flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
Currently Reading

Lab-grown bricks offer potential low-carbon building material

Lab-grown bricks offer potential low-carbon building material

Prototype uses bacteria to grow a brick in a mold.


By Peter Fabris, Contributing Editor | September 30, 2022
Grow Bricks
Courtesy Pexels.

A team of students at the University of Waterloo in Canada have developed a process to grow bricks using bacteria.

The process, which works at room temperature, offers a new low-carbon way to fabricate bricks. The brick-growing process starts by introducing bacteria to a nutrient broth.

Recycled sand or demolition waste can be mixed in to create the Bio-Brick. The result is a product that is as strong and affordable as bricks traditionally used in construction sites today and can easily be grown onsite for any project, the product’s developers say.

The technology, still in the prototype phase, was named a runner-up for the James Dyson Award.
 

Related Stories

Mass Timber | May 8, 2024

Portland's Timberview VIII mass timber multifamily development will offer more than 100 affordable units

An eight-story, 72,000-sf mass timber apartment building in Portland, Ore., topped out this winter and will soon offer over 100 affordable units. The structure is the tallest affordable housing mass timber building and the first Type IV-C affordable housing building in the city. 

K-12 Schools | May 7, 2024

World's first K-12 school to achieve both LEED for Schools Platinum and WELL Platinum

A new K-12 school in Washington, D.C., is the first school in the world to achieve both LEED for Schools Platinum and WELL Platinum, according to its architect, Perkins Eastman. The John Lewis Elementary School is also the first school in the District of Columbia designed to achieve net-zero energy (NZE). 

Healthcare Facilities | May 6, 2024

Hospital construction costs for 2024

Data from Gordian breaks down the average cost per square foot for a three-story hospital across 10 U.S. cities.

MFPRO+ Special Reports | May 6, 2024

Top 10 trends in affordable housing

Among affordable housing developers today, there’s one commonality tying projects together: uncertainty. AEC firms share their latest insights and philosophies on the future of affordable housing in BD+C's 2023 Multifamily Annual Report.

Retail Centers | May 3, 2024

Outside Las Vegas, two unused office buildings will be turned into an open-air retail development

In Henderson, Nev., a city roughly 15 miles southeast of Las Vegas, 100,000 sf of unused office space will be turned into an open-air retail development called The Cliff. The $30 million adaptive reuse development will convert the site’s two office buildings into a destination for retail stores, chef-driven restaurants, and community entertainment.

Codes and Standards | May 3, 2024

New York City considering bill to prevent building collapses

The New York City Council is considering a proposed law with the goal of preventing building collapses. The Billingsley Structural Integrity Act is a response to the collapse of 1915 Billingsley Terrace in the Bronx last December. 

Student Housing | May 3, 2024

Student housing construction dips in the first quarter of 2024

Investment in college dorms dipped slightly in the first quarter of 2024, but remains higher than a year ago.

Contractors | May 1, 2024

Nonresidential construction spending rises 0.2% in March 2024 to $1.19 trillion

National nonresidential construction spending increased 0.2% in March, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.19 trillion.

K-12 Schools | Apr 30, 2024

Fully electric Oregon elementary school aims for resilience with microgrid design

The River Grove Elementary School in Oregon was designed for net-zero carbon and resiliency to seismic events, storms, and wildfire. The roughly 82,000-sf school in a Portland suburb will feature a microgrid—a small-scale power grid that operates independently from the area’s electric grid. 

AEC Tech | Apr 30, 2024

Lack of organizational readiness is biggest hurdle to artificial intelligence adoption

Managers of companies in the industrial sector, including construction, have bought the hype of artificial intelligence (AI) as a transformative technology, but their organizations are not ready to realize its promise, according to research from IFS, a global cloud enterprise software company. An IFS survey of 1,700 senior decision-makers found that 84% of executives anticipate massive organizational benefits from AI. 

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category




MFPRO+ Special Reports

Top 10 trends in affordable housing

Among affordable housing developers today, there’s one commonality tying projects together: uncertainty. AEC firms share their latest insights and philosophies on the future of affordable housing in BD+C's 2023 Multifamily Annual Report.

halfpage1 -

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021