TETEC
Training and Education Center for Traditional Earthen Construction
What is TETEC ?
The Training and Education Center for Earthen Construction (TETEC) is a growing educational and research hub for sustainable earthen building in Butre, Ghana. It aims to teach both traditional and contemporary earthen construction techniques, promote sustainable building practices, and create a space for knowledge exchange and community.
You are invited!
This April we came together at the Zero Km House in Butre for a hands-on workshop exploring the potential of earth as a building material.
Using the Zero Km House for the first time in its function as Training and Education Center for Earthen Construction (TETEC), 13 participants worked with locally sourced clay and explored a range of traditional construction techniques, including rammed earth, wattle and daub, adobe brick making, bricklaying and earth plastering.
COMMUNITY INTEGRATION & IMPACT
The center works closely with local artisans, schools, and communities to preserve, pass on, and further develop traditional earthen construction knowledge in Ghana. Through hands-on training and intergenerational exchange, this centuries-old building wisdom is strengthened and adapted to modern needs.
The project serves as a platform for knowledge empowerment by involving local experts as educators, raising awareness about the value of traditional building methods. Additionally, it creates jobs and promotes the long-term integration of sustainable building practices in Ghana and beyond.
SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE. SHAPE TETEC.
The TETEC is growing as a place where knowledge is shared across generations, cultures, and communities.
We believe that expertise is found everywhere — in universities and research institutions, but also in villages, on construction sites, in the hands of craftspeople, builders, and community elders. Traditional knowledge and lived experience are just as valuable as academic research.
We warmly invite everyone to become part of TETEC. Whether you are an artisan, builder, student, researcher, architect, engineer, or simply someone with experience in earthen construction, we would love to learn from you. Join us during workshops and building phases in Butre, and help create a place where people learn with and from one another.
OUR VISION & MISSION
The year is 2035, and the transformation we envisioned has become reality. TETEC has played a key role in reshaping the construction industry in Butre and beyond. Conventional, environmentally harmful building methods have been replaced with sustainable, earth-based techniques. Earthen construction is no longer seen as outdated or impractical — it has become an attractive, accessible, and widely embraced solution for the future of architecture.
Over the years, young people from diverse cultural backgrounds have come to TETEC, drawn by the rich traditions of earthen construction in Ghana. Inspired by what they learned, they have taken their knowledge across the world, launching their own earth-based building projects. Their work has sparked a global shift in the industry, proving that sustainable, natural materials are not just an alternative, but the way forward.
This is the world we have built. This is the change we have made. Welcome to 2035
Wear the Change – Support TETEC!
Purchase our "Build and Live the Cycle" T-shirt and help spread the message. Your support will fund the creation of a sustainable earthen construction center and drive the movement forward!