
We've been using the same bricks for over 5,000 years. It's time for a change - clouddrover
https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/going-green-kbriq-sustainable-brick-spc-intl/index.html
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Animats
Many variants on brick have been tried. Making bricks with tighter dimensional
tolerances so they can be epoxied tightly together rather than using mortar is
one approach. The mortar is usually the weak point. But it didn't "look like
brick". There are cement bricks, and, of course, cinder blocks. There are
"poured stone" blocks, mostly for decorative walkways. There are rammed earth
blocks. There are bricks in nonstandard shapes.

Bricks are reused all the time, mostly in places with old brick buildings and
an underclass of cheap labor to chip off the mortar. Like Chicago.

The "let's just dump random construction debris in" approach seems kind of
iffy. Figuring out how to make something from broken concrete might be more
useful. If you want some broken concrete, and are in Silicon Valley, there's a
plant on Seaport Boulevard in Redwood City that gives it away. They charge to
dispose of concrete, break it into small pieces, and give it away as "base
rock". From the size of the pile they have, even giving it away is tough.

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ehnto
Rammed earth is my favorite conceptually, especially if your property has the
source raw materials on the property. You're not externalizing the impact of
your build, and it deteriorates right back where it came from.

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dmitriid
Modern bricks are nowhere near the same as the bricks 5000 years ago. And
concrete is probably much bigger ecological hazard:
[https://www.businessinsider.com/world-running-out-sand-
resou...](https://www.businessinsider.com/world-running-out-sand-resources-
concrete-2018-6?r=US&IR=T)

~~~
Scaevolus
And concrete is massively preferred over brick for reducing labor costs.

~~~
naikrovek
Nice to see the armchair experts again completely dismissing the work of
someone doing the work of actually trying to do something productive.

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malwarebytess
[http://www.university-
technology.com/opportunity/591/earth-e...](http://www.university-
technology.com/opportunity/591/earth-eco-brick-new-eco-masonry-product-green-
technology--great-possibilities)

    
    
        Key Benefits:
    
            Largest recycled content of any building product on the market - over 90% recycled construction waste
            These unfired units have excellent sustainability credentials - no gas use for firing, or cement required
            Provides a market for recycled aggregates (gravel and sand) from construction and demolition sector
            Significantly lower life cycle environmental impacts compared with traditional clay fired bricks/ cement-based products
            In short - Easy recyclability, low resource use in manufacturing and low energy curing
    
        Applications:
    
            Creates a new product from waste that would otherwise be landfilled
            Sustainable construction product suitable for internal and external load-bearing and “facing” applications
            Lower cost recycled materials than in traditional bricks / cement-based products as well as reduced production cost per unit

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fyfy18
Another alternative is bricks made from cork. The main use of cork is making
wine bottle stoppers, which results in lots of left over material. Cork is
more ecological than wood, as it's the stripped bark of the tree (the tree
will continue growing once harvested and can be harvested multiple times).

In this process they grind up left over material from wine bottle stoppers,
and heat it to form large bricks (it binds itself). The bricks are then cut on
a CNC machine to give the correct form, and the waste material is sent back to
the beginning of the process. Cork is a natural insulator, so building a house
is more like stacking LEGO in this process.

[https://www.architecture.com/awards-and-competitions-
landing...](https://www.architecture.com/awards-and-competitions-landing-
page/awards/riba-regional-awards/riba-south-award-winners/2019/cork-house)

Both are great ideas, but I doubt I am going to be seeing these for sale in my
local builders merchant anytime soon.

~~~
dirtyid
I love a good cork floor, but there isn't enough cork trees in the world to be
viable substitute construction materials outside of niche applications.

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fnord77
this article reads like a sponsored advertisement

~~~
x3n0ph3n3
What makes you think it isn't?

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jb775
Why on earth would we want to change something that's successfully worked for
over 5,000 years?

~~~
raldi
Because the company that paid for this ad couldn't get a patent for a
5,000-year-old design.

~~~
pankajdoharey
Haha, good one!

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kumarvvr
No details on the bonding agent used for binding the construction rubble.

But I really wish the world comes up with alternate building materials.

Currently, Cement has a large footprint. Sand used as filler, at-least in
India, is in severe shortage and rivers are destroyed trying to mine it. And
brick kilns consume a lot of energy.

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dirtyid
Another non-fire eco-brick. These things have potential, but construction is a
conservative business, especially when trying to usurp materials with proven
performance history. But very few things with bricks is built to last 100+
years anymore, let alone 1,000. We're better off with a material that cost
1/10 the energy and last 1/10 as long than spending 10/10 energy on
traditional manufacturing process for things that will last 1/10 as long
anyway.

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growlist
These guys have been doing something similar for at least a decade (I have no
financial interest etc.):
[http://www.timbercrete.com.au](http://www.timbercrete.com.au)

Also, I live in West Sussex and the amount of clay here really is unbelievable
- my town used to be a major producer of clay and bricks, tiles etc. Once
you're past a foot or so of topsoil it's pure clay.

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leakybit
_To make it, construction and demolition waste including bricks, gravel, sand
and plasterboard is crushed and mixed with water and a binder. The bricks are
then pressed in customized molds. Tinted with recycled pigments, they can be
made in any color_

Is the binder cement? If so, then I believe those are called cinder blocks.

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jkmcf
I remember watching an episode of Beyond 2000 (?) in the 90s or so about new
brick tech. Nothing seems catch on...

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082349872349872
rough dup (different outlet, same press release?) of
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23820308](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23820308)

(dang, I actually used _past_ )

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missedthecue
if it ain't broke

