Transforming brick manufacturing in Bangladesh to promote clean air and better health
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN15354089 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN15354089 |
| Secondary identifying numbers | 67263 |
- Submission date
- 05/10/2022
- Registration date
- 21/10/2022
- Last edited
- 30/12/2024
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Other
Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
Across South Asia, the brick manufacturing industry is dominated by inefficient, coal-burning kilns. Brick kilns are one of the largest emitters in the region. In Bangladesh, kilns contribute 17% of the country's annual CO2 emissions and 11% of PM2.5. The pollution released by these kilns worsens local air quality, health and agricultural productivity, and global climate. Reducing these emissions could generate large social benefits. A properly constructed and operated zigzag kiln can reduce black carbon by 41%, CO2 by 21%, and PM2.5 by 80% – and strikingly, also increase kiln profitability. Yet the vast majority are incorrectly constructed and operated. Our preliminary work suggests two primary barriers to effective implementation: 1) lack of knowledge of the specific interventions and their true economic return and 2) inattention to the incentives of workers whose cooperation is crucial to running an efficient kiln. We propose to evaluate whether a randomized intervention among coal-fired zigzag kiln owners in Khulna Division, Bangladesh that relaxes these barriers improves kiln efficiency and operation.
Who can participate?
Our study will be conducted among coal-fired zigzag kiln owners in Khulna Division, Bangladesh. Owners that operate different types of kilns will not be able to participate in our study. Additionally, owners that have multiple kilns will only be able to include a single kiln on our study and any owners that participated in our pilot study in 2021-2022 will not be able to participate in this current study.
What does the study involve?
Our study includes two treatment arms: a technical only arm and a technical + incentive arm. Kiln owners and their workers assigned to both intervention arms will receive extensive technical training on best practices for stacking bricks and feeding coal into the kiln to achieve optimal combustion efficiency. This will be delivered in the form of an initial “classroom” training, a series of on-kiln trainings targeting specific operational components, and technical support available throughout the firing season. In addition to this technical training, kilns assigned to the incentive arm will also receive information and recommendations to encourage use of targeted worker incentives. The recommendations, which include a mix of financial and non-financial mechanisms, such as bonuses, wage increases, extra meals/better quality meals. Participating in the study will also require owners and workers to answer questions about the operation of the kiln, brick production, experience of adopting the interventions, working conditions, and use of incentives, among other topics. These questions will be asked of owners and workers at the start of the study, before the intervention, and again at the end of the study, approximately 7 months later. We will also collect measurements of kiln operation, energy use, and brick production from all kilns in the study approximately 4-5 months after the start of the study.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
There are minimal risks for kiln owners in this study. Our earlier pilot study in Jashore District was very successful, and the owners who adopted the technical interventions had increased economic returns relative to the control arm. Additionally, kiln owners in India who have used similar kiln operation practices also obtained higher profits. However, we cannot guarantee that owners will achieve higher profits and will not provide any compensation for profit loss that occurs during the brick firing season covered by our intervention. Kiln owners in the intervention arms will likely benefit from the improvements to the operation of the kiln, while all kiln owners and workers, will likely benefit from the reduction in emissions and improved air quality associated with the improvements. Kiln owners assigned to the control arm will be offered the technical training for the next brick firing season so they may also benefit from the improvements.
Where is the study run from?
A collaborative team of interdisciplinary researchers from Bangladesh (icddr,b and the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology), India (Greentech Knowledge Solutions Pvt. Ltd), and the United States (Stanford University and University of Connecticut) are implementing the study. The study is being conducted in Khulna Division of Bangladesh and fieldwork is managed by the local team of researchers in Bangladesh, supervised by icddr,b.
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
The study started in September 2022 and will run until the end of the brick firing season in August 2023.
Who is funding the study?
The study is funded by the Stanford Impact Labs (USA) and the JPAL/King Climate Action Initiative (USA)
Who is the main contact?
