IDIS 705 Social Entrepreneurship Nomination: Introduction Today our world faces a significant problem created by mans over

consumption of the worlds natural resources. This is a problem that affects all the inhabitants of our planet. In an effort to climb out of poverty developing countries are often forced to cut corners when it comes to environmental protection habits. Farming and construction create significant waste that even the most advanced countries have a hard time dealing with. But these two areas of the human existence are forever interconnected with our lives. We need food and shelter to survive. What once might have been taken for granted as thats just the way things are are now looked upon as opportunities to apply technologies that have benefited other peoples and cultures and can now be applied to parts of the world that need them most. These technologies can make several positive contributions that will help not only the people using them directly but also have the potential to contribute to the betterment of our planets fragile e cosystem and global climate and environment. It is beginning to become more mainstream to think of our planet as finite and something that is worth protecting. Every little bit counts! It has also proven possible to make a profitable business out of something that benefits us all. It can be hard for those in parts of the world that struggle for existence to hear and head this message. However, every once in a while a form of technology comes around that has multiple benefits for everyone involved including our mother earth. EcoFaeBrick EcoFaeBrick has developed an exciting new technology that solves several important problems that face many rural communities around the globe. The company was recently founded in 2009 by a team of students from Prasetiya Mulya Business School in Indonesia. i They have

teamed up with Faerumnesia Handicraft, a company which makes products from recycled organic material, to create a sustainable building material made from cattle dung. EcoFaeBricks goal is to reduce the environmental impact and increase economic wellbeing in farming areas by providing an economically viable solution to waste problems that most cattle farmers face. It has developed an extremely environmentally friendly process to create a new kind of brick (a common building material around the world).

Tech Award Nomination Economic Development EcoFaeBricks new brick making technique which uses 75% cow dung solves several key issues from an economic perspective. EcoFaeBrick claims that the process will raise participating farmers incomes by 53%. ii The brick making process uses cattle waste for energy and material. Farmers are paid cash for this raw material. This additional revenue stream will help to raise farmers quality of life while at the same time help to preserve land for farming since the EcoFaeBrick eliminates the need for clay excavation which damages the habitat. Addressed Issue This one simple innovation solves several problems at once. The new cow-dung-biogas brick making process not only saves land from destruction from excavation for clay it also curtails deforestation since the companys process replaces the traditional wood burning used in the brick making process with biogas. This has the global impact of taking out 1,692 tons of CO2 per year which is the equivalent to replacing 269 cars with hybrid cars. iii The EcoFaeBrick is truly a sustainable building material and is priced the same as traditional clay bricks. This picture shows the massive land exploitation that can be avoided by using EcoFaeBrick. Copyright (c) EcoFaeBrick. All rights reserved. Improved Technology Application The EcoFaeBrick product is 20 percent lighter than a traditional clay brick and also 20 percent stronger in terms of compressive strength iv which further adds additional benefits in the form of cost savings for its storage and distribution. Less weight makes it easier to transport and translates to less fuel being wasted during shipment. As you can see the cow-dung bricks also

look pretty much identical to a traditional clay brick so it should be very easy to have builders adopt the new building material. The company has made it easy for the technology to be adapted in rural settings. They have pinpointed 22 potential sites across Indonesia which would be viable for such projects. It has also come up with a viable integrated business model that actually helps the community both financially and environmentally. The EcoFaeBrick is truly a sustainable building material. Inspiration for Future Innovation Recently there has been a big push to find alternative building materials made of common waste products. People must look to find ways to transform waste into something that is productive. EcoFaeBrick has come up with a plan that can be a model for other similar innovations. EcoFaeBricks product and business model benefits rural communities by transforming a potentially polluting material (cattle waste) and turning it into something that is both useful and productive while at the same time having the added beneficial byproduct of reduced CO2 emissions and more farm land and trees. This technology has the potential to affect the lives of many millions of people in developing countries, without negatively changing their normal routine. Field Presence EcoFaeBrick has proven that the design for its eco-friendly bricks made from cattle waste is superior to traditional clay bricks. EcoFaeBrick offers a highly feasible solution for rapidly developing areas not only in Indonesia but also in other emerging countries. It has also created a model for an effective supply chain between cattle farmers and housing developers, NGOs, and local communities. v The companys expansion plans focus on areas that have rapid

development and high concentration of cattle farming and its business model incorporates efficiently the local environmental and human resources to reduce environmental impact and boost local incomes.

