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Abstract

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF COMPRESSED EARTH BLOCK TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION IN BAUCHI STATE OF NIGERIA

Journal: Sustainable Cities and Built Environment (JSCBE)

Author: Clement Ilemona Eqwuda ^1*, Abdulrahim Anabe Isah¹, Abdulmutalib Adavuruku Salihu², Mahmood Sadiq^1, and Odaudu Ugbede Sunday³  

1 Department of Building, Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara, Nigeria; email: egwudaclement@gmail.com

2 Department of Building, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria; email: ibnsaliha@gmail.com

3 Department of Architecture, Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba, Nigeria; email: arcodauduugbede@yahoo.com

*Correspondence: email: egwudaclement@gmail.com, Tel.: +2348067843945 ORCID ID: ^1* https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5437-236X

This is an open-access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.58757/jscbe.04.02.03

The construction sector worldwide must implement sustainable material solutions because its current operations create substantial environmental damage. The use of Compressed Earth Blocks (CEB) provides construction professionals with an environmentally friendly option that replaces traditional concrete blocks through its benefits of decreased energy needs, lower expenses, and the use of regional resources. Nigeria experiences a critical need for housing, yet its current adoption rate of CEB technology remains low. The research analyses the various factors which affect CEB technology implementation in Bauchi State, Nigeria, through its assessment of critical elements. The researchers adopted a quantitative approach using a survey distributed to 416 households in Bauchi Metropolis. The data were analysed using descriptive (Mean, percentage and RII) and inferential (multiple regression analysis) statistics. The results showed that people know about CEB benefits, which include creating job opportunities (Mean = 4.55) and reducing importation (Mean = 4.49).Furthermore, the findings showed low adoption of CEB technology, as evidence suggests that most respondents don’t live in houses made of CEB (Mean = 1.64). The main obstacle to CEB technology adoption is untrained workers, leading to substandard products (RII = 0.90). The regression analysis shows that awareness positively influences acceptability (β = 0.372, p < 0.001), while challenges create a strong negative impact (β = -0.588, p < 0.001). The study concludes that residents are aware of CEB socio-economic benefits but are lacking in its technical and performance-related benefits. Also, technical obstacles, together with socio-cultural issues and institutional challenges, create major obstacles which impede the transition from awareness to adoption. The solution requires developing a robust framework to establish CEB as an attractive, modern sustainable building material.