“Right now, the building supplies industry is responsible for 23 percent of global CO2 emissions,” said Adrian Simone, who is part of the University of Waterloo student team that created the Bio-Brick invention. The technology received national recognition last week after being named the second winner of the James Dyson Award. “The amount of green options available to manufacturers right now is not sufficient, not enough,” Simone said. “The ones that are available are completely expensive, so most people, most manufacturers just can’t use them.” This is an example of one of the Bio-Brick prototypes the team developed in their lab. (The James Dyson Award photo) Simone worked as a project manager for an asphalt paving company. He said what he saw at the construction site inspired him to try to find an alternative that would be safer for workers. “I would notice that in the middle of the summer, a lot of the guys out there laying that asphalt, standing in front of that 120-degree molten tar and the fumes coming off of it, have horrible health effects. “ He said he believes the traditional brick-making process can lead to long-term illnesses and injuries. “The amount of burns that would have occurred on site was extremely high,” he said, noting that even with many safety measures in place, workers would suffer second-degree burns to their shins. “He’s starting to look different and have trouble walking and it hurts,” Simone said.
How does it work;
To put it simply, Bio-Brick is created at room temperature and uses bacteria to slowly grow a brick in a mold. The team begins forming the brick by growing bacteria on agar at room temperature. (The James Dyson Award photo) Rania Al-Sheikhly, one of the creators, said the brick can easily be grown on site for any construction project. “Bacteria can be grown similar to fermentation tanks for beer and things like that, so they don’t have to be in a sterile environment, they just have to be able to grow in a container at room temperature for a day or so. can be used”. He said the process starts with placing the bacteria in a nutrient broth for a few days. “It’s just a broth that it feeds on and allows it to multiply. Then we take our mold and put the sand in there and mix the bacteria in. We let it sit for a couple of hours, drain it, add some solution. And we just repeat the process. for a few days until it solidifies into a brick.” He said they mix recycled sand or demolition waste with the bacteria to create Bio-Brick, which is just as strong and affordable as the bricks traditionally used on construction sites today. Bio-Brick technology is still in the prototype testing phase.
