![]() ![]() (Assuming you can keep the CEB machine in good repair but that is why it is open-sourced). It also means getting more CEBs to affect repairs can be sourced locally, and does not require a functioning global supply chain. ![]() With a CEB machine onsite, it makes construction of this type of material decentralized, without having to rely on a fragile, global supply chain. They did require some knowledge that are not widely disseminated (use of water to motar them together, and other construction techniques you would not use with conventional bricks). These machines have been built and had been in use for some time now. Open Source Ecology has open-source designs for a compressed earth block machine that can generate these things from the dirt on-site. ![]() That’s kind of the whole point of the mortar being used as a binder in the first place. Mortar is not easily removed from brick without damaging the brick. If there was a way you could dump a house worth of old bricks into one end of a black box and spit out reusable brick from the other end, you’d basically be printing money. I’ve spent many hours reclaiming these bricks from old houses and factories because for one, they look incredible, and two, they’re worth about a dollar a piece once they’re ready to be laid again (Pretty good money if you’re good with a brick hammer). You can see these in just about every city’s downtown in Wisconsin. Milwaukee, WI is famous for their Cream City bricks that were produced in the mid and late 19th century but once the unique clay beds used to create these bricks were gone, so were new Cream Cities. There is often huge demand for antique bricks because a lot of the unique clay deposits used to create the bricks end up being totally depleted. The real holy grail of this industry would be figuring out how to reclaim the trillions of bricks already in circulation without needing human intervention. ![]() They’re right that reclaiming bricks as being labor intensive work. It’s rare that two customers would use the same bricks and we end up keeping the extras until we know we’re not getting called back in to do additional work. Storing them can also prove to be a problem, so much so that we literally throw away thousands of bricks we have left over from jobs every year. I work in the masonry trade, all of the materials we use are from brick yards and quarries that are local (~75-100mi radius) for the simple fact that transporting large numbers of pallets of brick over long distances is a logistical nightmare. the real problem isn’t creating these bricks, it’s building out the infrastructure to supply a significant demand. This tech seems like a good idea until you realize every brick is being produced in one spot in England. “The company has now signed an agreement with Hamilton’s Waste & Recycling to produce the K-Briq on site at the recycling centre, thus cutting carbon emissions and transport miles.It would be interesting to see exactly how much CO2 was created in the process of creating a brick vs the amount of CO2 created during transportation. We hope Kenoteq will be part of those homes.” “The Scottish government has set very high targets for housebuilding with 50,000 new homes earmarked for construction in the next three years. In the past year, we’ve produced thousands of bricks and put them through rigorous testing, with the K-Briq now commercially available to construction clients.” “The K-Briq looks like a normal brick, weighs the same and behaves like a clay brick, but offers better insulation properties.”ĭr Sam Chapman, a colleague of Medero at Kenoteq, adds, “Kenoteq was invested in machinery that can produce three million bricks per year. The amount of waste they produce is not sustainable long-term.” “I have spent many years researching building materials and have been concerned that modern construction technique exploits raw materials without considering that they are amongst the largest contributors to carbon emissions. “We hope K-Briq will support the sustainability ambitions of today’s construction industry,” Medero says in a statement. The idea was invented over a decade ago by Heriot-Watt’s Professor Gabriela Medero and is Kenoteq’s very first product. Kenoteq, a Scottish, spin-off company from Heriot-Watt University, has launched its sustainable building brick made from 90 percent construction waste coined, the K-Briq. Exhibitions, Associations & Information.Ceilings, Internal Wall Materials & Partitioning. ![]()
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