The price of the EcoFaeBricks cow-dung-brick is currently equal to a traditional clay brick. vi It is made from material that is readily available and one that is considered a waste product. It seems highly likely that once farmers understand that this alternative is available they would be happy to sell their waste product (cattle dung) to EcoFaeBrick in return for cash. Market creation might benefit from government and local community informational campaigns to help the company spread the word regarding this option. It could target both farmers and builders. It would seem likely that there might be a need to retrain clay excavators to be sustainable farmers or hire the clay brick makers to be cow-dung-brick makers. Socio-Technical Considerations This is a product that once people become aware of how many benefits it offers they will surely adopt to it quickly since it does not require a change in their behavior. The quality of the product speaks for itself and as it gains wider acceptance it may completely replace clay bricks as a building material. Shelter is something that most people can relate to. Bricks are an essential part of millions of peoples lives around the world who use bricks to build their homes and businesses. EcoFaeBrick is offering them an alternative that is stronger and lighter than traditional materials at the same price point. Adoption should be fairly rapid once the manufacturing facilities are constructed in local communities. EcoFaeBrick has already planned nearly 22 new locations for such facilities in rural communities inside Indonesia. It has shown

that any community that has cattle farming can benefit from its proven conversion process. By further collaborating with developers and farmers the company should be able to expand quickly to new markets. Characteristics of Innovators The EcoFaeBrick team is made up of students from the Prasetiya Mulya Business School. EcoFaeBrick mission is to offer high value products by utilizing the effective technology. The company aims to develop a more environmental friendly process that also incorporates an integrated business model with the community. The companys utilization of cow dung solves a hygiene problem and also reduces the exploitation of clay that is typically excavated in a way that damages the land. The replacement of firewood with the cow dung methane biogas in the combustion process brings a lower production cost with a much improved environmentally friendly process. The schools program emphasizes learning by actually implementing business concepts in real-world situations. vii The company knows that using EcoFaeBrick will improve the wealth of the rural people. Business Model for Scaling EcoFaeBrick has built partnerships with the local farmers and through its supply chain the farmers receive an additional income that will drastically improve their quality of life. The end user price for the product is identical when compared to traditional clay bricks. Local farmers may benefit the most since they will receive additional income from something that would have gone to waste and potentially caused them harm. The company would definately benefit from outside resources from NGOs or Micro-finance loans to help finance new locations for its brick

factories. The process has been proven to work in rural communities and should be readily scalable to other parts of the world which have similar needs for brick and cattle waste disposal. Conclusion In my opinion, EcoFaeBricks cow-dung-brick is a product that ultimately benefits us all. It benefits our environment due to the reduction in CO2 output during brick manufacturing. It benefits the quality of life of the farmers that sell their cattle waste to the company. It benefits the land due to the reduced need for damaging clay excavation and reduced need to cut down additional trees that would be used for fire to bake traditional clay bricks. It is also stronger and lighter than existing clay brick products, adding to the energy savings. The company will surely contribute positively to the economic development of some of the worlds poorest areas. It also has the power to inspire people to come up with similar products that positively benefit the world. There are a lot of cows on this planet 1 and that means there is a lot of cow waste that could be used to make cow-dung-bricks!

1. According to the International Erosion Control Association, which tracks overgrazing, the world's cattle herd went from 720 million in 1950 to 1.53 billion in 2001.

References i. Would You Live in a House Made of Sh*t?, Ariel Schwartz, 4/28/2009, http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/arielschwartz/sustainability/would-you-livehouse-made-cow-dung EcoFaeBrick, Habitat 5/13/2009, http://www.materia.nl/583.0.html?&tx_ttnews[swords]=brick&tx_ttnews[tt_news]= 233&tx_ttnews[backPid]=589& cHash=71a663fe47 Sustain Our Nation, Case Study 1 EcoFaeBrick, http://www.sustainournation.org/the-themes/energy-climatechange/casestudies/cs1-ecofae-brick.aspx http://ecofaebrick.com/products.html EcoFaeBrick Wins 10th Annual Global Social Venture Competition by Nathaniel Whittemore Published 4/272009 http://socialentrepreneurship.change.org/blog/view/ecofaebrick_wins_10th_annual _global_social_venture_competition http://ecofaebrick.com/products.html http://ecofaebrick.com/partners.html In Africa there are an estimated 230 million cattle, while India hold's the world's largest cattle population with 283.1 million. The United States has 98 million head of cattle, while China has 130 million head. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_cows_are_there_in_the_world

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