flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Lab-grown bricks offer potential low-carbon building material

Lab-grown bricks offer potential low-carbon building material

Prototype uses bacteria to grow a brick in a mold.


By Peter Fabris, Contributing Editor | September 30, 2022
Grow Bricks
Courtesy Pexels.

A team of students at the University of Waterloo in Canada have developed a process to grow bricks using bacteria.

The process, which works at room temperature, offers a new low-carbon way to fabricate bricks. The brick-growing process starts by introducing bacteria to a nutrient broth.

Recycled sand or demolition waste can be mixed in to create the Bio-Brick. The result is a product that is as strong and affordable as bricks traditionally used in construction sites today and can easily be grown onsite for any project, the product’s developers say.

The technology, still in the prototype phase, was named a runner-up for the James Dyson Award.
 

Related Stories

| Oct 6, 2011

GREENBUILD 2011: Growing green building market supports 661,000 green jobs in the U.S.

Green jobs are already an important part of the construction labor workforce, and signs are that they will become industry standard.

| Oct 6, 2011

GREENBUILD 2011: NEXT Living EcoSuite showcased

  Tridel teams up with Cisco and Control4 to unveil the future of green condo living in Canada.

| Oct 5, 2011

GREENBUILD 2011: Johnson Controls announces Panoptix, a new approach to building efficiency

Panoptix combines latest technology, new business model and industry-leading expertise to make building efficiency easier and more accessible to a broader market.

| Oct 5, 2011

GREENBUILD 2011: Software an architectural game changer

Interactive modeling software transforms the design­build process. 

| Oct 5, 2011

GREENBUILD 2011: Tile manufacturer attains third-party certification for waste recycling processes

Crossville has joined with TOTO to recycle that company’s pre-consumer fired sanitary ware.

| Oct 5, 2011

GREENBUILD 2011: Roof hatch designed for energy efficiency

The cover features a specially designed EPDM finger-type gasket that ensures a positive seal with the curb to reduce air permeability and ensure energy performance. 

| Oct 4, 2011

GREENBUILD 2011

Click here for the latest news and products from Greenbuild 2011, Oct. 4-7, in Toronto.

| Oct 4, 2011

GREENBUILD 2011: Methods, impacts, and opportunities in the concrete building life cycle

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Concrete Sustainability Hub conducted a life-cycle assessment (LCA) study to evaluate and improve the environmental impact and study how the “dual use” aspect of concrete.

| Oct 4, 2011

GREENBUILD 2011: Johnsonite features sustainable products

Products include rubber flooring tiles, treads, wall bases, and more. 

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Curtain Wall

7 steps to investigating curtain wall leaks

It is common for significant curtain wall leakage to involve multiple variables. Therefore, a comprehensive multi-faceted investigation is required to determine the origin of leakage, according to building enclosure consultants Richard Aeck and John A. Rudisill with Rimkus. 



halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021