water once a day starting from the day after production. A record should be
kept of when the curing blocks were produced so the plastic can be removed on the morning
of the eighth day after production. Within 7 days curing the bricks reach approximately 75%
of their final compressive strength. To obtain maximum compressive strength the bricks
need to be left uncovered in the sun for another 21 days.
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3.2.4. Interlocking Brick Dimensions
The design of the interlocking bricks will be as shown in the table above. This brick design
was originally used for soil stabilized blocks, in Ugandan house construction (UN-Habitat
2009). We have chosen this design for our rice husk ash bricks because they are double
interlocking bricks, which means that each brick is locked into place on all four sides. This
will reduce the requirement for mortar and also increase the structural integrity of the
construction.
PLAN VIEW SIDE VIEW END VIEW
(Figure 3.2.4: Interlocking Brick Design (UN-Habitat 2009))
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3.2.5. Manufacturing Flow Diagram
(Figure 3.2.5: Manufacturing Process Flowchart)
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4. Implementation
4.1. The Devikulam New Builders Program
The cornerstone of the project will involve introducing “The Devikulam New Builder’s
Program”. The main aim of the program is to empower the Devikulam residents and to give
them skills and tools to create an extra avenue of income generation. This section will
analyse the key aspects of the program.
4.1.1. Implementation Plan
The Devikulam New Builders Program will be structured in 6 phases: flyers, seminars, brick
making training, business management training and beginning and continuation of the
manufacturing process. The flowchart and procedure below summarise each stage of
implementation. We plan to employ several less conventional and more engaging techniques
of communication such as door knocking, demonstrations and plays, while strictly avoiding
techniques which may be seen as patronising or insulting methods.
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Phase 1
Flyers will be distributed throughout the community, with the major points of information regarding the project. Total time allocated – 1 week, to allow a brief adjustment.
Seminars will be held which expand upon the information in the flyers. These will provide a slightly more in depth analysis of the project. Total time allocated – 2 weeks, with two parallel seminar streams occurring about 2 times a week and signup for training.
Start of formal brick making training, this process will provide villagers with basic skills relevant to the brick making and expand upon existing skills. Total time allocated – 2 weeks, to divide the number of applicants into smaller, more manageable groups. Business management training
will be held by a professional to teach those who applied some basic business and entrepreneurship skills to ensure a successful enterprise to be run by the community. Total time allocated – 3 to 4 weeks, to ensure adequate business and financial knowledge.
Begin the actual brick making process, there will be experienced supervisors for a short period into this to ensure a decrease in the OHS risks as well as ensuring competency of the workers and the process is being undertaken properly. Total time allocated – 2 weeks.
There will be regular checkups and feedback on the project once it has been handed over to the Devikulam community, these will become less frequent with time. This is to monitor the continual progress of the project and make changes if deemed necessary. Total time allocated – As long as necessary (indefinite at this stage).
(Figure 4.1.1a: Implementation Flowchart)
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Phase 1
1. Community consultation – Must be approval by Devikulam’s elders before any
program can be implemented.
2. Warn the villagers through the village representatives that we will be visiting
households to introduce ourselves over the ensuing days.
3. Publicise the project with the residents of Devikulam: Begin door knocking with a
local translator and disseminate flyers to introduce ourselves, and our project idea,
to each household. Allow translator to clarify any of the basic parts of the project
(since many villagers are illiterate). The dates of seminars which villagers are invited
to attend will be discussed along with the incentives to do so.
4. Innovative Communication - Our representative will take to each of these meetings a
container of rice husk ash and brick, to make plain the link between the two
components, which they are explaining. This will ensure that the basic purpose of
our project is totally clear to every single villager before the seminars begin. The
magic of this acclaimed and presented transformation of ash to brick may also catch
the curiosity of the villagers, which would encourage attendance at the seminars.
Phase 2
1. Hold the seminars, explaining the project in full over the course of several seminars.
Equivalent seminars will be held (similar to lecture streams in university) to provide
flexibility and allow for smaller audience numbers. This facilitates the question and
answer part of the seminar by allowing greater attention to be paid to each
individual (important to portray the impression that we listen: we treat the
community’s opinions with the utmost respect). After a brief introduction into the
mechanics of the project, the focus of the first two seminars will be on the potential
benefits of the project to the village in the following aspects:
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a) More jobs for more wealth - Explaining the business opportunity of brick
sales in the local area (in the context of widespread and increased
humanitarian development in India) and what this means for villagers (i.e.
more food, greater independence and flexibility in that villagers will work for
themselves)
Innovative Communication - To explain merely in words the idea of business to
locals, who have perhaps no business sense, could be futile. We plan to present a
short and sharp play of several situations that will earnestly aim to illuminate
specific key features of business, like sales, managing a team and profit and loss.
Humour will only be included if deemed culturally and socially sensitive by thorough
consideration of Indian culture and religion. The play will be held at the beginning of
the business seminar.
b) Bricks for building - Brick making is the first step to building development:
aside from being able to make a profit, villagers would have the mechanisms
in place to make bricks cheaply and quickly for building development
projects for Devikulam in the future.
Innovative Communication - Demonstrations of making bricks will be included in
these seminars. The purpose of this is not to train villagers, which will come later,
but rather to ensure they have fully understood what is to be explained about the
process. It is expected that this visual aid will be even more enlightening than the
explanations themselves. The visual aid will focus on the basic processes of the
project and emphasise its simplicity.
2. Community leaders or EWB representatives to visit each household again to ask
about any issues the villagers may have with the project as it has been presented in
the seminars. (While many issues should have been accounted for in Section 4.1.10,
we anticipate some issues to arise on the basis of misunderstanding)
3. Revision of project in light of community issues: We are prepared to change the
project significantly to match or assuage the concerns of the villagers. We will not
undertake the project unless or until the village endorses it.
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4. Community “Forum”: In presentation form, we respond to the issues raises by
individual villagers, or Step 2. Villagers will be asked to consider carefully our
revisions to the project before coming forward with further concerns. Any further
concerns at this point shall be treated one by one and may result in interviews with
certain villagers.
5. Interviews (if necessary)
Phase 3 and 4
1. Education and training – Education and training will be provided for the Devikulam
residents in brick manufacturing and entrepreneurship. The steps leading to making
rice husk ash bricks must be performed carefully to ensure good quality, while the
brick making machine is easy to use. The training for the manufacturing process
should take one to two weeks. Some basic training in entrepreneurship and business
concepts must also be taught to the Devikulam residents who will manage the
project when it finally becomes independent from Engineers Without Borders. This
may take a few more weeks of both in-class and on-the-job training, due to the
difficulty of the content.
Innovative Communication - This training will be more practical based and there will
be fewer theoretical components due to the general low standard of literacy.
Phase 5
1. Manufacturing and construction – The manufacturing of the brick will begin in
earnest immediately after the training, and once more than 1000 bricks are made,
the residents should think about selling the bricks (We have calculated that 1000
bricks will be approximately enough to build a 4m × 6m house). An NGO member
will oversee the brick making for several months; helping with rostering, organising
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start-up wages, supervising the brick making process and helping train new staff
who join late; and will assume less and less responsibility with time.
2. Marketing and business – A marketing and business plan will be implemented as
demonstrated in Section 4.1.6 Income Generation. Initially, the bricks will be sold to
nearby towns and villages to assist their construction projects. This can be
undertaken in conjunction with other NGO run humanitarian development.
Phase 6
1. Innovative Communication - As the program progresses, the villagers will be
encouraged to give regular feedback and report results of the program. This will be
achieved through visits to the workplace in order to hear the workers’ concerns, to
all households again, to gauge the way in which the project is affecting the
individuals of the community. In this way, the implementation plan can be changed
if it is required and the project can be sustained, even after it becomes independent
from Engineers Without Borders. Also, an experienced assessor will be making
regular inspections of the program to ensure constant progress and development.
2. Commence some discussion on housing development (once some business is well
established). If the community representatives deem it viable then we repeat the
above Implementation Process for the Devikulam Sleeping Quarters Plan, which is
outlined in Section 4.2: Additional Applications.
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The Gantt chart below gives a rough guide to the implementation schedule for the program:
Duration (Weeks)
(Figure 4.1.1b: Implementation Gantt Chart)
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4.1.2. Education
As part of the “Devikulam New Builder’s Program”, there will be an education phase.
Education is the primary step during the implementation of our project. Essentially the
purpose of this is to help in the promotion of the project throughout the community and to
inform the community about the benefits. This process will assist in persuading the
community to take part in and ownership of the project.
During this process we will be educating in simple language how the project as a whole fits
into the community and the positive influence it can achieve through continual
commitment. We will allow the villagers to recognise the possible financial implications,
specifically that the process will provide an additional source of income to the village,
providing incentive for the constant success of project. The project also provides opportunity
for improvement and construction of homes at low cost. This is another aspect that the
education process aims to convey.
