A real estate and land agent at Wenchi, William Brown, has underscored the necessity for Ghanaians to use local building materials to reduce carbon emissions to help combat climate change.

He said that will also drive the economy by reducing the country's dependence on imports and concrete products.

"Not only will the promotion of local building materials create numerous employment opportunities, it will also reduce the pressure on the demand for foreign currencies," he emphasised.

He urged Ghanaians to begin relying on local building materials such as burnt bricks for the construction of their homes as a way of helping to reduce the over-dependence on cement and its related products.

"Apart from the burnt bricks, people can also explore hydroforms, compressed earth bricks or even Adobe bricks,” Mr Brown added.

He stated that most people in Northern Ghana use Adobe and compressed earth bricks, which are available in abundance and proven.

He cited South Africa as an example where they mostly use local building materials in their housing, and it is helping them.

The real estate and land agent noted that Ghanaian bricks, bamboo, compressed earth bricks and other local building materials are the way to go because every country is talking about turning to green building materials.

"Fortunately for us in Ghana, especially the rural areas, the materials are all found in our local environment, so we should take advantage of it and at the same time protect the environment," he argued.

He stressed the need for professionals, especially architects and engineers, to continuously upgrade their skills in the use, design, and building of local raw materials.

Mr Brown further indicated that training and certifying local artisans on the use of local materials is a commendable innovation in the construction industry and needs to continue to benefit more local artisans.