Low Carbon Bricks now available in the UK

BRICKS made from recycled building material at a facility in East Lothian can now be used in construction projects across the UK.

Kenoteq has developed the K-BRIQ following research from Heriot-Watt University.

Made at the company’s facility near North Berwick, it is the world’s first brick made from almost 100 per cent recycled construction waste.

The K-BRIQ has now achieved certification from the British Board of Agrément (BBA), the UK’s leading construction certification body.

This means entire facades can now be constructed from recycled building materials that would otherwise end up in landfill.

The unfired brick produces 95 per cent less carbon emissions than traditional clay bricks.

In a standard two-bedroom UK house requiring 12,000 bricks, switching to K-BRIQs would slash carbon emissions from 5.46 tonnes to 0.2 tonnes of CO2e: the equivalent of taking a petrol-powered car off the road for a year.

Dr Sam Chapman, co-founder and executive director of Kenoteq, said:

“This certification marks the arrival of a truly transformative building material for the construction and interior design industries.

“Unlike approaches that simply treat the symptoms of construction’s environmental impact, the K-BRIQ addresses the root cause by directly tackling the waste crisis while delivering a product that performs exactly like traditional materials, including the clay brick.”

Kenoteq’s East Lothian facility is now ramping up to produce two million bricks annually, with capacity to double production to four million as demand grows.

This manufacturing breakthrough comes as the construction industry faces increasing pressure to reduce its environmental footprint.

With no standard testing regime for a non-traditional building material of this type, the K-BRIQ – which is available in 12 different colours – underwent rigorous testing over several years, receiving the maximum durability rating possible.

Katy Roberts, sales and marketing director at the British Board of Agrément, said:

“The BBA is proud to play its part in helping clients like Kenoteq bring innovative and sustainable new products into the market.

“In a sector where safety, performance and trust are non-negotiable, third-party certification plays a crucial role in enabling innovation.”

As Europe’s largest market for bricks, the UK uses about 2.5 billion annually.

More than 500 million of these are imported, about 50 million of these travelling from outside the EU.

Additionally, more than a third of the waste in global landfills is estimated to be of demolition and construction origin.

Dr Chapman added:

“The construction industry is under increasing pressure to reduce its environmental impact while maintaining high standards of quality and safety.

“The BBA certification of the K-BRIQ demonstrates that these goals are not mutually exclusive – we can build better while building greener.”

Source: East Lothian Courier