Achieving community involvement is vital to the success of the project. At the initial stages
of education we will distribute flyers throughout the community regarding the project, how
it will run and the benefits that come with this project. The flyers will be set in simple
language, with pictures and diagrams to illustrate the main ideas. In addition to these flyers,
we also plan on holding seminars, which expand on the information in the flyers. Similarly to
the flyers, we will also run PowerPoint’s with pictures and animations and brief text, so that
understanding what is written on the slides is not fundamental to understanding the project;
the reason for this being that not all members of the community are literate and if we relied
upon large blocks of text to convey our project, it would become more of a hindrance rather
than an asset. Incorporating demonstrations into these seminars is another aspect which
would significantly help in attaining enthusiasm from the community and therefore
involvement, the demonstrations would largely involve showing the villagers how to actually
make the bricks and what they are made from. The aim of these flyers and seminars is
promote motivation for the project amongst villagers in addition to the aims outlined
previously.
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4.1.3. Training
The aim of the training process of the project is to provide villagers who will be working on
the project with the ability to produce the bricks to an acceptable standard. This portion will
largely deal with adapting existing skills of the villagers as well as providing them with new
skills relevant to the brick making process, and possibly the construction of the housing
extensions (the sleeping quarters). An additional objective of the training process is to
introduce the villagers to some basic business concepts and to motivate those involved to
maintain their work ethic.
The training process will essentially comprise of hiring a professional to come in and teach
those who are participating the necessary skills to produce the bricks. The cost of this being
easily justifiable against the long term financial gain for the villagers as it will mean that they
will have the ability to produce a higher quality brick more efficiently. The training will occur
over a week long period and will involve illustrating the entire brick making process. A
monetary reward for those who successfully complete training will be offered to ensure that
the money spent on the professional will not be wasted, as mentioned in Section Human
Resources.
There will also be additional time allocated during this process to teaching the villagers
involved with managing the process some fundamental business concepts; this is so that
they will be able to assume complete control over the project once it becomes independent
of Engineers Without Borders.
Overall, the training process will largely incorporate practical based learning experiences,
especially in regards to the actual brick making process, so as to maintain interest and avoid
problems due to language and literacy barriers. Avoiding large theoretical text based
components will assist in avoiding lack of interest and misunderstanding. We will
incorporate small theoretical components into the training process, however these will
largely be oral and demonstration based.
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4.1.4. Developing a Business
As part of the “Devikulam New Builders Program” the skills that will be taught to the
Devikulam residents will be used to help develop an industry and create a source of revenue
for the community. The most important aspect of the implementation plan is to structure
and operate the program formally just like a business in a developed country. The program
will only become sustainable and ongoing if it is structured and organised in an appropriate
way.
Some basic training in entrepreneurship and project management must also be taught to
the Devikulam residents who will manage the project when it finally becomes independent
from Engineers Without Borders. As part of this course, experienced advisers will teach
them how to structure their industry and strategies that can be used to market and sell the
bricks. This may take up to a month of both in-class and on-the-job training, due to the
59.4% literacy rate in rural India in 2001 (UNESCO 2005). This training will be more practical
based and there will be less theoretical components due to this low literacy rate. This
learning process can continue after the manufacturing process begins, as Engineers Without
Borders can give these residents ongoing advice on how to run the project.
Evidently, the program will have to begin small, only manufacturing bricks at a small scale
for neighbouring villages and towns. However, it has the potential expand and develop into
a large company as it earns more revenue. Finally, regular meetings must be held between
the managers of the program and the Engineers Without Borders facilitators, in order to
provide regular feedback and to consider strategies for improvement and development. All
decisions made will be after consultation with the Engineering Without Borders advisers, in
order to ensure that the program runs efficiently and keeps progressing.
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4.1.5. Structure of the Organisation
The organisational structure of the program will be based around specialisation in order to
improve efficiency, while the Devikulam residents will still feel a sense of ownership and
participation in the program. The implementation plan is to have all Devikulam residents
over the age of 18 to undertake a role that is most suited to them and one that they would
prefer. As mentioned in the Human Resources section of this report, nineteen residents are
unemployed, while the employed villagers work an average of 3-5 days per week. Thus, at
the beginning of the program, a roster can be created that allows villagers to work in this
alternative occupation in their days off. This will allow the villagers to gain an extra income
on top of their current earnings.
The organisational structure that is shown in the chart below does not need to be met
immediately. Instead, it should serve as an ultimate goal for the program. The program’s aim
should be ultimately to form a robust organisational structure, in order to become self-
sustainable and competitive. Initially, the program managers will be experienced people
from Engineers Without Borders. However, when the program reaches an adequate stage,
an initial interview process will be conducted by Engineers Without Borders to select
appropriate candidates to occupy the management and leadership jobs. The chosen
candidates will be trained so that the program can be sustainable in the future without
Engineers Without Borders’ intervention. This will also create an incentive for the Devikulam
residents and encourage them to work as a team to build up the program.
Finally, as the project develops, the managers and Engineers Without Borders advisers may
decide on a restructure of the company and alter responsibilities or departments.
Although, the project will begin small, at a local level, the organisational chart shown below
is a guide to what the program should ultimately be aiming for. This structure is essential if
the industry created is to be sustainable in India.
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Organisational Chart
(Figure 4.1.5: Organisational Chart)
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4.1.6. Income Generation
One of the significant goals in the “Devikulam New Builders Program” is to create a strategy
for income generation for the poor community of Devikulam. Extra income will also be the
main incentive for the villagers, many of whom live below the poverty line.
The first steps for the implementation plan are to start manufacturing bricks, which will be
sold for building projects in neighbouring towns and villages in the Vilupurram District. This
will begin to provide some income for the villagers which may motivate them to work harder
to develop the project. As the Devikulam residents become successful with selling bricks to
local communities, the appointed project managers will decide, after consultation with
Engineers Without Borders, whether to expand and sell to other places.
A wage of $10 USD (which converts to around 700 rupees) per worker per week has been
proposed in addition to the money that will be given to workers who undertake training.
Bonuses will also be awarded to workers who commit to the job for at least a year. The
remaining revenue that has been generated will be allocated to building capital so that the
project may expand in the future.
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4.1.7. Marketing and Selling
After manufacturing the bricks, the initial plan is to sell them to neighbouring communities
to assist in their building projects. The customer value proposition of the bricks (i.e benefits
that the customer will receive) will be attractive to customers.
1. The Rice Husk Ash Bricks have a high strength and resistance to water compared to
regular mud bricks. This is cost effective in the long term, as it decreases the need
for regular maintenance of houses. Mud bricks are easily damaged by the monsoon
floods and so must be repaired after the wet season.
2. The manual brick machine is capable of making a variety of shapes, depending on
the mould. The interlocking brick design that has been chosen will make it very easy
to use and does not require a skilled professional to construct buildings.
3. Interlocking bricks eliminate the need to use mortar, which is very expensive at 250
rupees per 50 kg (Maa Properties 2010) and the price is increasing. Thus, the
builders who use Rice Husk Ash Bricks will save greatly on costs.
4. The traditional mud brick cannot made uniformly as it is usually made by hand using
a wooden mould. The brick making machine will be able to compress the bricks with
forces of 80-100N (UN-Habitat 2004), which will create not only strong but uniformly
shaped bricks. Therefore, they will be much better quality than traditional mud
bricks.
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The Unique Selling Point of Bricks
The unique selling point strategy that we suggest that the Devikulam residents use is
summarised in the below. We believe that using such a strategy to sell the innovative
interlocking bricks is vital for successful sales performance.
(Figure 4.1.7: Unique Selling Point)
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4.1.8. Human Resources
According to the EWB Industry Development factsheet on Devikulam (2010), villagers in
Devikulam currently work on average 3-5 days per week. This is not including those of
middle castes status who own land. These landowners work 5-6 days per week on their
farms. According to community development organization BLIS (Buzza Land Information
Systems) (2011), paid employment generally occurs on an irregular basis for Devikulam
residents. Thus, a large proportion of the residents of Devikulam currently work only 3 days
per week. However, it is estimated that due to the irregularity of work arrangements this is
not a constant figure. Rather, villagers could often work only once or twice out of five days.
Furthermore, there are up to 19 people unemployed, or with unknown sources of income
(BLIS, 2011). Thus, it is reasonably estimated that there will be at least 15 villagers able to
work on the brick making process. This will be sufficient to initiate the brick making
mechanisms and processes, at least on a small scale.
The “Devikulam New Builders Program” is an opportunity for these unemployed and under-
employed villagers to take on work for 1-4 days a week, as desired. Given the
commencement of the brick industry, there will be arguably potential for growth in this
industry through the large number of under-employed villagers, who could complement the
core full/part time workers with casual work. Their involvement could bolster the brick
production rate and share the burden of labour intensive work.
If the brick industry is successful, it has potential to empower the whole village in an
economic sense by giving residents an alternative choice of where to work. It is foreseeable
that increased income and more job opportunities for locals would create employment
competition with farm owners employing locals as agricultural labourers, and that land
owners would have to increase wages to stay attractive as employers.
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In addition, it must be noted that the majority of villagers who will start work on this brick-
making project are currently casual agricultural labourers, shown in the graph below.
Therefore, it is ethical to expect that the Devikulam villagers will be accustomed to physical
labour and will have no problem with the less demanding brick making process.
