Kenoteq, a spin-off company from Scotland's Heriot-Watt University has launched a building brick that is made from 90% recycled construction and demolition waste.
Kenoteq
Professor Gabriela Medero of Heriot-Watt University conceived the idea for the K-Briq over ten years ago. Picture: Kenoteq/Facebook
According to Kenoteq, the K-Briq, which can made produced in any colour, produces a tenth of the CO2 emissions of a traditional brick during manufacture, and uses a tenth of the energy. The idea was the brainchild of Heriot-Watt's Professor Gabriela Medero and is Kenoteq's first product.7
Medero, who came up with the idea for the K-Briq more than a decade ago, said: "We hope K-Briq will help support the sustainability ambitions of today’s construction industry."
“I have spent many years researching building materials and have been concerned that modern construction techniques exploit raw materials without considering that they are amongst the largest contributors to carbon emissions. The amount of waste they produce is not sustainable long-term."
“The K-Briq looks like a normal brick, weighs the same and behaves like a clay brick but offers better insulation properties. It is sustainable and not kiln-fired so it is far better for the environment and represents massive savings for the construction industry in terms of related taxes.”
Dr Sam Chapman, who works with Medero at Kenoteq, added: “Kenoteq has invested in machinery that can produce three million bricks per year. 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 Scottish government has set very high targets for housebuilding with 50,000 new homes earmarked for construction in the next three years. We hope Kenoteq will be part of those homes.”
The Kenoteq team said that 85% of the bricks currently used in Scotland are imported from England or further afield in Europe, which raises concerns about the sustainability of the construction sector.
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.
Back to Homepage
Back to Construction & Engineering