Green methods of construction, such as bricks made from recycled materials, could hold the key to the sector reaching net zero. Photo: Kenoteq
Green methods of construction, such as bricks made from recycled materials, could hold the key to the sector reaching net zero. Photo: Kenoteq
Green methods of construction, such as bricks made from recycled materials, could hold the key to the sector reaching net zero. Photo: Kenoteq
Green methods of construction, such as bricks made from recycled materials, could hold the key to the sector reaching net zero. Photo: Kenoteq

From recycled bricks to buildings made of cob: How construction sector can reach net zero


Daniel Bardsley
  • English
  • Arabic

Concrete production is among the largest contributors to climate change, accounting for about eight per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions.

That is why it is a priority to find less environmentally harmful building materials if the world is to achieve net zero.

A study in the Applied Clay Science journal shows brick manufacturing accounts for 2.7 per cent of global carbon emissions, with the kilns where bricks are fired having a significant footprint.

Producing concrete releases large amounts of carbon because of the process that generates clinker, a key ingredient of cement that, alongside water and the likes of sand and gravel, is a main component of concrete.

Carbon dioxide is given off during the production of clinker.

The International Energy Agency states that, along with other measures, using alternatives to clinker will play a significant role in helping the cement sector to achieve net zero by 2050.

Researchers at the American University of Ras Al Khaimah are analysing the properties of concrete when 5 per cent, 10 per cent or 15 per cent of the cement is replaced with rice ash husk.

Bricks made from recycled materials could help the world to tackle climate change. Photo: Kenoteq
Bricks made from recycled materials could help the world to tackle climate change. Photo: Kenoteq

Many other research groups around the world have investigated the use of this silica-rich material, which offers strength and stability.

Another approach has been taken in Germany by the Technical University of Dresden and an architectural company called Henn, who said last year that they constructed the world’s first building using "carbon concrete", in which the concrete was reinforced carbon fibre, instead of steel.

The carbon fibre is only a quarter of the weight of steel but is six times stronger, Henn said.

Other ways to strengthen concrete are being examined, with the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the US working to develop reinforcing bars made from natural fibres such as hemp and flax, bound up with plastic.

The production of these bars is more environmentally friendly than that of steel reinforcing bars – and they act as a carbon store.

Biochar, a carbon-rich charcoal-like substance, is also involved in carbon storage and is used as a component of the external cladding of buildings, something that has been tested in Germany.

In the UK, Cambridge Carbon Capture has developed a method to produce lightweight bricks made by bubbling air through a slurry of magnesium oxide.

Carbon dioxide from the air combines with the magnesium oxide to create magnesium carbonate, which can be dried to produce the bricks. This method represents a way of actually taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

Another brick in the wall

Kenoteq, a company in Scotland that was spun out of Heriot-Watt University, which has a campus in Dubai, aims to cut carbon emissions by producing a brick using recycled materials including plasterboard, brick, mortar, rubble or stone.

Lucy Black, head of business development at the company, said the embodied carbon of its K-Briqs is less than five per cent that of standard bricks.

"The K-Briq is comparable in terms of technical performance to a traditional clay and concrete brick, but our unique selling point is the fact it’s made out of recycled material and has a very low carbon footprint," she said.

"Most building materials are made from raw materials and subject to extraction and mining. That’s a hugely energy and carbon-intensive process. Additionally, our raw materials are finite and the Earth is beginning to run out."

The process uses materials that would often have ended up in landfill, with Ms Black saying that construction waste accounts for about 40 per cent of all the world’s waste.

The bricks, made in a range of colours, are currently available for interior use. The company is in the final stages of securing certification for external applications in the UK, Europe and the US.

Local solutions

Local production processes could be set up under licence so that local waste could be used, rather than materials that have to be shipped long distances. This would also provide a solution to the local waste problem and provide jobs, the company said.

"We’ve been out at Cop28 and had discussions in the UAE and there’s a lot of interest there," Ms Black said.

Kenoteq supplied bricks that Dubai Holding used for its exhibition space at the climate change summit last year and Ms Black said the display had now been transferred to the UAE company’s headquarters.

In another recycling project, researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a method in which used cement is employed in place of lime flux in electric arc furnaces, which recycle steel.

At the end of the process, the used cement – said to have similar characteristics to new cement – can be recycled into concrete.

Scottish company Kenoteq aims to cut carbon emissions by producing a brick using recycled materials. Photo: Kenoteq
Scottish company Kenoteq aims to cut carbon emissions by producing a brick using recycled materials. Photo: Kenoteq

"The proposed process may be economically competitive, and if powered by emissions-free electricity, can lead to zero-emissions cement while also reducing the emissions of steel recycling by reducing lime flux requirements," the researchers wrote this year in the Nature journal.