Furthermore, it must also be considered that one of the central tenets of Hinduism,
Dharma, dictates the religious importance of doing one’s duty as a certain member of
society. Most of those currently unemployed, the chief potential brick workers, in Devikulam
are members of the Scheduled Class, who are delegated the most difficult or dirty jobs in
society. This creates an ethical issue of whether to delegate the lowest menial labour jobs to
the Scheduled Class people. We believe in equality and that we should not discriminate
between the castes. All residents of Devikulam should be given equal consideration, solely
based on merit, as to what job they are allocated, according to the Engineers Australia Code
of Ethics in Section 6.2: Code of Ethics. As such, the project can foster a sense of
togetherness and teamwork, as opposed to perpetuating the caste system.
(Figure 4.1.8: Graph Devikulam Employment Status) (BLS 2010)
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4.1.9. Difficulties Associated with Implementation
Promotion for the Program
Issue or Risk Potential
Solutions
Considerations of Solution
Poor or
uninteresting flyers
and the seminars
may create
misunderstanding or
negative ideas about
the project.
Appropriate
planning.
Thorough planning must be undertaken before any part of this
project is implemented, including at the initial promotion stage.
As such, flyers should be designed in a way that is not only
simple and easy to understand, but also appealing to the
residents. The seminars must be structured in such a way that
the residents become aware of all benefits that they can attain
through the program.
Flyer must be
designed in an
appropriate way.
Flyers must adopt a factual, instructive tone that will portray
the information as important and serious. It will briefly describe
the features of the project using diagrams, but will then focus
on the actual possible benefits for the village. A sample flyer in
both English and Tamil can be viewed in Appendix C.
Appropriate planning
regarding the
structure and style of
the seminars.
The seminars must be simple so as to avoid any
misunderstanding about the project. There will be a small
amount of information given at each seminar, with the focus on
questions and answers so to really consolidate the villagers’
understanding of the project.
The villagers may
feel overwhelmed by
the great ambition of
the program.
Villagers will only be
given information in
stages.
When the program is being promoted in posters and seminars,
the scale of the overall goal for the program will not be
mentioned. At the beginning, the villagers will only be told
about the prospect of earning an extra income and that the
business will begin small and local.
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Education and Training
Issue or Risk Potential
Solutions
Considerations of Solution
Residents who are
uneducated or
illiterate may not
grasp the concepts
taught in the
education and
training
components of the
program.
Emphasis on
practical and ‘on the
job’ training.
After the education and training, villagers will be able to learn
‘on the job’, alongside qualified and experienced supervisors
and builders hired by Engineers Without Borders. The villagers
will gradually become familiar with the brick making process
and become independent.
Brick-making is too
large a commitment
for such a small and
disempowered
village.
Training all potential
casual workers and
organising shift dates
with a roster.
There are many villagers in Devikulam looking for a little extra
regular work (1 or 2 days). We are willing to train all of these
potential casual workers. This will create a large base of
workers, and thus allow for brick-making to survive and prosper
without relying too heavily on certain workers. The eventual
creation of a roster will facilitate this and regulate the number
of working days based on the amount individual villagers want.
Under the status quo, many villagers do not work five days a
week due to lack of available jobs. At the very least, our project
provides the villagers with an extra job, to be undertaken at
their discretion during spare time, that provides materials for
future growth in the community. It could potentially even
empower the villagers economically, allowing for a richer, more
independent Devikulam to develop.
Many Devikulam
residents are
illiterate, shown by
Manufacturing
process is designed
to be simple and
The manufacturing process is very simple and designed to be
easily understood by anyone, including volunteers and
labourers. The brick-making training will take a maximum of
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the low literacy rate
of rural India of
59.4% (UNESCO
2005). This may
make it difficult for
these people to
learn the
manufacturing or
business process.
easy to follow. two weeks, after which labourers should be able to
manufacture bricks without supervision. The business process,
on the other hand, will only be taught to residents that
Engineers Without Borders deems suitable to become
managers of the project. Moreover, the training for this aspect
will be ongoing and the Devikulam residents will continue to be
trained once the project is underway.
Too difficult to
assemble the whole
village for seminars
at once.
Seminar streams. Similar to lecture streams at university, we will hold several
seminar streams so to allow a majority of villagers to attend
seminars. As an added bonus, there will be fewer villagers in
each seminar, allowing more attention to be paid to each
villager and thus facilitating the learning process.
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Social Considerations
Issue or Risk Potential
Solutions
Considerations of Solution
Workers may have
trouble staying
motivated during a
five-day week of
tiring work.
Paying a wage. In the Scheduled Class colony, average annual household
income is generally between 15,000 and 30, 000 rupees, which
translates to $300-400 US dollars. This could amount to a mere
$10 USD per brick-maker per week, but could become a
powerful incentive to work the hard jobs and work more.
Employees must be
fully aware of how
this program
benefits them.
This relies strongly on the community Education plan outlined
in Section 4.1.2: Education. The key benefits used as incentives
for workers would include the potential for sustainable income
into the future, as well as providing material for any future
building projects such as the sleeping quarters plan, as will be
described in Section 4.2: Additional Applications.
There are a large
number of villagers
seeking extra work.
It is reasonable to assume that, should brick-making work be
limited by difficulty to only two days per week per person,
there will be enough villagers seeking extra work to make up
team numbers for the remaining three days.
Villagers may have a
propensity for
continuing to live
their current way of
life, or according to
tradition.
We will offer various
incentives to change
lifestyle.
The villagers will decide whether these incentives are worth
changing their habits. These could include: Those who sign up
and complete training will be awarded the equivalent of one
week’s pay ($10 USD). Those who complete training, and then
stay to work on the bricks for one year will receive bonus at the
equivalent of three weeks of pay ($30 USD).
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Discontentment due
to different castes
working together.
Organise team roles
based on caste
system.
Different castes in rural India have been known to work
together and cooperate if doing so is mutually beneficial,
especially when economic growth is concerned (Heitzman,
1995). Thus, there is a strong possibility that members of
different castes will have no problem working together.
Practical Issues
Issue or Risk Potential
Solutions
Considerations of Solution
The Devikulam
residents will find it
difficult to transport
heavy bricks long
distances.
Use bicycles and
motorbikes, with
attached trailers,
that the residents
currently own.
Initially, as the bricks will be sold to neighbouring towns and
villages, Devikulam residents can use trailers attached to their
existing bicycles and motorbikes. In the village, 15 of 48
households own either a motorbike or bicycle, and in the
colony 8 out of 22 households own either a motorbike or
bicycle (EWB 2010). When the program eventually generates
sufficient capital from its profits, we plan to invest in
motorbikes, cars or utility trucks. The kind of vehicle will
depend on the amount of capital available, economic viability of
owning the vehicles.
(Table 4.1.9: Difficulties Associated with Implementation)
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4.2. Additional Applications
Initially, the Devikulam New Builders Program will aim to manufacture and sell bricks to
neighbouring villages and towns. However, as the project develops and increases its capital,
the Devikulam residents may decide to expand the project or to use the manufactured bricks
for construction projects within Devikulam itself. The rice husk ash bricks will act as a good
alternative for the traditional mud bricks that were used to build the existing houses. Rice
husk bricks will be advantageous to use in Devikulam because they are more resistant to
water and will be more durable due to its superior strength. In this way, Devikulam residents
may choose to build new houses or improve their existing houses. A proposed plan for this
application of the bricks is to build a separate sleeping quarters, in which the residents can
sleep, while the main house is used to daily activities such as cooking. Below is the proposed
house design and drawn design plans are available in Appendix D.
Insulation and Ventilation
Double layer 'Cavity' brick walls and cavity insulation
While we foresee at least two possible alternatives for the design of the walls of the sleeping
quarters the success of both will be underpinned by cavity insulation.
1. Brick veneer. This consists of a single brick layer backed by an air space. This air
space is enclosed with some sort of masonry layer that is not bricks.
2. Double brick layer. In this case, the airspace behind the single brick layer is enclosed
by another brick layer.
Although further research is needed to justify which one of these wall designs is installed, it
is clear that either could be very effective due to their characteristic air cavities. According to
the ACT Government Home Energy Advice Team (HEAT), insulated cavity walls are extremely
effective insulators that work by limiting the fluctuation of internal temperature of a house.
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Cavity insulation in a brick veneer can prevent on average 85% of heat transfer through the
walls, while in a double brick layer wall it can prevent 63% (HEAT 2010). This will be an
important feature in mitigating the discomfort and disturbance caused by the heat accrued
during a summer's day, when temperatures average 39 degrees.
There are several viable alternatives for the actual insulating material, including rockwool,
fibreglass or polystyrene boards. Crucially, Rockwool is markedly easier to install relative to
other materials (HEAT 2010). It is a composite of rock and glass furnace slag with a 'woollen'
texture, and is manufactured in India. Several insulation companies, including Rockwool
India Ltd, operate in Chennai, which is only approximately 130km from Devikulam. Thus, it is
a feasible proposition to have it delivered to the community at a reasonable cost. In
Australia, Perth insulation company AIS quoted rockwool to cost $3.4 per square metre. It is
estimated that the Indian price will be equal to or lower than the Australian price due to
differences in the respective economies, and thus rockwool seems economically viable.
