Cape Brick – Concrete Bricks and Blocks [ECG – Premium] [Cat. 1 – Manufactured] | ecospecifier

Cape Brick – Concrete Bricks and Blocks [ECG – Premium] [Cat. 1 – Manufactured]

Overview:

Concrete bricks made with recycled aggregates from reclaimed building materials and cement .

Product Description:

Cape Brick manufactures bricks, concrete-masonry units (CMU), retaining wall blocks, and wet cast paving products from recycled materials. The 14MPa concrete plaster bricks have up to 95.6% recycled materials, all aggregates are from recycled materials, and 50% of cementitious materials are recycled content and blast furnace slag when available. The CMU’s and retaining wall blocks are manufactured with a minimum of 70% recycled content. The products comply with SABS 1215 code for concrete masonry and are endorsed by the Concrete Manufacturers Association. Cape Brick uses quality control measures and an extensive sorting process to ensure a quality product and to eliminate unwanted materials from the recycled aggregates.

The manufacturing plant is located close to the city centre and therefore close to its source of materials, demolished buildings. Together with reduced transportation impacts, the use of recycled aggregates and slag cement greatly reduces the embodied energy and carbon emissions of the bricks.

Click here for Supplier contact details or make an enquiry directly to the supplier using the Product Enquiry Form at the bottom of the page.

PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS

Options	Bricks, blocks, and retaining wall Blocks
Colours	Colours can be changed depending on oxides in the mix. Products with higher recycled content vary in colour and are usually specified as plaster grade products and not fair faced.
Warranty	None
Expected Life	Lifetime of the building.
Indicative Costs	Contact Supplier for pricing.
Purchase Options	Contact Supplier for purchasing options.
Constituents	Recycled aggregates Cement- 50% Slag, Sand
Technical Specifications	Please click here for a list of products and specifications.
National & International Standards	SABS 1215
Country of Origin	South Africa.
Projects
Preparation	Standard brick preparation and installation

ECOSPECIFIER LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT

INTEGRATED DESIGN AND POLICY ISSUES

Bricks have a significant thermal mass benefit, helping to regulate temperature within buildings, and reduce the need for heating and cooling, associated energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

For detailed information, please see Technical Guide 4: Thermal Mass & its Role in Building Comfort and Energy Efficiency

HUMAN HEALTH

Health

The product contains Crystalline Silica. Crystalline silica exists in a variety of common materials such as concrete, render, grout, tile, glass etc. This issue of concern relates to the cutting, grinding and other occupational production activities of products containing crystalline silica and is not an issue as installed in buildings.

The IARC classifies crystalline silica inhaled in the form of quartz, from occupational sources, as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1)

Precautions for workers such as appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and adequate ventilation will mitigate the risk of potential issues, such that in accordance with an ecospecifier Risk Assessment no further comment is required.

Comfort

High thermal mass materials can help improve thermal comfort through regulating internal building temperatures.

Indoor Environment Quality

No impact

Electromagnetic Radiation

Not applicable

Safety

Not applicable

Accessibility

Not applicable

ECOLOGICAL QUALITY

Terrestrial

Emissions – Use of recycled aggregates reduces the demand for virgin materials, which have associated emissions from mining and manufacturing.

Product contains slag cement. Cement manufacturing plants emit combustion gases, wastewater, plant maintenance waste and research and laboratory wastes. The largest emission stream from cement plants is the particulate matter from kiln stacks, however this is commonly collected and returned into the processing plant (Environment Australia, 2006, Emission Estimation Technique Manual for Cement Manufacturing Version 2.0, p. 4).

Cement content comprises primarily of limestone and other mineral based materials such as sand, clay and shale. The mining and processing of minerals can produce emissions to land from surface impoundments of liquids, solids, slurries and from storage facilities.

Physical – Use of recycled aggregates reduces waste to landfills, reduces demand for virgin materials and the associated physical impacts from mining. Physical terrestrial impacts from the extraction of minerals are a result of the removal and stockpiling of topsoil and sub-soil, and from removing overburden and inter-burden, resulting in modified soil profiles, topography and drainage.

Aquatic

Emissions – Cement manufacturing can have emissions to the aquatic environment including high pH wastewater with high levels of suspended solids, and contaminated stormwater from stockpiling of coke, coal, and waste materials (IFC, 2007, Environmental, Health, and Safety Guidelines for CEMENT AND LIME MANUFACTURING, p. 7).

Physical – Use of recycled content and slag cement with low Portland cement levels reduces possible physical impacts to the aquatic environment from extraction of raw materials. Mineral extraction of sand, limestone, clay and shale is common in marine environments such as lakes and coastal areas and will have localised disruptive impacts to ecosystems caused by mining processes.

