Developing a low carbon brick for residential building construction

Abstract

The construction industry is trying to become more eco-friendly and minimise environmental impact. One way to achieve this is by using innovative building materials. Traditional clay bricks are not eco-friendly due to the depletion of resources, emissions, and waste generated during production. In this study, a new alternative called the Novel Organic Brick (NOB) was produced and evaluated, which was made from recycled construction and demolition sand and red clay as partial replacements for traditional virgin clay. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was conducted to compare the environmental impact of NOBs to that of Kiln Fired Bricks (KFBs). The inventory flows from material sourcing to brick shaping were modelled in SimaPro 8.1 and characterised into impact indicators using the ReCiPe 2016 method. The LCA showed that NOBs can reduce the impact of climate change by 39-56% compared to KFBs, depending on the type and source of recycled sand. This study encourages the construction industry to adopt alternative solutions for greater sustainability by demonstrating the viability of incorporating secondary materials and quantifying environmental performance improvements in India.