Based on rough estimates for the dimensions of the sleeping quarters explained in detail
further on in the report, 40 of the sleeping quarters will require at most 50 square metres of
insulation material, while the remaining 47 will require 40 square metres. 3880m2 at $3.4
per m2 gives an estimated cost for rockwool of $13 200 USD.
Windows
Despite the efficacy of double layer brick walls in resisting the sharp temperature rise
during the day, it is still possible that air inside the sleeping quarters is heated to an
uncomfortable degree during a summer day. This could be aggravated by small errors in
construction which could cause imperfections in the walls. The installation of at least one
window is our safeguard to counter this undesired effect. Its chief function will be to open in
the evening to release hot air from the sleeping quarters that had gathered during the day.
Cooler air from outside then replaces this escaping air via the doorway. It will be placed as
close as possible to the top of the walls, where the heated air will be more concentrated.
Yet it does not undermine the insulating capacity of the structure. During the day, it can
remain closed keep out hot air.
The design of the window will consist of a bamboo structure or skeleton, filled with closely
thatched palm leaves. The villagers already have adequate thatching skills for this window,
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which does not need to be watertight in the same way as a roof. Its upper horizontal side is
to be fixed to the wall so that it can rotate. The lower horizontal side is to move outwards
from the wall and can be easily held in place by a bamboo rod.
If deemed necessary and possible by further analysis and community consultation, we will
consider the possibility of a 'window' in the roof, to allow complete escape of heated air
from the roof cavity of the sleeping quarters.
Door
Currently houses in Devikulam have open doorways, allowing the inside temperature of the
house to fluctuate with the outside temperature. The sleeping quarters will have a door to
serve the same purpose as the window. Closed during the day, the house will remain
insulated against the hot outside air. Open at night with the windows, a draught will speed
up the process of cooling.
We are considering two different door designs:
Option 1 - A thatch 'blanket' that is to be attached to the top of the doorway and hang
down. To close, the bottom horizontal of the hanging blanket can be attached to the walls
just above the ground. To open, the bottom horizontal can lift outwards from the house and
attach to the underside of the breezeway. While simple to fashion and install, this door
could possibly be tiresome and difficult to operate on a day to day basis.
Option 2 - More similar to the window, the second option is a bamboo structure covered in
thatched leaves, that will operate like a conventional door. This would be easy to operate.
However the vertical rotating axis must be as close as possible to the side of the door frame
to keep the doorway air tight. In order to decide on this issue, more research is required to
ascertain the exact impact of slight imperfections in the walls and doorway to the insulating
capacity of the sleeping quarters.
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Breezeway
This crucially allows for the separation of the sleeping area from the existing house.
Although the sleeping quarters will be very well insulated in themselves, the insulation
system could not function correctly were the sleeping quarters adjoined directly to existing
houses, as heat built up in the house could transfer quickly to the sleeping area. The
breezeway counters this effect, allowing heat from the house no access to the sleeping area,
and thus for a clear distinction between the temperature of the house and that of the
sleeping quarters. The insulation and ventilation systems of the sleeping quarters ensure
that the temperature inside the sleeping quarters is indeed markedly lower than that of the
house, which will average 39 degrees during the day, and be not much lower during the
early night. Temperature in the sleeping quarters will actually equal the temperature
outside, which at night in summer averages 28.5 degrees. This will be especially useful for
villagers currently living in concrete houses, where temperatures can reach 40 degrees
Celsius by night and on which modifications are difficult to perform. Rather than sleep
outside in summer as is currently the case, these villagers will be able to sleep under shelter
in relative comfort. This is also important in monsoon season, when cooking on an open fire
is presumably done inside the house. This would greatly heat up the house and more
significantly, could cause smoke inhalation due to lack of ventilation. Therefore, using this
alternative solution, villagers can cook without heating their sleeping area and risking smoke
related diseases.
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Dimensions
There are 87 households in Devikulam, ranging in size from one to seven people. Despite
this large range of family size, we are offering just two different sizes of sleeping quarters.
• "Regular" will cater for families with up to and including four members, of which
there are currently 49. Based on preliminary designs of interior layout, these will be
3m wide by 7m long by 2m high (walls) and thus cover a ground area of 21m2.
• "Big" will cater for the 38 families of five to seven members, or for four member
families expecting more children. Based on two options for interior layout, we have
considered two possibilities for 'Big" SQ dimensions: Option 1) 3m wide by 12.25m
long, Option 2) 5m wide by 6.5m long.
Our main concern will be to fit these sleeping quarters in the space around and between
houses. Option 1 is perhaps less practical, considering that some houses are currently within
2 times the length 12.25m, or about 25m, of each other. Option 2 seems more practical
ostensibly, but is flawed in that its interior layout and shape would differ from that of the
"Regular" size. We must determine whether or not this could be a point of confusion for the
builders.
In the rare case that a family of seven grows in size, we propose the solution of
reconfiguring the interior layout to provide extra space. Our dimensions will take this
possibility into account by setting aside extra space for and between each bed than would
be required for basic comfort. Thus for example, it will be feasible to create the space for an
extra bed of width 1.15m by moving current beds together 10cm and reducing bed width by
10cm. This would not undercut the ultimate goal of the sleeping quarters to provide relative
comfort to the villagers.
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Possible Risks
For the case in which there is not enough space to place the sleeping quarters next to the
house (especially in the colony, where houses are already built very close together) we have
two possible solutions:
Option 1 - Erecting a completely separated sleeping quarters.
That is, not connected by a breezeway but as close as possible to the house. This would be
effective for most of the year, but limited during monsoon season, when families could have
to walk in the dark through the rain to reach their sleeping quarters. Further investigation on
the how villagers live during the monsoon season will determine if they are already used to
dealing with such a problem, and thus determine the extent of this limitation.
Option 2 - Remake the roof of the existing house and not build sleeping quarters.
To re-do a more watertight roof, made from the bamboo concrete composite that will
constitute sleeping quarter’s roofs, would at least solve the waterproofing problem.
Although residents would have to continue sleeping outside during summer, waterproof
houses would mean increased comfort in their home during monsoon season and thus an
increased ability to be productive in the home and at work. In any case, the roofs of current
houses are re-thatched about every three years. The new waterproof replacement would be
more durable and last a lot longer than three years.
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5. Supporting Analysis
5.1. Prototype
As part of this project we were faced with the task of making a physical prototype which
would effectively represent our brick design. The first step of this process was to construct a
wooden mould. Four 10 mm thick strips of pine were measured and cut to create a
230x110x76 mm box. The panels were held together using chipboard nails and the mould
was complete.
The mould we created is representative of traditional adobe brick making, however our
real design process incorporates an interlocking brick design which is achieved with a
mechanical press. Because of the limited access to rice husks in suburban Sydney we used
charcoal ash as an aggregate substitute. We combined 1 part ash to 1 part river sand to fill
half of a wheel barrow to achieve our desired mix. Next we poured in half a bag of cement
combined with a coarse gravel mix. The dry mix was stirred around with a shovel until a
homogeneous colour was obtained. A
litre of water was added to the
barrow and was shoveled around
until a workable mix was achieved.
Next some sand was dusted in the
mould to prevent the brick from
sticking. A small shovel of the mix was
placed in the mould and it was
compacted by shaking. The mix was
left to set for a couple of minutes and
then the mould was tipped upside
down to release the shaped brick. The process was repeated twice more to produce a total
of three bricks. The bricks were left outside and covered with a black sheet of plastic. For the
next 7 days the bricks were sprinkled with water twice a day and after that the plastic was
removed.
(Figure 5.1: Making the prototype)
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Using charcoal ash as an aggregate for the bricks significantly reduced the compressive
strength. The reason for this is due to the low silica content of the ash, which does not
effectively combine and bind to the cement. Conversely, if rice husk ash had been used, we
would have produced a much stronger, stable brick. Also this process highlighted the
importance of compacting the mix when in the mould. Compacting the mix by hand
significantly weakens the brick and results in a much rougher, crumbly finish. This suggests
the importance of a mechanical brick press, which can create 80-100 N of compressive force
on the brick, when implementing the brick process in Devikulam.
Making this prototype was a useful exercise as it notified us of the importance of the high
silica content in the rice husk ash, and the ineffectiveness of hand pressing the moulds. It
was also beneficial as it allowed us to gain a deeper understanding of the actual brick
making process and how we can improve on its efficiency.
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5.2. Cost Analysis
Costs of Materials
In order to estimate the costs of the materials used in the brick manufacturing, the
following table shows the approximate proportions required to manufacture 1000 bricks.
The proposed mix ratio is 1 part cement to 3 parts sand and 3 parts rice husk ash, and each
brick requires about 8 kg of the mix.
Ingredients Mix Proportions (kg)
Rice Husk Ash 3500
River Sand 3500
Cement 1000
It is assumed that a deal can be stuck with nearby farmers that will allow us to acquire rice
husk ash at no cost; for nothing more than taking care of their waste. The cost of cement is
about 200 rupees ($4USD) per 50 kg and sand costs approximately 500 ($10USD) rupees per
tonne (Maa Properties 2010).