Atmosphere

Greenhouse (GHG) – GHG emissions result from the manufacturing of cement, mainly associated with fuel consumption and decarbonation of limestone. Use of slag blended cement significantly reduces fuel consumption and therefore CO2 emissions resulting from cement manufacturing. In addition, Cape Bricks uses recycled content aggregates, sourced locally with reduced transportation emissions and subsequent GHG emissions from extraction of virgin raw materials.

Greenhouse intensity – The approximate GHG intensity of a 14mpa concrete brick made from recycled aggregate is 0.13kgCO2/block. This is .02kgCO2 lower than an estimated 0.15kgCO2 for bricks made with virgin materials. Figures do not include benefits from reduced transportation intensity.

Transport intensity – Product is manufactured in Cape Town from locally sourced raw materials with reduced transport greenhouse emissions.

Table below provides land transportation greenhouse intensity figures to help calculate the greenhouse gas intensity of land transportation from shipping port.

Light commercial vehicle	Rigid Truck	Articulated Truck
0.001451kgCO2e / kg.km	0.000195kgCO2e / kg.km	0.000169kgCO2e / kg.km

Transport intensity figures sourced from Australian National Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990, 1995 and 1999 and WWF International, Inland Navigations and Emissions, 2005.

Operational efficiency – Not applicable.

Re-use Efficiency – Product can be recycled into aggregates for new bricks.

Toxics and Pollutants – No known toxics or pollutants to the atmosphere.

Ozone Depletion – No.

Urban Heat Island Effects – No impact.

Noise – No.

Biodiversity

Product has reduced biodiversity impacts resulting from the disruption of ecosystems during the extraction of raw materials.

RESOURCE DEPLETION

Resource Efficiency

Cape Brick uses recycled aggregates from building demolition. After the buildings life, the bricks can again be used as aggregates for new bricks. Only a small amount of virgin material is used as cement and aggregate. Cement levels are minimized through the use of recycled content slag cement (if available). The bricks have equal strength to cost ratios to equivalent bricks manufactured from virgin materials.

Embodied Fossil Fuel Energy

Cape Brick has analysed the embodied energy of its products and made a comparison to concrete bricks made with virgin stone aggregate and sand. The results from the analysis are as follows:

1.43MJ/ 14Mpa Cape Brick concrete brick

2.72MJ/ 14Mpa Standard concrete brick with virgin aggregates

(The results are based on embodied energy figures of 0.066MJ/kg and 0.819MJ/kg for recycled aggregates and virgin crushed stone aggregate respectively. The figures are calculated to include transport energy, which is largely responsible for the difference in embodied energy.)

Embodied Water

Water is used in the mix and to keep dust down during processing of aggregates.

Durability

The concrete bricks have equal durability to typical concrete bricks.

Reusability

The bricks can be recycled into aggregate for new bricks.

Repairability

Consistent with standard concrete bricks.

Design for Dematerialisation

When used in conjunction with passive solar design techniques, bricks have the potential to reduce HVAC requirements and system size.

Design for Disassembly

Brick walls can be successfully disassembled only if lime modified mortars of appropriate strength are used.

Recyclability

The bricks can be recycled as bricks if lime based mortars are used or into aggregate for new bricks if cement only mortars are used.

Maintenance

Consistent with standard concrete bricks.

Product Takeback Scheme

No.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

No.

CORPORATE AND SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

Audits and Environmental Reporting

No.

Convictions

No.

Environmental Policy

No.

Social Enhancement Programs

No.

Technology Transfer Programs

No.

Environmental Management Systems (EMS)

No.

ECOSPECIFIER ISSUES OF CONCERN / RED LIGHTS

None.

ECOSPECIFIER GREENRATE GREEN BUILDING SCHEME PRE-ASSESSMENT

Green Star SA™ Office Version 1 (see disclaimer below)

ENERGY

Ene Note 1: Conditional Requirement

When used in conjunction with passive solar design and thermal mass storage strategies to provide energy reductions, this product may assist in the achievement of this credit.

Ene-1 Note 1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Passive Solar Design

MATERIALS

Mat-5: Concrete

Mat-11: Local Sourcing

Green Star SA™ Retail Centre Version 1

ENERGY

Ene Note 1: Conditional Requirement

Ene-1 Note 2: Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Passive Solar Design

MATERIALS

Mat-3: Recycled Content & Re-used Products

Mat-5: Concrete

Note: A Credit Interpretation Ruling (CIR) would be required to determine if this credit could be awarded under the premise that concrete blocks made of recycled concrete could be considered recycled precast concrete, as this definition is not currently supported by the Green Star Technical Manual. Products contributing to points under the Mat-4: Concrete credit are excluded from contributing to points under Mat-3: Recycled Content & Re-used Products.

Mat-11: Local Sourcing