Vertical Shaft Brick kilm - Energy Efficiency

By piloting and disseminating an energy efficient brick production technology using vertical shaft brick kilns, CO2 emissions can be reduced by more than 100 000 tons per year in South Africa.

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is bring- ing this technology to South Africa from India and Nepal, where the SDC first launched the Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln Project. South Africa has a very energy intensive economy which leads to high per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The construction industry is responsible for 23% of the country’s GHG emissions. Clay bricks are still predominantly fired in energy inefficient and highly polluting clamp kilns.

Facing new environmental regulations, increasing coal costs and shrinking profits, South African brick entrepreneurs are actively looking for energy efficient firing methods. In comparison to the clamp kilns, the VSBK technology is an energy efficient way of firing clay bricks and is particularly suited to the needs of developing countries.

The VSBK technology uses hot exhaust gasses for the gradual preheating of the unfired bricks in a continuous process, thus reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions by up to 50% compared to the more commonly used clamp kilns.

There is no doubt that the VSBK technology is one of the most energy efficient and cost effective brick firing processes in the world, with the added benefit of providing a better working environment for staff members. The VSBK makes clay brick an even more sustainable building option by reducing the embodied energy of an average clay brick, at least by half.

As the legislative criteria around green building become more stringent, clay brick manufacturers using this technology will obviously reap the benefits of their VSBK investment”.

The VSBK technology will fundamentally shift the way many clay brick manufacturers think about production in the future, from an economical, social and environmental perspective.