Overview

• Pioneering builder Noursoultan Taabaldyev has erected over 300 homes in southern Kyrgyzstan using bricks made of 60% rice husks since 2020.
• Recent academic studies from China, India, Spain, Africa and South America confirm rice husk bricks’ superior thermal insulation and reduced carbon footprint compared with cement.
• A regional Ministry of Emergency Situations assessment found no increased fire hazard in houses constructed with rice husk blocks.
• The low-cost rice husk bricks offer relief in Batken province where cement is the region’s most expensive building material and average monthly wages are about €200.
• Taabaldyev is pursuing automation of brick production and exploring expansion into Kazakhstan to recycle rice husk waste from larger producers.