Cost of Labour
It is estimated that 4-6 workers can produce 400 - 600 bricks per day using one brick
making machine, we will be running our analysis using the estimates of 4 workers and 500
bricks per day. We have proposed that wages amount to $10USD per week, which is $2USD
per day. Therefore to produce 1000 bricks, there will be wages for 4 workers over two days,
which amounts to $16USD. Finally, each brick will be sold for 7 rupees (14 cents USD), which
(Table 5.2a: Mix Proportions)
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is twice the price of a regular mud brick. However, the rice husk ash bricks are much more
durable and more convenient to use.
Cost of Equipment and Machinery
The cost of expensive equipment such as the block making machine (about $600 USD (Ali
Baba 2011)), will be subsidised by Engineers Without Borders or funding of up to 40,000
rupees from the Indian Government (National Portal of India 2007). Alternatively, the
Devikulam community can borrow money from Engineers Without Borders initially, and
gradually pay this back with the profits made on this project. The total cost of all equipment
including shovels, wheelbarrows and mixing equipment should be approximately USD $710,
as shown in the table below.
Equipment $USD
Block making machine $600.00
Wheelbarrow (3
required initially)
$30.00
Shovel (10 required
initially)
$50.00
Motorbike/bicycle
Trailer (3 required
initially)
$30.00
Total Equipment Costs $710.00
(Table 5.2b: Equipment Costs)
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Cost Analysis Table
The following table shows the projected expenses and revenue from the first 1000 bricks.
Expenses $USD Projected Revenue $USD
Rice Husk Ash* Transportation costs
only
Selling the Bricks $140
River Sand $35
Cement $88
Labourer’s Wages $16
Total Expenses $131 Total Revenue $140
As demonstrated in the cost analysis table above, if the expensive equipment costs are paid
for by Engineers Without Borders or subsidies of up to 40,000 rupees from the Indian
Government (IAY 2010), the project will earn a profit from the first week if the bricks are
sold successfully.
Breakeven Analysis
If only a loan is able to be acquired the costs of equipment will initially be paid by the
funding organization, then gradually returned. The breakeven analysis that we have
conducted assumes that the Devikulam workers will manufacture 2000 bricks per week and
are able to sell and deliver them successfully. In addition, there will be a profit of around
$USD 70 per month, equating to around 3500 rupees for the project, after all expenses
including wages are taken into account. The information in the two tables above has been
used in this analysis. According to the graph below, the project will begin earning a profit
(Table 5.2c: Cost Analysis)
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from the 40th week. From this stage the project can begin building up its capital and expand
into a bigger company. The villagers who participate in this program will also be content
during this initial stage as they will be achieving a regular income from the beginning of the
project, as the expenses calculated include wages.
(Figure 5.2d: Breakeven Graph)
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5.3. Occupational Health and Safety
There are some occupational health and safety issues associated with our proposed
solution for both training and on-the-job work. We will be utilising manually operated
machinery for our solution and this carries some potential hazards with it. There are also
risks involved with the transportation and storage of the bricks by hand. These are outlined
in the table below:
Hazard Consequence Likelihood Risk
Assessment
Number*
Solution
People
attempting to
remove bricks
while machine is
being operated.
Sustaining physical
injury possible
inflicted on hands if
machine is operated
during removal. This
could be severe
enough to require
medical attention.
Moderate.
High. 12 During training, there will
a set of rules established
to prevent this risk:
• Only 1 person within
2 metres of machine,
a line will be marked
around the machine
• Regular safety checks
by the manager of
the project
Having people
too close to
machine during
its operation.
The machine is quite
heavy, weighing
approximately 300kg
and could potentially
fall during operation.
This has the potential
to inflict a significant
Moderate. 9 During training, there will
a set of rules established
to prevent this risk:
• Only 1 person within
2 metres of machine,
a line will be marked
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injury to someone too
close to the machine.
Moderate.
around the machine
• Regular safety checks
by the manager of
the project
Multiple persons
operating brick
making machine
at a time.
This hazard has the
potential to inflict
minor physical injury
due to incorrect
operation.
Minor/Insignificant.
Very high. 5 - 10 During training, there will
a set of rules established
to prevent this risk:
• Only 1 person within
2 metres of machine,
a line will be marked
around the machine
• Regular safety checks
by the manager of
the project
Incorrect storage
of the bricks
after curing
process.
This has the potential
to inflict some major
physical injury, due to
collapse of the bricks.
Major.
Low to
Moderate.
8 - 12 The training will show
them correct methods of
stacking the bricks,
ensuring that the piles are
not over stacked with
excessive amounts of
bricks causing instability
of the piles.
Transportation of
the bricks, during
and after curing
process.
This can cause minor
physical injuries, due
to heavy bricks if
continued over a
Moderate. 6 It is important that
persons involved in this
do not attempt to
transport more than 3-4
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significant period of
time and hinder the
ability to work in the
future.
Minor.
bricks at a time by hand,
which will be made clear
by the training process.
(Table 5.3: Risk Assessment)
* The Risk Assessment Number is derived from the Risk Assessment Matrix in Appendix B;
these numbers are on a scale of 1 to 25.
5.4. Ethical Considerations
According to the Engineers Australia Code of Ethics (2010), it is the responsibility of
professional engineers to conduct themselves in a manner so as to benefit the community
and uphold the reputation of the practice of engineering. Throughout the implementation of
our project, we will ensure that these responsibilities are adhered to by those involved to
maintain the integrity of the community and uphold their rights. The following outlines
briefly the way in which our project observes the ethical practice of engineering according to
the four main focus areas summarised in the Code of Ethics:
1. Demonstrate Integrity
During the execution of our project, we will continue to make ongoing decisions about the
process and the project impartially such that it will be in the best interests of the residents
of Devikulam. The project will be undertaken in a way to guarantee the safety of the
workers, acting members of EWB and the wider community. We will be accepting regular
feedback from all members of the community, which will form the basis about decisions for
adjustments to the process. We will ensure a general consensus and acceptance of the
project throughout the community before proceeding to implement it. The project will be
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explained in terms which does not disadvantage those with lesser education or appear
condescending (this is outlined further in the Implementation section). Our implementation
phase is set up so to not infringe upon the rights of individuals and to respect their dignity
and needs.
2. Practice Competently
The implementation phase outlines how we plan to approach areas in which specific skills
and adequate knowledge is necessary. We do not assume complete expertise by those
involved in any specific area and hence we shall ensure that we employ professionals so that
persons involved in the project meet the necessary skill and knowledge requirements to
carry out individual tasks capably. It is important to confirm that those employed practice
only within their area of competence and perform the tasks which their training allows them
to do (that is those trained for managing the finances must not undertake tasks assigned to
those involved in the brick making process and vice versa). This also applies to the volunteer
engineers in the project so that assumptions are not made without appropriate knowledge.
3. Exercise Leadership
At the initial stages of the project, there will be representatives from the EWB who will
provide guidance and support. As mentioned previously, the community will be encouraged
to take part in any deliberations regarding adjustments to the proposed project.
Communication about the project is also an integral factor to its success, important aspects
of the project which are relevant and will impact on the community (such as the cost,
benefits and risks of the project) will be discussed in an effective manner which does not
undermine the intellectual integrity of the individuals. Eventually, the leadership of the
project will be handed over to the community, which will effectively warrant independence
of the community and hence optimistically, a trustworthiness of the practice of engineering.
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4. Promote Sustainability
Assuming the complete and successful execution and operation of this project, it will be
sustainable such that future generations in the community will be able to enjoy the
economic benefits. The implementation phase of our project is designed to take into
account the specific needs of the community and allow for unforeseen or unmet needs to be
addressed. Decisions made about the initial project proposal have been in consideration of
social, economic and environmental status of the village in an approach to certify not only
that these conditions do not significantly impede upon the implementation of the project,
but also that the project improves the condition in these areas.
Other Ethical Considerations
In addition to these ethical considerations for professional engineers, we also have ethical
considerations to make on the grounds of moral obligations. These are based more heavily
on the social implications of the project. Throughout all India, there exists an unspoken caste
system which causes discrimination between people still today (see Appendix A), and
because of this the most important element of the social ethics is maintaining a sense of
social equality throughout the community. It is essential that the impression of a caste
system remains unrelated to the Devikulam New Builders Program. That is, we must not
encourage distinction between the classes coexisting in Devikulam by providing unequal
opportunity.
The Devikulam New Builders Program is set up so as to allow all members of the community
to take part in the project and will provide job opportunities for all residents in areas of their
own choosing. Each resident will be treated with equal respect and given equal opportunity
throughout the project; we will allow every individual a chance to take part in the project.
It is also important that representatives of the project understand the fundamental human
rights of the individuals in the community and that when explaining key aspects of the
project, they do not appear to patronise the people involved or seem condescending in any
way.
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Specific Environmental Ethical Considerations
As outlined in Appendix A, the environmental context in India is one that is totally
unsustainable for the most part. In Devikulam, the problem is essentially mirrored to the
large scope problem in India of littering and waste disposal with the additional rural
‘epidemic’ of open defecation. These issues influence how the community must be
considered from an environmentally ethical viewpoint. Firstly, it is important as professional
ethical and humanitarian engineers to ensure that any problems existent within the
community are not amplified through the implementation of a project designed to benefit
the residents. Essentially, this means that our design should take into account this existing
environmental issues present and how they are currently impacting on the village and how
these will be altered after the project is operating, this also extends to the indigenous flora
and fauna of the wider Devikulam community. The way in which our proposed solution has
considered these issues is that it will utilize some of the existing organic waste material of
the community and create a useful product which is ecologically sustainable. The project will
also not pollute the community with any by-products.
