Terre activée

Development of a sustainable construction technique adapted to the city of Yaoundé

The aim of this project is to develop a sustainable, low-carbon, low-cost construction technique based on the reuse of excavated soil and green waste, adapted to the environmental, economic and social context of the city of Yaoundé in Cameroon.

It responds to the housing crisis in Yaoundé by developing an economical and sustainable construction technique for buildings of more than two storeys. The innovation is based on the use of two local resources: excavated earth from building sites and ash from plant waste.

Adopting a circular economy approach, the research aims to create a low-carbon impact binder to stabilise local soil. This solution offers two environmental advantages:

1. Reduction in the use of cement.
2. Preservation of natural resources (sand, gravel) that threaten mangroves.

The project has five stages:

1. Analysis and treatment of raw materials (soil and green waste) to optimise their reactivity using mechanical, thermal or chemical processes.
2. Development and testing of binder formulations on micro-tests.
3. Manufacture of prototypes (test pieces, bricks and construction elements).
4. Tests adapted to the Yaoundé context (mechanical, acoustic and thermal resistance, behaviour to humidity).
5. Assessment of the technical, economic and social viability of the solution