As CNN reports, “For thousands of years, the humble clay-fired brick hasn’t changed.” In fact, there’s very little difference between those from ancient Babylon to the thousands and thousands that surround us right now. Engineers Gabriela Medero (a professor of geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland) and Sam Chapman established Kenoteq to change that. And their debut product, the K-Briq, is 90% …
Researchers at MIT have developed a way (though admittedly experimental) to produce emissions-free cement—that means the manufacturing process “releases no carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.” This is a hugely significant breakthrough, as cement manufacturing (for the intention of making concrete) is responsible for almost 10% of global emissions. The process includes an electrochemical method, which would replace the current one, which is dependent on fossil-fuels. …
Since last September—immediately after Hurricane Maria—designers and architects have been working to not only rebuild Puerto Rico, but also to rethink its infrastructure. Many of the some 1,200 homes that lost roofing in the Caño Martin Pena area of Puerto Rico had “informal infrastructure”—in this instance meaning they were built with galvanized metal sheet roofs. Sadly, this is the case in large regions of Puerto Rico, …