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5.5. Final Design Assessment
5.5.1. Application of Evaluation Criteria
The project of manufacturing rice husk ash bricks was examined against the evaluation
criteria proposed in Section 1.2: Evaluation Criteria. Three different contexts were
considered: Economic, Social and Environmental.
Economic
• The solution must create an effective source of income to improve the standard of
living of the Devikulam residents.
The manufacture and selling of rice husk bricks is an ideal way for the Devikulam
residents to gain an extra source of income.
• It must be economically sustainable, taking into account the upkeep and running
costs of the solution and allowing for unforeseen expenses.
The initial costs for equipment are not great and can be easily covered by a loan from
Engineers Without Borders or the Indian Government. Furthermore, the project will
generate a steady profit from the beginning (Section 5.2: Cost Analysis) and therefore
will become self-sustainable as long as the implementation is conducted according to
the plan.
• The solution must bring in enough capital to cover the costs of labour, in addition to
the above mentioned costs.
Initially, there will be a profit of around 3500 rupees per month, after worker’s wages
and other expenses are taken into account.
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Social
• It must have equal benefits for all parts of the community and not provide better or
different benefits between classes. It must not discriminate using social class
distinctions by only allowing certain classes to work on specific areas, as this will
only perpetuate the caste system.
The implementation plan stresses that there will be no discrimination between
members of different castes when selecting villagers for various jobs. One of the
opportunities derived from our solution is being able to positively influence the rural
community’s culture and help eliminate the suppressing caste system.
• It must provide an equal opportunity for everyone in the community and allow for
community wide involvement.
Our design solution aims to involve the whole community and this will result in an
enhanced sense of community, minimising the discrimination that may be present due
to the caste system.
• The solution must maintain the cultural integrity of Devikulam and in no way have
any adverse impacts on it.
The traditions and culture of Devikulam has been considered in Section 4:
Implementation. The caste system as well as traditions of the community has been
considered. For more information on the social context of India in general, see Appendix
A.
• The procedure of building the solution must be simple and easy to learn, even by
illiterate villagers.
The method of making rice husk ash bricks is very easy to learn and our solution
involves thoroughly training the villagers, as shown in Section 4.1.3: Training.
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Environmental
• The solution must not add to the existing waste issues of the community and if
possible, reduce the amount of waste in the community.
The use of rice husk ash as the primary aggregate material for manufacturing the bricks
not only will not produce large amounts of waste, but also it will help solve some of the
waste management problems that farms in and around Devikulam face. The use of rice
husk ash in bricks will minimise the waste produced by these farmers.
• The design solution must incorporate affordable, locally available materials.
The design of the solution centres around the use of rice husk ash, which is widely
available as waste from nearby farms.
5.5.2. Strengths and Weaknesses
A SWOT analysis, which stands for strengths, weaknesses opportunities, threats (Hill and
Westbrook 1997) was conducted in order to evaluate the success and appropriate ness of
the design solution.
Strengths
• The rice husk ash bricks have a high strength and resistance to water compared to
regular mud bricks. This is cost effective in the long term, as it decreases the need
for regular maintenance of houses.
• The interlocking brick design that has been chosen will make it very easy to use and
does not require a skilled professional to construct buildings.
• Interlocking bricks eliminate the need to use mortar, which is very expensive at 250
rupees per 50 kg (Maa Properties 2010) and the price is increasing.
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• The brick making machine will be able to compress the bricks with forces of 80-100N
(UN-Habitat 2004), which will create not only strong but uniformly shaped bricks.
Therefore, they will be much better quality than traditional mud bricks.
Weaknesses
• Rice husk ash bricks are more expensive than traditional mud bricks, due to the
requirement of a binder, such as cement. At 7 rupees each, they will cost twice as
much as mud bricks, but have a stronger compressive strength and better durability.
• The quality of the bricks will depend greatly on the quality of the ingredients. The
rice husk ash must be checked for uniform quality before it is mixed with the other
ingredients.
• Transportation of the bricks may be an issue in the future, if the number of bricks
manufactured increases. If this happens cars and truck may need to replace the
proposed transportation of the bicycles and motorcycles.
Opportunities
• The Devikulam residents will have an opportunity to benefit from the extra income
generated from this project.
• Rice husk bricks will give the community the opportunity to improve their personal
housing and community infrastructure.
• Engineers Without Borders may be able to positively influence the rural
community’s culture and help eliminate the suppressing caste system.
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Threats
• There is always a threat of being unable to gain the community’s approval, resulting
in poor cooperation. In our Implementation Plan, in Section 4.1.1, we have devised
some strategies to minimise this threat.
• There is a threat of the brick sales being unsuccessful, for which case, we have
included a simple, but effective Marketing Plan in Section 4.1.8.
5.5.3. Conclusion
The main purpose of the Engineers Without Borders Challenge 2011 was allow students to
provide sustainable solutions for the community of Devikulam in a range of areas, such as
water, sanitation, housing, industry development and transport. The solutions that are
proposed are intended to be implemented in the real community and hopefully improve the
Devikulam residents’ quality of life.
By investigating the background and context of the project, key criteria for our design
solution were proposed, as shown in Section 1.2: Problem Scope. The main issue that was
addressed by our ‘Ashes to Bricks’ project is to alleviate poverty and generate a source of
income for the Devikulam community, by implementing an affordable, but sustainable
program.
The proposed final design is ‘Ashes to Bricks’, which is an industry development program
that directly involves villagers in the manufacture of innovative rice husk ash bricks. This,
together with the implementation plan called ‘The Devikulam New Builders Program’ will
create a supplementary source of income for the Devikulam community. This extra income
will improve the quality of life of the residents in the long term and provide the residents
with money to work on improving other aspects of their community such as housing, water
and sanitation.
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Our overall design meets the design criteria, as its most significant aims include that it will:
• Generate an extra source of income for the residents of Devikulam.
• Act as a waste management solution for farms in or near Devikulam.
• Endeavour to mnimise discrimination and encourage equality in the community.
• Utilise affordable, locally available materials in the manufacturing process.
Generally, the ‘Ashes to Bricks’ project has a very positive outlook. In our SWOT analysis,
the strengths outweigh the weakness and there are ample opportunities provided to the
Devikulam community, as demonstrated in Section 5.5.1. Furthermore, there are some
threats to the success of the project, but we have planned the necessary steps to minimise
these difficulties.
By providing the Devikulam residents with the opportunity to generate extra income, this
project will improve their lifestyles significantly, not because the community has a higher
income. Instead, if the project is accepted and developed, ‘Ashes to Bricks’ has the potential
to empower the community and give individuals hope to overcome the other problems that
exist in the community, such as housing, sanitation and water.
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6. Reflection
6.1. Team Reflection
We, ‘Team 4’, were initially smug about the fact that only the smartest group of students
from the Engineering cohort was chosen to do the Engineers Without Borders Challenge. We
felt that the EWB Challenge would merely be a conglomeration of quick research and
verbose essays. We had done this all before and, like typical university students, we were
convinced that we could finish it all the night before.
We immediately discovered how wrong we were. In the beginning, we believed we had
chosen a simple problem and along with it, a simple solution, namely to establish a house
improvement and construction project in Devikulam, which would solve the housing
problems that the Devikulam residents had, especially during the monsoon season. We
initially decided to provide three aspects to our solution: house design, including separate
sleeping quarters, a mud-brick alternative and waterproof roofing. However, the situation in
the Devikulam community became very complex, once we had delved deeper into our
project. Very quickly after writing the preliminary report we realised that we were trying to
cover too much ground. The three aspects that we originally chose could have been divided
into three individual projects.
As a result of useful feedback from our supervisors, we decided to focus on one solution,
namely manufacturing rice husk ash bricks, and changing the crux of our problem to the
economic problem of low income. However, after narrowing down our focus, we still
realised how many aspects we had to cover. We still had not considered a myriad of factors,
such as technical aspects, social considerations, economic viability and difficulties for
implementation. Every week we seemed to identify another significant factor to consider,
and the final report that we were to complete by the twelfth week was looking more and
more ominous as each week passed. It was a great challenge to write a 60-page report in
twelve weeks, especially because we only had four people to split the research and writing
with. In essence, we were attempting to establish and operate an organisation with only
four people and in the space of twelve weeks.
The main reason why we managed to finish such a challenging project in the space of
twelve weeks came down to time management, organisation and fair delegation of tasks.
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Initially, since we did a short questionnaire in our first meeting to ascertain each person’s
strong attributes, we allocated jobs as follows: Max Cordony was the finisher, Samuel Hamid
was the evaluator, Todd was organiser and Martin was the innovator. However, this job
allocation did not seem fair, as we realised in the first group task, which was the project
proposal. Some members were doing more work than others, while the whole structure was
very ineffective.