Professor Stephen Luby
sluby@stanford.edu
Contact information
Principal Investigator
473 Via Ortega
Stanford
94305
United States of America
 ORCID ID |
0000-0001-5385-899X |
|---|---|
| Phone | +1 (650) 723-4129 |
| sluby@stanford.edu |
Scientific
Assistant Professor
Department of Global Health
Boston University School of Public Health
801 Massachusetts Avenue
Crosstown, Floor 3, Room 384
Boston
MA 02118
United States of America
| ORCID ID |
0000-0003-3409-5434 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +1 617-358-2403 |
| nrbrooks@bu.edu |
Study information
| Study design | Randomized controlled trial with two intervention arms (technical only, technical + incentives) and one control arm |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Randomised controlled trial |
| Study setting(s) | Other |
| Study type | Other |
| Participant information sheet | No participant information sheet available |
| Scientific title | The effectiveness of energy efficiency improvements and worker incentives for coal-fired brick zigzag kilns: a randomized controlled trial on energy use and brick quality |
| Study acronym | BRICK |
| Study hypothesis | 1. The technical and incentive interventions increase the percent of Class-1 bricks produced relative to the control arm. 2. The technical and incentive interventions reduce the specific energy consumption relative to the control arm. 3. The technical and incentive interventions reduce the CO/CO2 ratio relative to the control arm. |
| Ethics approval(s) | Approved 25/07/2022, icddr,b Ethical Review Committee (68, Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh, +880-2-9827084; salamk@icddrb.org), ref: PR-22052 |
| Condition | Inefficient operation of coal-fired brick kilns that results in substantial emissions of PM2.5, black carbon, and CO2. |
| Intervention | We will have two experimental arms: 1) technical knowledge and training (technical arm) and 2) technical knowledge and training + worker incentives (incentive arm). Kilns assigned to both arms will receive information, training, and encouragement to adopt a suite of technical and operational improvements including improved firing practices, improved brick setting, increased insulation, and good bookkeeping. Trainings will highlight the financial benefits of these improvements and include live participation from owners who adopted them during our pilot, to directly address owners’ uncertainty of economic returns. This will be delivered in the form of an initial “classroom” training, a series of on-kiln trainings targeting specific operational components, and technical support available throughout the firing season. Kilns in the incentive arm will receive the technical training plus additional information and recommendations to encourage use of targeted worker incentives. The recommendations, which include a mix of financial and non-financial mechanisms, are informed by the economics literature, the experience of Indian kiln owners, results from our pilot, and testimonials from owners who participated in our pilot study. The technical intervention (implemented in both study arms) will run from late-October - late November and the incentive intervention (only in the incentive arm), which includes nudge/reminders, will run from mid-November to late-February). A preliminary adoption follow-up will be conducted in November/December, the outcome measurements will be collected in March-April, and an endline survey will be collected in June. Randomization will be done using a computer program to generate random numbers for each kiln and kilns will be assigned to a study arm according to the randomly generated number. |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure | 1. Carbon monoxide/carbon dioxide ratio (a measure of combustion efficiency measured by placing a sensor into the flue gas) 2. Specific energy consumption (the energy used in MJ for firing 1 kg of brick) measured by multiplying tons of coal consumed by the gross calorific value of the coal and dividing by total production of bricks 3. Percent of Class 1 bricks produced measured by kiln owners' self-report of total brick production and the percent breakdown by quality, as well as fieldworker calculation of fired bricks coming out of the kiln. All three primary outcomes will be collected during a 24-hour measurement visit to each kiln approximately 4 months post-intervention, which is when kiln firing reaches a steady-state. |
| Secondary outcome measures | 1. Use of financial or in-kind incentives for workers to adopt technical intervention measured at 1 month, 4 months, and 7 months. 2. Worker self-reported respiratory symptoms collected by survey at 7 months compared to baseline. 3. Specific fuel consumption (SFC) measured at 4 months by dividing total quantity of coal consumed by total number of bricks produced. 4. Tons of CO2 equivalent measured by converted the primary outcome specific energy consumption into its CO2 equivalent by applying the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) carbon emissions factor for fuel, and a carbon to CO2 conversion factor. 5. Distributional change in brick quality of all types measured by kiln owners' self-report of total brick production and the percent breakdown by quality, as well as fieldworker calculation of fired bricks coming out of the kiln. 6. Value of production measured by multiplying brick production per brick class by the median price reported per class measured at 7 months. |
| Overall study start date | 01/06/2022 |
| Overall study end date | 31/08/2023 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Other |
|---|---|
| Age group | Adult |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 300 brick kilns and 1800 workers (6 per kiln) |
| Total final enrolment | 276 |
| Participant inclusion criteria | The unit of randomization will be brick kilns. The study subjects will include the owner and workers of the brick kiln. Inclusion criteria for brick kilns are: 1. The kiln owner is a member of the Bangladesh Brick Makers Owners Association. 2. The kiln owner operates at least one coal-fired zigzag kiln that is located in Khulna Division. 3. The kiln owner consents to participate in the study |
| Participant exclusion criteria | 1. Participated in the pilot study 2. Took efforts on their own to adopt interventions similar to those implemented in the pilot study 3. Unwilling to be randomized to a control group 4. Already have one kiln from this owner enrolled in the trial |
| Recruitment start date | 01/10/2022 |
| Recruitment end date | 28/10/2022 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Bangladesh
Study participating centre
Mohakhali
Dhaka
1212
Bangladesh
Sponsor information
University/education
473 Via Ortega
Stanford
94305
United States of America
| Phone | +1 (650) 498-1641 |
|---|---|
| jkarpo@stanford.edu | |
| Website | https://med.stanford.edu/id.html |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/03mtd9a03 |
Funders
Funder type
University/education
No information available
No information available
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 15/04/2025 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Stored in publicly available repository |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Planned publication in a high-impact peer-reviewed journal. |
| IPD sharing plan | Data and code will be made publicly available in a trusted digital repository in a manner that protects the confidentiality of all personally identifiable information. |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statistical Analysis Plan | Pre-analysis plan | 16/03/2023 | 20/03/2023 | No | No |
Additional files
- ISRCTN15354089_PAP_16March2023.pdf
- Pre-analysis plan
Editorial Notes
30/12/2024: The intention to publish date was changed from 31/12/2024 to 15/04/2025.
06/08/2024: The intention to publish date was changed from 01/08/2024 to 31/12/2024. Total final enrolment added.
04/09/2023: The scientific contact was updated.
24/07/2023: The overall end date was changed from 31/07/2023 to 31/08/2023.
20/03/2023: Uploaded pre-analysis analysis plan.
13/10/2022: Trial's existence confirmed by idcdr,b
