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.
The smart bricks have insulation properties that are superior to clay and the study suggests they may provide an up to 5 percent saving in energy costs for a single-story building. In addition, they need 20 percent less heat during the firing process, lowering the required temperature in the manufacturing process.
The study has been published in the international journal, Construction and Building Materials, which says the bricks contain a minimum of 15 percent waste glass and 20 percent combusted solid waste (ash).
Research team leader Associate Professor Dilan Robert said that the production of 1.4 trillion bricks used per year worldwide could be minimised by using waste materials.
“Business-as-usual brick production produces harmful emissions—including carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and chlorine—and puts a serious strain on our natural resources, particularly clay,” Professor Robert said.
Construction projects often generate a significant amount of waste, including bricks that are damaged, leftover, or removed during renovations or demolitions. This contributes to the overall waste stream and can end up in landfills if not properly managed.
Efforts to reduce brick wastage and manage it more sustainably can contribute to a more sustainable economy in the construction industry.
“Bricks play a key role in preventing energy loss from buildings,” said Mr. Robert, who added that cosmetic alternatives to suit the design of a house can also be produced.
“We can also produce lightweight bricks in a range of colours from white to dark red by changing our formulations.”
They also comply with structural safety standards, with Biplob Pramanik, the RMIT team’s Environmental engineer saying the bricks meet state environmental regulations.
Visy’s had previously only been able to repurpose waste glass packaging into bottles and jars.
“Diverting this waste into bricks with added insulation, rather than landfill, is another way we are powering the circular economy,” Visy Innovation Project Manager Paul Andrich said of the brick innovation.
A challenge, however, remains over the utilisation of glass fragments that are less than 3 millimetres in conventional recycling processes.
But Mr. Robert said an investment in productivity should iron out the issues.
Smartbricks a Developing Market
In recent years, bricks have been investigated by scientists and environmental researchers for their potential to retain heat for applications in construction and home building sustainably.In the United States, there has been the development of bricks that store electricity by pumping gases through the pores in a conventional brick where the gas interacts with the brick’s chemicals and coats it with a plastic nanofiber known as a PEDOT, which has strong conductivity.
The brick is then rendered as a supercapacitor which can store energy for a limited time but is less effective than heating powered by lithium-ion batteries.