As we started getting along and understanding each other’s strengths we decided to
allocate jobs according to each team member’s actual strengths. Max Cordony, whom we
found had the qualities of a leader became the organiser and allocator. Todd Jeffrey, who
enjoys hands-on, practical work, was allocated the manufacturing process and the planning
of our prototype. Samuel Hamid who is very adept at considerations of context and social
implications, was delegated these aspects. Finally, since Martin Cheung studies Commerce
combined with Engineering, he was allocated the financial aspects and cost analysis sections
of the project.
In accomplishing the Engineers Without Borders Challenge project, an essential thing that
we learned was the social aspect of engineering. Engineers often make the mistake of overly
focusing on the technical aspects of the design, while neglecting ethical and social concerns.
Throughout the Engineers Without Borders Challenge, the group was constantly encouraged
consider impacts on the Devikulam residents and issues pertaining to their culture and
traditions. Reflecting on the question, ‘how would I feel if it were me?’ has really assisted us
in becoming more conscious as engineers. Moreover, we have developed a more complete
appreciation of what engineers really do in the real world.
The most significant achievement that we gained from undertaking the Engineers Without
Borders project is that it allowed us to appreciate that there are many communities around
the world that are living below the poverty line. Every year, the Engineers Without Borders
Challenge looks at an underprivileged, ‘real life’ community in the world, allowing us to
foster a desire to help these people and not take our own situations for granted. As first year
engineers, we have understood the role of engineering in improving the lives of people in
impoverished communities around the world. This, we believe was the most important
outcome of the Engineers Without Borders Challenge.
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6.2. Individual Reflections
Todd Jeffrey
After experiencing the first two weeks of this semester subject I had developed a very
shortsighted view of this particular subject. Without any real knowledge or background on
this course I came to the conclusion I would be learning about typical communication and
group work skills which I thought I’d heard all before. It is interesting writing this reflection
as I look back over the past 12 weeks and realise how distorted my initial views were.
Quickly I found out this was no ordinary subject full of standard lectures and course notes,
this subject enabled me to learn through experience. From learning about the immense task
ahead of us to forming a group with Sam, Martin and Max who I had never met, I have truly
been placed outside my comfort zone. Working with a group of people I had never met
before was probably the most beneficial learning tool over this past 12 weeks. Being able to
utilise each other’s strengths effectively, collaborate ideas and communicate are invaluable
skills I feel I have developed throughout this process. Being a first year subject, this is truly
significant as I have learned that being able to function in a group effectively is an integral
role of being a professional engineer.
Participating in the Devikulam EWB challenge has also enabled me to develop my
experience in technical problem solving, but more importantly it has exposed me to the
various other roles an engineer has within the community. Not only does the engineer need
to devise an effective technical solution, but they have to consider several social,
environmental, economical, and ethical factors when implementing their solution.
Throughout writing the report we were constantly reminded of these factors and we were
able to appreciate their importance, contrary to our initial thoughts. Being able to
participate in a project like this has also exposed me to the very real problems third world
countries face and makes you appreciate even the most basic infrastructure in our modern
Australian society. I think this was a very beneficial task and has encouraged me to
participate in other EWB projects in the future.
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Martin Cheung
I was initially proud and perhaps a little overconfident that I had chosen the subject
Advanced Engineering, which was conducting the EWB project. The students who did this
subject were supposed to be the smartest people in the engineering faculty, so I was feeling
good about myself. The Engineers Without Borders Challenge brief did not seem difficult
either, as it seemed to only involve proposing an innovative solution for rural community in
India. Initially, I did not consider it a challenge. As I had written many essays in high school, a
report, spread between four people, would not be too hard to do in a whole semester.
However, as the semester went on, I realised that there were so many aspects of
implementation to consider as well as the technical design. We were encouraged as
engineering students to deeply consider the wider impacts of our solution and how the
locals from a different culture would think. Our supervisors kept telling us to put ourselves in
their shoes and ask, “What if that happened to me?” Thus, I ended up writing up a long list
of implementation factors to consider, such as social considerations, education and literacy,
training, community consultation, opportunity costs and cost analysis. And ethical issues and
considerations also had to be integrated into each of these factors. The main obstacle here
was that Devikulam is small community 10 000 km away and there is very little information
about the village on the internet, apart from the EWB website. I believed that this made it
difficult to understand what impacts our solution would have on the community and the
remoteness of the community meant that I tended to detach myself from the people and fail
to consider their perspective.
In the beginning, when we were first getting to know each other, we each did an individual
survey to find out what kind of workers we were. Our team members were labelled as either
innovators, finishers, evaluators or leaders. However, I thought that in order to work better
as a team, members could not just work as leaders to merely delegate tasks or evaluators
who only edit work, because this would not be fair to other members. Instead, I believed
that every member should do an equal amount of writing, so I proposed that we delegate a
few sections to each member to research and write about, based on each member’s
strengths. For example, Todd Jeffrey studies civil engineering and enjoys practical and hand-
on activities, so we asked him to look at the technical and manufacturing aspects of our brick
making project. Since, I study combined engineering and commerce, it was only fitting for
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me to cover the business side of the project. As such, I was in charge of creating a business
plan and conducting a cost and breakeven analysis for the project.
As a result, I realised that teamwork is not as simple as doing a quick survey and having a
leader, finisher and innovator. It is more about understanding each other’s strengths and
weaknesses and using these characteristics to equally and fairly spread out the workload.
Although, initially, I believed that we would find the EWB Challenge with only four members
in our group, it quickly became an advantage for our group. We quickly developed healthy
relationships with each other, constantly motivating each other when we became busy with
other assessments. Furthermore, we found it easy to delegate tasks between four people
and we managed to work together very efficiently.
Finally, the most essential thing that I learnt in the EWB Challenge realising that
engineering is not just about developing new technology and innovation. Rather,
engineering is about applying problem solving skills to help others. I have discovered that
engineers must be aware of and consider thoroughly the consequences of their solutions
and their impacts of the people around them. The EWB Challenge has helped me learn about
and understand a new culture, specifically of the Devikulam community. I feel privileged to
have been involved in the project that is helping such an impoverished community, as it has
given me the opportunity to learn not only about problems facing this community, but also
the poor in regions around the world. I have been motivated to make a difference for those
who are less privileged, using my knowledge and skills. As such, I believe that this is the most
significant outcome of the EWB challenge.
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Sam Hamid
At the start of semester, I had come in to the ENGG1061 course without any real
understanding of what to expect over the coming months. I had not heard of Engineers
Without Borders and did not comprehend fully what it was. I had been in group work
projects before and had experienced some of the difficulties and advantages of these sorts
of projects, but none of these could compare to the EWB Challenge. Upon seeing the
previous semester’s projects I felt as though we had a gargantuan task ahead of us over the
coming months, which would involve many last minute efforts to struggle to get it up to
standard. As the semester progressed I learnt that this was not the case, interest in the
project provided the motivation necessary to meet the requirements and exceed my own
expectations. Initially, I felt our group was disadvantaged by consisting of only four people,
the least out of any group in the class. This was soon overshadowed by the many benefits of
a group of four such as being able to work more closely and finding it relatively simple to
organise meetings and keep track of designated tasks.
Over the semester, I have learnt many important skills which will be applicable to a future
career in engineering. These largely stem from working in a new group of people, all with
different ideas and talents. I feel that I now have a stronger grasp on how to communicate
ideas effectively in addition to being able to perceive the ideas of others in the group better.
Learning how to compromise, was however one of the most significant skills I picked up
throughout the course, coming to terms with the fact that my may not always be the best
one was a key element of learning to function effectively within a group.
How have my views of engineering changed? When I asked myself this question, I realised
that, in hindsight, the preconceptions I had about engineering were rather short sighted,
thinking that the role engineers played within the community did not extend too far outside
of the office, having spent a week of work experience at a small engineering firm. I realise
now the importance of humanitarian engineering within society and the multitude of tasks
and considerations that an ethical engineer needs to take in to account when designing a
solution. I have a greater appreciation for the work of engineers, realising now all the tiny
details they must consider and problems they must foresee (not to mention having to come
up with solutions to these problems).
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The project itself was an unforgettable learning experience into what it would be like to be
a humanitarian engineer, and there were always improvements to be made to our report
and design. I realise now that there is not any one simple solution to any problem and that
there is always ways in which designs can be amended and improved. The project I felt was
significant in learning how to problem solve effectively, using multiple ideas and determining
the best option. It helped me to learn the more practical skills of engineering like learning
how to logically assess situations and coming up with innovative solutions. Largely, I feel
particularly content with the way our project turned out; although it is not without its flaws I
believe that it is an implementable project with significant implications for the community of
Devikulam.
I felt this project was a major learning curve and I believe that I have a greater
understanding of many aspects of what it means to be a professional engineer and the
subtle but strong impact EWB has on the lives of people in disadvantaged communities.
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Max Cordony
Reflecting on my experiences as part of the 2011 EWB development project, it is clear that I
have learned lessons about humanitarian development, engineering projects and group
work, that will be valuable to me for the rest of my degree and beyond, hopefully as an
engineer.
