Sunyani Technical University (STU) has held its first-ever Professorial Inaugural Lecture, marking a significant milestone in the University's academic history and reinforcing its commitment to research excellence, knowledge dissemination and national development.
The historic lecture featured the University's Vice-Chancellor, Ing. Prof. Kwadwo Adinkrah-Appiah, who is the first full professor of the institution.
The event therefore marked not only an important personal achievement for the Vice-Chancellor but also a significant step in strengthening STU's academic identity, research visibility and contribution to knowledge and society.
Delivering his Professorial Inaugural Lecture on the topic, “Valorization of Waste to Bridge Circularity and Civil Engineering Construction in the Era of Sustainability,” Ing. Prof. Kwadwo Adinkrah-Appiah, called for a fundamental shift in Ghana's construction industry from conventional building practices to circular construction, urging government, industry players and universities to embrace innovative ways of transforming waste into valuable building materials.
He said Ghana could significantly reduce the environmental impact of construction activities, lower building costs and conserve natural resources by adopting circular construction practices that promote the recovery, reuse and recycling of discarded materials.
Appiah stressed that the country's continued dependence on virgin construction materials, particularly sand, cement and natural aggregates, was placing increasing pressure on the environment.
He noted that about 90 per cent of the walls in typical Ghanaian buildings were constructed with sandcrete blocks, a practice that contributed to the excessive extraction of sand and other natural resources.
According to him, Ghana consumes more than six million tonnes of cement, equivalent to approximately 120 million bags, and over 120,000 tonnes of steel reinforcement annually, highlighting the enormous material demands of the construction industry.
Globally, he observed, the construction industry accounts for more than 34 per cent of solid waste generation, 35 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions and 42 per cent of final energy consumption.
He argued that the situation required a departure from the traditional linear construction model of extracting, processing, manufacturing, constructing, using, demolishing and disposing of materials.
Instead, he advocated a circular construction approach that prioritises designing, building, maintaining, repairing, adapting, reusing, recovering and recycling materials to minimise waste and preserve resources.
Potential of waste materials
Drawing on more than two decades of research, Prof. Adinkrah-Appiah demonstrated how locally available agricultural, industrial, plastic and construction waste materials could be transformed into useful construction resources.
He disclosed that his research journey, which had produced more than 50 publications in high-impact international journals and conference proceedings, was driven by an enduring interest in resource efficiency, prudence and environmental preservation.
One of his notable research contributions was the development of Salancrete blocks, produced from a combination of sand, laterite and cement.
The research established that Salancrete blocks achieved an average compressive strength of 5.76 MPa, compared with 3.78 MPa for conventional sandcrete blocks and 3.09 MPa for landcrete blocks.
The Salancrete blocks also recorded the lowest production cost, demonstrating their potential to support affordable and sustainable housing delivery.
The innovation subsequently earned him the Ghana Institution of Engineering's (GhIE) Most Innovative Research of the Year Award in 2016.
'Building better is more important than building more'
Concluding his lecture, Prof. Adinkrah-Appiah maintained that the challenge confronting modern civil engineering was no longer simply how to build more infrastructure but how to build better while protecting the environment and conserving resources for future generations.
He explained that building better required using fewer virgin materials, prioritising locally available and recycled resources, designing durable structures, maintaining existing buildings instead of prematurely demolishing them, and recovering materials rather than sending them to landfills.
Describing the transition from linear to circular construction as more than an environmental movement, he characterised it as an engineering revolution requiring a fundamental change in the thinking and practices of engineers, policymakers, contractors and society.
He challenged civil engineers to look beyond the conventional question of whether a structure would stand and consider the resources consumed in its construction, its lifespan, potential for repair and adaptation, and the possibility of recovering its components at the end of its service life.
Academic tradition
Welcoming participants to the event, the Registrar of STU, Mr Stephen Yeboah, said the inaugural lecture represented an important academic tradition that provided newly appointed or promoted full professors an opportunity to share their accumulated research experience, scholarly achievements and future research aspirations with the university community and the general public.
He explained that, unlike conventional academic presentations which often focused on specific research studies, professorial inaugural lectures offered a broader and more comprehensive account of a professor's academic journey and contributions to knowledge over several years.
According to him, the lectures also served as important platforms for translating complex academic research into accessible information that could be understood and appreciated by non-specialists and the general public.
Mr Yeboah noted that the initiative was particularly significant because it connected academic research and discoveries to practical societal needs, including national development, economic policy, environmental protection and the resolution of pressing social challenges.
He said such engagements enabled universities to demonstrate the practical relevance of their research while contributing innovative ideas and solutions to national development.
The Vice-Chancellor of Ho Technical University, Prof. Ben Quarshie Honyenuga, presided over the programme, which attracted people from all walks of life.