Newton Fund grantee Professor Dr Mustafa Sahmaran (Hacettepe University, Turkey) has implemented a ground-breaking idea with a Lego construction system of ‘green’ structural components for a low-cost housing project. It is a unique, sustainable construction model, and Mustafa now aims to help earthquake victims, homeless people and refugees by providing them with truly green, low-cost and reusable houses.
‘I spent years developing innovative methods to tackle global challenges such as reducing the issue of climate change in the construction industry. I have also worked to engage my team in raising awareness about the circular economy and tackling global warming. In a search for international funds and strategic collaborations, I have come across the call of the Newton Fund.
This fund gives a unique opportunity to developing countries to collaborate with UK-based universities/research centres, which are leading in science, to promote these countries' economic development and welfare and shift stories for good by addressing critical gaps and pressing global needs. We partnered with Professor Ashraf Ashour, a structural engineering expert from the University of Bradford, UK, and our proposal was granted to develop green solutions based on construction materials and structural engineering through the upcycling of construction and demolition waste (CDW).
The project's goal was to develop globally applicable solutions to counteract the undeniable adverse effects of CDW on the environment, economy and society, and to gain possible favour from CDW through the development of ‘green’ construction materials. The project also recognises the importance of providing energy-efficient housing and accommodation, particularly in refugee-heavy or disaster-prone countries. Therefore, this project aimed to promote CDW circularity, contribute to sustainable infrastructure/structure development and address environmental, societal, health and economic challenges associated with this waste.
On 6 February 2023, Turkey experienced two earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.7 and 7.6, damaging an area of approximately 350,000 square kilometres, affecting 14 million people, and destroying at least 350,000 buildings. Turkey also hosts nearly four million refugees who need proper shelter and accommodation. In this regard, we use our successful outcomes obtained through the project to build truly green, low-cost and reusable houses explicitly targeted for fast and safe accommodation. We also designed and developed Lego-like/demountable structural elements that do not create additional waste, maximise energy needs reductions, and promote circularity in novel civil engineering materials/structures.
Our Newton Fund project provided an opportunity for scientists and experts from Turkey and the UK to come together and exchange experiences in developing holistic circular economy solutions to tackle the global issues arising due to unsustainable practices of construction and demolition.’