Inovação incrível na construção: tijolos ecológicos feitos de vidro reciclado são mais baratos, eficientes e garantem um isolamento térmico superior em relação aos convencionais

Eco-Friendly Bricks Made From Recycled Glass Are Cheaper, More Efficient, and Provide Superior Thermal Insulation Compared to Conventional Ones

Written by Noel Budeguer

Published on 12/06/2025 at 20:14

Updated on 12/06/2025 at 20:31

Tijolos ecológicos feitos de vidro reciclado são mais baratos, eficientes e garantem um isolamento térmico superior em relação aos convencionais

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Sustainable Bricks: Better Thermal Insulation and Cheaper Than Conventional Ones. Transform Your Construction with Energy and Cost Savings

Bricks are a fundamental material in construction and the built environment, with an annual production of 1.3 trillion units. The new smart energy formula developed by RMIT could generate significant carbon savings if implemented on a large scale, while helping to reuse waste that would otherwise end up in landfills, including pieces of glass that are too small to be recycled into new jars and bottles.

Furthermore, with their enhanced insulating capability, these bricks could provide significant savings on energy bills as the cost of living continues to rise.

Team Leader, Associate Professor Dilan Robert (third from the left) with the RMIT research team behind the energy smart bricks in an RMIT University lab. Source: Seamus Daniel, RMIT University

Energy Bill Savings

Climate change is causing increasingly extreme weather, with hotter summers and colder winters, and energy-intensive systems are becoming more necessary to keep indoor temperatures comfortable. Now, engineers at RMIT in Australia have developed a new solution: energy smart bricks. In collaboration with the country’s largest recycling company, Visy, the researchers replaced the clay content in their bricks with waste materials: at least 15% of discarded glass that cannot be recycled and 20% of combustible solid waste (ash).

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Innovation in Construction

Modifying the brick recipe meant it could be fired at temperatures 20% lower than usual, which could lead to significant savings in costs and energy for manufacturers. And due to the fact that the insulating capacity of the bricks has been enhanced with the new elements, tests found that the new bricks could reduce energy bills by 5% in a single-story building. Currently, the team is working to scale up production and market their solution, hoping to explore other ways to incorporate waste into other construction materials.

Combustible solid waste (ash) that the team can use in their energy smart bricks. Source: Seamus Daniel, RMIT University

Enhanced Energy Efficiency

The team’s research showed that the new bricks have higher energy efficiency through improved thermal performance and meet rigorous structural, durability, and environmental sustainability standards. The technology met the key compliance requirement for fired clay bricks established by Standards Australia (AS 3700).

Bricks play a crucial role in preventing energy loss from buildings.

We can also produce lightweight bricks in a range of colors, from white to dark red, by changing our formulations.

Dilan Robert

Circular Economy Solution

In Victoria, Visy recycles glass packaging to turn it into new bottles and jars. However, glass pieces smaller than 3 millimeters, known as fines, cannot be recycled into bottles.

Residual glass that the team can use in their energy smart bricks. Source: Seamus Daniel, RMIT University

We are focused on scaling the production process to facilitate the marketing of our innovative bricks in collaboration with brick manufacturers in Melbourne.

Dilan Robert

Paul Andrich, Project Innovation Manager at Visy, stated that the company was delighted to find a solution for the material that cannot be recycled into food and beverage packaging.

Diversion of this waste to bricks with higher insulation, instead of landfills, is another way to drive the circular economy.

Paul Andrich

The research team aims to collaborate with industries to explore applications of waste materials in other construction products. The innovation in manufacturing energy smart bricks not only addresses the challenge of waste but also contributes to energy efficiency and environmental sustainability. With the potential to be implemented on a large scale, this solution could revolutionize the construction industry and set a new standard for waste reuse and carbon emissions reduction.

Source: www.rmit.edu.au

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Eco-Friendly Bricks Made From Recycled Glass Are Cheaper, More Efficient, and Provide Superior Thermal Insulation Compared to Conventional Ones

Sustainable Bricks: Better Thermal Insulation and Cheaper Than Conventional Ones. Transform Your Construction with Energy and Cost Savings

Energy Bill Savings

Innovation in Construction

Enhanced Energy Efficiency

Circular Economy Solution

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Eco-Friendly Bricks Made From Recycled Glass Are Cheaper, More Efficient, and Provide Superior Thermal Insulation Compared to Conventional Ones

Sustainable Bricks: Better Thermal Insulation and Cheaper Than Conventional Ones. Transform Your Construction with Energy and Cost Savings

Energy Bill Savings

Innovation in Construction

Enhanced Energy Efficiency

Circular Economy Solution

Mother and daughter build a 70 m² house with more than 8,000 discarded glass bottles and impress with their creativity; known as the Casa de Sal, the property is located on Itamaracá Island, in Pernambuco.

Workers were opening a new road connection near the Marginal Tietê when they found, in the underground of the construction site, remnants of locomotives, wagons, and boilers from the 19th century linked to the forgotten history of Lapa.

Instead of burning or burying old tires, an American city is transforming about 2,000 of them into the street itself, paving its first sections with a quieter and more durable rubber asphalt.

China transforms desert-devastated area into the world’s largest artificial forest, planting trees for 60 years, blocking sand that reached Beijing, and creating a “green lung” of 92,000 hectares in a region once considered lost.

Greek island offers free housing for volunteers, but there’s a condition: you need to take care of rescued cats.

Engineers want to carve through Africa with a giant canal to bring water from the world’s second-largest river to a dying lake on the edge of the Sahara Desert that has already lost 90% of its water.

China has deployed snake-shaped robots to slide along power lines, where they have already inspected over 130 kilometers of cables using cameras and sensors to detect damaged wires, worn-out parts, and overheating.

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