The final straw

As well as new high-tech methods for building construction, efforts are being made to revive older technology. At the University of Plymouth in the UK, Prof Steve Goodhew leads the CobBauge project, which has developed a new way to use cob, a traditional building material made from soil, straw, water and lime.

The aim, he said, is to "take the material into the 21st century" by giving it the insulation properties required by modern building regulations.

"There’s an awful lot of anecdotal evidence from people who live in these type of buildings that the material is warm in winter and cool in summer," Prof Goodhew said.

The approach, tested on two demonstration buildings in Normandy and at the university’s campus, involves having a layer of cob (with about 2.5 per cent straw) to provide structural support, and a light earth layer (a mix of earth and the inside part of the hemp stalk) to moderate heat loss or gain.

By reducing the amount of heat that passes through the wall, the thermal light earth layer helps the cob meet building regulations that, in turn, means contractors can use the material in construction projects.

The embodied carbon of buildings made from cob is far less than that of a standard concrete or brick building, researchers said.

There is a long tradition of using cob in the Middle East. In Yemen, some Unesco World Heritage List buildings that are up to seven storeys tall are made from the material, Prof Goodhew said. Yemeni cob buildings are made from relatively thin sun-dried blocks put together with earth mortar and are often finished with a lime rendering, he explained.

"The only issue is that the walls have to be thicker and in Yemen that’s the case," he said. "As the buildings get taller, the walls taper towards the upper storey so the structural bearing capacity can be maintained."

Cob tends to be unsuitable for very tall buildings, due to the thickness of the walls necessary to support the increased loads, but it is an appealing option for low-rise construction in areas with clay-rich soils.

If properly constructed and maintained, cob buildings can last as long as standard masonry construction, as shown by the continued presence in south-west England of 16th-century cob-based dwellings.

Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

Abramovich London

A Kensington Palace Gardens house with 15 bedrooms is valued at more than £150 million.

A three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront bought for £22 million.

Steel company Evraz drops more than 10 per cent in trading after UK officials said it was potentially supplying the Russian military.

Sale of Chelsea Football Club is now impossible.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Red flags
  • Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
  • Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
  • Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
  • Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
  • Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.

Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching

Scoreline

Syria 1-1 Australia

Syria Al Somah 85'

Australia Kruse 40'

RESULTS
%3Cp%3E5pm%3A%20Wathba%20Stallions%20Cup%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh70%2C000%20(Turf)%202%2C200m%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20RB%20Sarab%2C%20Allaia%20Tiar%20(jockey)%2C%20Khalifa%20Al%20Neyadi%20(trainer)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E5.30pm%3A%20Mamsha%20Alkhair%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C600m%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Mutaqadim%2C%20Ray%20Dawson%2C%20Ibrahim%20Al%20Hadhrami%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E6pm%3A%20Emirates%20Fillies%20Classic%20%E2%80%93%20Prestige%20(PA)%20Dh100%2C000%20(T)%201%2C600m%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Almotajalliah%2C%20Ray%20Dawson%2C%20Ibrahim%20Al%20Hadhrami%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E6.30pm%3A%20Emirates%20Colts%20Classic%20%E2%80%93%20Prestige%20(PA)%20Dh100%2C000%20(T)%201%2C600m%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Fadwaan%2C%20Antonio%20Fresu%2C%20Ahmed%20Al%20Mehairbi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E7pm%3A%20The%20President%E2%80%99s%20Cup%20%E2%80%93%20Group%201%20(PA)%20Dh2%2C500%2C000%20(T)%202%2C200m%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Mujeeb%2C%20Richard%20Mullen%2C%20Salem%20Al%20Ketbi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E7.30pm%3A%20The%20President%E2%80%99s%20Cup%20%E2%80%93%20Listed%20(TB)%20Dh380%2C000%20(T)%201%2C400m%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Western%20Writer%2C%20Richard%20Mullen%2C%20Bhupat%20Seemar%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH RESULT

Al Jazira 3 Persepolis 2
Jazira:
Mabkhout (52'), Romarinho (77'), Al Hammadi (90' 6)
Persepolis: Alipour (42'), Mensha (84')

Titanium Escrow profile

Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue  
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family

What went into the film

25 visual effects (VFX) studios

2,150 VFX shots in a film with 2,500 shots

1,000 VFX artists

3,000 technicians

10 Concept artists, 25 3D designers

New sound technology, named 4D SRL

 

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.3-litre%204cyl%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E299hp%20at%205%2C500rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E420Nm%20at%202%2C750rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E10-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E12.4L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh157%2C395%20(XLS)%3B%20Dh199%2C395%20(Limited)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont

Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950

Engine 3.6-litre V6

Gearbox Eight-speed automatic

Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm

Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm

Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km

Pharaoh's curse

British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.

Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

Updated: July 24, 2024, 11:18 AM`