An architecture professor has launched bacterial war on the traditional kiln-baked bricks by coming up with an absolutely amazing idea – ecobrick.
Although the bricks have been around for millennia, it rarely occurs to us that a brick is extremely eco-unfriendly. The whole brick-making industry makes 1.3 trillion bricks per annum thus releasing 827 million tons of CO2 plus a hoard of other nasties. Bricks are still baked in coal-fired kilns, which release alarming amounts of mercury vapour and contribute to acid rain and water pollution.
If we could replace the old clay baddies with an ecobrick, the world would be a better place for sure. What Prof Ginger Krieg Dosier has done is devising a process of making bricks from clean sand and bacteria preparation. She managed to find species of bacteria that miraculously can turn sand into a sandstone-type substance by inducing calcite precipitation. The process of making a biomanufactured brick is simple; it doesn’t require a high-tech or carbon intensive infrastructure. Everyone can make bricks on-site by just putting sand into molds and pouring the bacterial activate over.
The imagination and determination of Prof Dosier has been rewarded by the judges of the annual Metropolis magazine Next Generation Design Competition.