At the start of this semester, I thought that this competition was about designing a
machine, or discovering some brilliant piece of science, that would magically solve the lot of
Devikulam’s humanitarian problems with its ingenuity or genius. The most salient lesson for
me as our team developed our project was to discover the insignificance of the technical
solution compared with the strategy of implementing the project. However brilliant our
design was, it needed to suit the people it was going to help before they were going to
accept it into their daily lives. This included thinking about the locals; about social cost, the
environment, human resources; about communication, education and training. Also, we
needed to design a way for the technical solution to actually be applied in the village; that is,
for the scientific process of converting rice husk ash into bricks by a chemical equation on
paper to become an actual plan for materials, sources, machines, workers, work sites, with
in depth and serious consideration of any foreseeable risks. Above all, the project had to be
sustainable; in a business sense, socially and economically. Thus, this EWB project has
deepened my understanding of engineering by illuminating to me the importance of
implantation, and the most important question to ask throughout the planning process,
“Will our design actually work in this place, with these people, under these circumstances?
Let’s consider ‘What if..?’”
Apart from discovering the more hidden facets of engineering as it is in the real world, my
team and I gained valuable practical experience in the art of group work, in particular in the
context of designing a project. While we all contributed to every part of the project, we tried
to focus each on our strengths- Martin, the commerce student, attacked the formatting and
the business side of the project, Sam was responsible for our graphic design; Todd provided
the chemical knowledge behind the idea for ashes to bricks, and I took a leading role in
presentations and editing our report. This really worked for us- each member was motivated
to contribute in the area they did best, and in addition, of course, this benefited the quality
of the project. While this may seem an obvious point, the fact that none of us were qualified
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experts in any field means that accurately delegating these roles required a concerted effort
to be sensitive to each other’s contributions in the initial stages of the project.
Indeed, I found that to respect the contributions of other team members, while sometimes
challenging, was of utmost importance to the success of our project. Very early on in
semester, I am somewhat ashamed to say now, I couldn’t help but try to commandeer the
project, trusting only my own good judgment over that of my colleagues. This meant more
work for me and less opportunity for the others to shine. As my respect for the others grew
and I let go of this autocratic management style, a relaxed atmosphere ensued where every
member could be creative and contribute with self-confidence. We also began to trust in
each other’s ability to produce good work and be reliable, which facilitated organisation
between members.
There were several other strategies for group work that I found useful. Using dropbox
proved much quicker and less confusing than sending emails. At times when we weren’t
confident as to the direction of the project, we took advantage of the tutor’s comments.
These became particularly significant in our decision to focus on brick making rather than
sleeping quarters, as I had had no idea of the huge amount of unnecessary work I was about
to get myself into with the implementation of both ideas. This point illuminates another
strategy that worked, which was focusing on one small solution to one particular problem,
and making sure that it is very well planned and will work. This ensures the success of at
least one solution, without preventing other designs from being relevant later on.
I also found that it was not useful for the group to meet too often, but rather was more
effective to meet when some work had been done and the next steps were unclear. Early
on, we wasted many meetings due to a lack of direction, and in the same way later on we
sometimes met when there was nothing to talk about and everything to do. In short, group
meetings were most useful for deciding our direction, delegating tasks and then later
debriefing on the work that had been done.
Overall, I found this EWB challenge to indeed be a challenge by which I learned actual
valuable lessons as an engineer. These were chiefly the importance of the implementation
stage of a project, and the some good ways to work in a group. Especially within the context
of the subject “Professional Engineering”, the challenge and lesson learnt were very
pertinent.
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Appendix A: Context of Devikulam
Economical
Following India’s independence, it has become one of the most rapidly developing
countries in terms of its economy. At the end of the 2008 financial year, India had
established itself as having the second fastest growing economy behind China, according to
Shastri (2008). Currently, its economy is ranked tenth in the world in terms of nominal GDP,
ahead of Australia. However these economic statistics heavily overshadow the issue of
India’s poverty stricken rural communities. Varying definitions of poverty in India contribute
to inaccurate data about the percentage of poor in the country. Up until recently, the
internationally accepted definition of poverty was living on less than $1 a day; yet in 2008
the World Bank changed the figure to $1.25 a day. However, India’s overall definition of
poverty is far less than this figure and differs between urban and rural communities. In
urban communities, the definition is around 539 Rupees per month, while in rural
communities it is less at around 356 Rupees per month (these correspond to roughly $0.40
and $0.25 a day respectively, far below the international definition). In the state of Tamil
Nadu, the state specific definitions are 547 and 352 Rupees per month for urban and rural
respectively, as stated in ‘Poverty Estimates for 2004-05’. The average annual income for
people in Devikulam is approximately 19750 Rupees corresponding to around 1600 Rupees
per month. According to the official Indian definition, this is not considered poverty;
however this figure correlates to an average daily income of around $1.10, below the World
Bank definition, demonstrating how changing definitions do not necessarily accurately
portray the living conditions between communities.
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Social
Prior to India’s independence, its social context
was different than it is today, with the caste or
class system outlined in the figure to the right
being the accepted hierarchy for social status.
The Brahmins were at the top of the social order
(consisting mainly of scholars and priests) and
despite being reasonably poor, they were held
in high esteem and experienced much prestige
and advantages within society. Not mentioned
in the figure, however, is the Harijans, the
people outside the class system, who are also
known as the ‘Dalit’ (meaning depressed) or
‘untouchables’. The concept of class was fundamental in Indian society as it determined
much of a person’s identity. It confined people to what they wore, what they ate, whom
they were allowed to marry and what work they were allowed to do.
In modern India (or post-independence India), caste is not so much talked about, although
the divisions it created in ‘old India’ still exist. Officially speaking, the system has been
abandoned by the government and discrimination against people due to their caste is illegal.
Despite these attempts at eradicating the system from society, people still follow many of
the regulations established by their caste and are still able to determine which class people
are from. The government recognises that it still persists and have been trying new ways to
create equal opportunity across castes such as keeping university positions and government
jobs for people from lower classes by undertaking a ‘caste census’, as explained by Ben
Doherty (2011). In modern terms, the lower classes of India are divided into three main
groups:
• The Scheduled Tribes (ST) which consists of people from tribal groups, living away
from the main population centres in jungles and forests.
• The Scheduled Castes (SC) which mainly consists of people from the ‘Dalit’.
• Other Backward Classes (OBC) consisting of other classes which are disadvantaged
socially and financially.
(Figure A: Caste System)
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The class system also exists in Devikulam, with the major castes / classes in the community
being most backward class (MBC), backward class (BC) and the Harijan caste, meaning that
the overall class of the community is considered to be at the bottom end of the spectrum.
Environmental
As mentioned before, India has a very rapidly developing economy, but with not all positive
outcomes. The environment of India is suffering as a consequence of this primarily due to
uncontrolled urbanisation and industrialisation. There is also a vast amount of deforestation
happening contributing to the overall land degradation. Perhaps one of the most significant
issues in India’s environmental context is the issue of waste. As Daniel (2005) asserts, there
is large scale littering occurring across the country, not due to a lack of legislation, but
mainly because of lack of enforcement and education. This leads to other complications such
as soil degradation. Waste is also an issue in Devikulam with no sustainable plan to tackle
the issue currently in place; the waste is usually just left behind houses according to ‘Waste
Management’ (2011).
The issue of public health is also linked to the environmental context by human impacts.
Water sanitation is a huge problem due to many environmental factors, including the large
widespread issue of open defecation, particularly in rural communities. This is also common
practice in Devikulam.
Sustainable development is one of the practices needing to be implemented, in order to
begin overcoming the environmental issues in the community, the waste in Devikulam,
particularly the organic waste, is what our part of project aims to reduce by recycling this
waste product for new constructive purposes which provide incentive to maintain the
sustainability in the area in this context.
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Appendix B: Risk Assessment Matrix
Likelihood of Occurrence
5 Very High: Could happen at any time, imminent threat.
4 High: Likely to occur on a fortnightly to monthly basis.
3 Moderate: Event is possible, probability of occurring once in a year.
2 Low: Unlikely to occur, very rare, quite infrequent recurrence interval.
1 Very Low: Extremely rare event.
C
o
n
s
e
q
u
e
n
c
e
5 Catastrophic 25 20 15 10 5
4 Major 20
16 12 8 4
3 Moderate 15 12 9 6 3
2 Minor 10 8 6 4 2
1 Insignificant 5 4 3 2 1
(Table B: Risk Assessment Matrix)
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Appendix C: Sample Flyer for Distribution in Devikulam (English and Tamil Versions)
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Back Page English
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Front Page Tamil
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Back Page Tamil
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Appendix D: Additional Applications
As the project develops there can be additional applications for the rice husk ash bricks that the
community will manufacture. One of these potential applications is to either construct new houses
or improve existing houses in the Devikulam community. On the next page is a house design plan
that the Devikulam residents may follow if they decide to begin building construction projects in
Devikulam.
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G
rou
nd
Flo
or P
lan
(Fig
ure
D.1)
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Nor
th E
leva
tion
(Fig
ure
D.2
)
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3D
Vie
w (F
igur
e D
.3)
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Team 4 EWB
We at Team 4 from the 2011 Engineers Without Borders Challenge for the development of the
impoverished Devikulam community, would like to formally extend our thanks and gratitude to our
lecturer Professor Ron Johnston and our tutor Jonathan Bruck for their ongoing assistance and
feedback throughout this report.