Innovation

The Eco-Dôme is an affordable, Eco-friendly structure built using a simple technique and basic raw materials. Special bags are filled with rammed earth and are stacked to form the dome’s shape, these are then attached with barbed wire to secure everything. Additional layers are added to the domes to give them a polished look. The domes are fully equipped with water and electricity which makes them a suitable habitat for families. The natural raw materials help create heat and sound insulation which makes the domes cool in the summer, and warm in the winter, providing its inhabitants with a regulated temperature all year round. This does not only positively affect the construction industry, but also provides residents in rural areas with an innovative infrastructure and affordable energy which contributes to create sustainable communities.

The project was initially founded by Youness Ouazri, a civil engineer, and Mustapha El Bahraoui, a hydraulics engineer at the Hassania School of Civil Engineering. They collaborated with a team of intellectuals to develop this project. They have worked on developing a 17m² prototype of the building structure to test its thermal and sound insulation as well as its resilience and durability before building the actual life-sized model. This innovation has emerged from a need to provide sustainable and affordable housing for families with limited income in rural areas and was inspired by the designs of the Iranian-American architect Nader Khalili, and are considered as good value-for-money and environmentally sustainable structures as opposed to other traditional concrete buildings.

Inspiration

As a young boy, Mr.Ouazri has always sought different ways to generate revenue, to find opportunities and seize them. Eventually, his desire of owning a profitable business while creating benefits for society grew even bigger which lead to the creation of this start-up. Mr.Ouazri worked as a salary man in an engineering firm for two years and has gained significant work experience. However, he felt that the routine was killing his creativity, and his wiliness to take new initiatives. As opposed to entrepreneurship, which allows him to freely express his ideas, and gives him the ability to pursue whatever he wants. That, brings him pleasure regardless of the risks.

In response to the main motivation that lead him to start his innovation and business, he answers: “I would say, it is the adventure itself, because the entrepreneurial path is not predictable”. He explained that it is because there are many ups and downs, and there is no monotony throughout the entire process. As challenges keep arising, so does the necessity to constantly try to find innovative ways to overcome them. He added: “The vision of the business is to combine techniques of rammed earth-based constructions since many techniques exist”. Hence the vision is to find and develop a more advanced ecological and sustainable technique in order to be both efficient and effective, and that could be used in various contexts so as to create a greater benefit for people who wish to opt for this type of housing.

Overall impact

Up to this day, Eco-dôme has created 6 kinds of constructions using Superadobe techniques. The construction with the biggest impact was a 250m² cultural center in Agouim; a rural region between Marakesh and Ouarzazat. It was dedicated to students of the region because, before its creation, young students did not have anywhere to play or enjoy after-school activities. Thus, the idea to create a recreation place for these kids has emerged.

The construction was achieved in 2016 in collaboration with “Oum el Kora”, a local association. It is currently still operating under the association's management and is open for all kids in the region. This center has received a very positive reaction from the local community and its unconventional structure helps to stimulate the creativity of students, through its shapes, colors, and the ambiance created by the unique design. Moreover, the building can be used all year around regardless of the extreme weather conditions that the region is known for due to the thermal insulation proprieties that allow the building to remain at an average temperature of 25°C without the use of any external heating equipment.

Further, this project has played a big role in empowering the local community as many locals have volunteered to contribute to its construction. "It was built by the village, for the village". Here we can feel a great sense of community, collaboration, and empowerment of others. Eventually, several locals who learned the technique joined the company to perform all constructions needed in the region.

Business benefit

"When trying to communicate the attractiveness of Eco-dôme, we first talk about the fact that it is thermally and acoustically insulated in a natural manner, in addition to being anti-seismic as well due to the nature of the shape of the construction, these features attract the curiosity and interest of potential customers". The fact that this innovation is different and new is creating a great benefit for the company in such a way that it brings them more clients and people who are willing to purchase the innovation which, in turn, helps the business grow, and strengthens its different aspects. Thus, it is the innovation itself that gives the company a great competitive advantage in the market, because Eco-dôme's Superadobe constructions techniques can be rapidly executable compared to their direct competition who use cob and adobe in their construction process and the construction process using the cob is very time-consuming as it requires various trial phases, unlike the Superadobe that Eco-dôme uses which requires less time to be executed.

Watch video on YouTube

Social and environmental benefit

Mr.Ouazri states that even businesses without social causes can also have an impact on society starting by the simple fact that a new business creates many job opportunities which positively impacts in an indirect manner the life of many families within a society. Nevertheless, businesses that operate taking into consideration the benefit of the society go beyond impacting a few members of society through job provision, and instead, this benefit is multiplied to include more people, and hence, spreads a greater benefit. Likewise, Eco-dôme does provide jobs for many individuals yet, the impact on society lies first in the advantages that the innovation provides to its beneficiaries; when talking about thermal insulation for instance, it will lead to a reduction in energy consumption bills especially relating to heating and air conditioning systems, which in turn helps in increasing savings of those who live in those housing structures

The impact of the innovation on the environment lies in the fact that the nature of the constructions allow them to fit and blend well with nature and other ecological systems. Moreover, the raw materials and building technique help to preserve natural resources and save them for future generations. They also help reducing the pollution of the environment which is in itself a great benefit for society as it enhances the quality of life.

Interview

Youness Ouazri, Civil Engineer and Co-Founder