Making construction greener brick by brick

At the heart of every construction project are the materials used. Traditionally, bricks are made from clay, shale, slate, calcium silicate and concrete and baked at temperatures ranging from 900-1000 degree centigrade in order to strengthen them.

This process can take up to a week and, as you can imagine produces a large amount of CO2.
However, a San Francisco firm has unveiled a brick that uses up to 90 percent less energy to make and generates 85 percent less carbon dioxide.

CalStar Products' 'low-energy bricks' are constructed using fly ash - a byproduct of coal plants - that alters its chemical make up. This enables the bricks to be baked for only 10 hours and at degrees under 100 degrees centigrade.

According to their website, CalStar's bricks are also made up of post-industrial recycled material and made with "advanced technology to make architectural facing bricks and durable pavers for the green building market."

The start-up is backed by $15 million (GBP£9.4 million) of VC cash led by Foundation Capital and EnerTech Capital. It hopes to sell 12 million or more bricks in the first year and make 100 million available for sale throughout the Midwest and South of America.

The firm believes their bricks will revolutionise the construction market in America. Paul Holland, a partner at Foundation was quoted as saying, "We think it is time for a second industrial revolution."

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