Building With Energy Smart Bricks Could Cut Power Usage

The smart bricks have insulation properties and may provide an up to 5 percent saving in energy costs for a single-story building.
Building With Energy Smart Bricks Could Cut Power Usage
Team leader Associate Professor Dilan Robert (third from left) with the RMIT research team behind the energy-smart bricks in a lab at RMIT University. Seamus Daniel/RMIT University
|Updated:
0:00

A new type of brick made from glass and combusted solid waste that has insulation properties superior to conventional clay bricks has the potential to reduce manufacturing and household energy expenses and limit waste sent to landfills.

Engineers from RMIT University in collaboration with recycling company Visy have created the so-called “smart bricks” that have the potential to significantly improve the energy efficiency of buildings, contributing to a more sustainably built environment.

Jim Birchall
Jim Birchall
Author
Jim Birchall has written and edited for several regional New Zealand publications. He was most recently the editor of the Hauraki Coromandel Post.