Published:
During Tuesday 7th January's episode of BBC’s The One Show, the audience were transported to Scotland to follow the journey of the world’s first building brick that’s made from 90% recycled construction and demolition waste.
The K-Briq produces just a tenth of the CO2 emissions of a traditional fired brick, uses less than a tenth of the energy in its manufacture and can be made in any colour.
Incubated at Heriot-Watt University and now the first product from clean tech spin-out, Kenoteq Ltd, The One Show explored this exemplar and pioneering circular economy company.
Professor Gabriela Medero, who conceived the idea of the K-Briq more than 10 years ago, said: “We are looking forward to sharing the journey of the Kenoteq on tonight’s show and immersing viewers in the story of our research. We hope K-Briq will help support the sustainability ambitions of today’s construction industry.
“I have spent many years researching building materials and have been concerned that modern construction techniques exploit raw materials without considering that they are amongst the largest contributors to carbon emissions. The amount of waste they produce is not sustainable long-term.
“The K-Briq looks like a normal brick, weighs the same and behaves like a clay brick but offers better insulation properties. It is sustainable and not kiln-fired so it is far better for the environment and represents massive savings for the construction industry in terms of related taxes.”
Dr Sam Chapman, managing director of Kenoteq Ltd, said: “We hope K-Briq will help support the sustainability ambitions of today’s construction industry. Kenoteq has invested in the first set of machinery to scale up production. In the past year, we’ve produced thousands of bricks and put them through rigorous testing."
Up to 85 per cent of bricks used in Scotland are currently being imported from England or Europe raising considerable questions about the long-term sustainability of the sector.
You can watch the episode of The One Show - the segment focussed on Kenoteq starts at 15:28.
Annie Pugh
Press Office
E: a.pugh@hw.ac.uk